The Brew pot: The First Step of the Brewing Process

The first step in the home brewing fermentation process is normally the brewpot. This stage is also arguably the most important part in the entire process, and it is where everything is "done". To dive deep into the frothy depths of the brewing process, the first step is to find a suitable brewpot.

A brewpot is the enclosure that will contain all of your ingredients when you are "cooking" the beer. The ingredients that are put into this enclosure are generally referred as the "wort" (pronounced "wirt"). A brewpot can be any type of pot that will hold the amount of beer you plan on making. Typically brewpots are between 5 and 10 gallons in size. It is very important to remember that, because you will be boiling a liquid with the brewpot you should buy a pot that is at least 20% larger than the amount of fluid you will be working with. If you plan on working with 8 gallon's of liquid, then it would be a good idea to get a 10 gallon brewpot. If this advice is not followed, then the contents (your wort) may boil over and create a large mess.

A brewpot can be made of many materials. Traditionally they were made of copper, but this material is much too expensive for most home brewers. The most common brewpot material is stainless steel. Stainless steel gives a good degree of durability at a great price (usually under $100 for a 10 gallon setup). Other alternatives consist of using old turkey or lobster roasters which are normally coated with some sort of enamel finish. In a pinch, any type of large pot can be used to heat the wort.

If a brewpot is larger than 7 gallon's then chances are that an internal gas stove will not be able to heat it. At this point you will have to move your wort heating operation outside with the help of a propane powered stove.

Some people have even cut off the top of used Kegs with an angle grinder in order to create a very large, relatively cheap alternative to a professionally designed brewpot. It is important to note that keg's are more expensive than your deposit on them. If you're thinking about "losing" a keg, think twice, because that's called stealing.

The most important step to the brewing process is sanitation. Therefore, it is imperative that your brewpot contain no cracks or scratches inside of it. This is because cracks and scratches do a wonderful job of hiding bacteria. Bacteria can ruin even the best batches of beer.

So called beer kits normally leave out brew pots in order to drastically reduce the price of the entire kit. They then recommend that you use pots from your own home to brew the beer. In reality, most of the pots in your own home are probably unable to hold the quantity of beer that you are brewing. So, if you are thinking about brewing beer, make sure you find a suitable brewpot.