Purpose

• Your brewing experience and your reason for buying a home beer brewing kit says a lot about what kind of kit is right for you. If you are starting out and unsure whether you are even going to continue after making your first batch of beer, your needs are going to be much simpler than someone planning to produce large quantities over the long run. Always think through what you actually need to carry out your brewing plans.

Cost

• Home beer brewing kits run the gamut from the cheap to the almost extravagant. For example, you can buy brewing kits for as little as $50 through Amazon while more elaborate kits from specialist sites can cost hundreds of dollars. Set a budget before you start shopping around to control your spending. Remember that even if you can start brewing large quantities of beer with the more expensive kits, most of their contents will simply go to waste if you have humbler brewing ambitions.

Ingredients and Recipes

• More complete home beer brewing kits contain all of the ingredients such as malt and hops that you need to brew at home. These kits are perfect if you are starting out or interested in brewing your first batch with the minimal expenditure of time and effort. On the other hand, you might be more interested in getting a separate kit for those ingredients if you plan to brew over the long run. Similarly, you might want to pick up a kit that includes brewing recipes if you are interested in creating and sampling a range of brews. However, that is a waste of paper if you already have a specific brew in mind.

Brewing Equipment

• Home beer brewing kits should contain a fermenter, an air lock and stopper while most also contain additional useful items like a bottler and a thermometer. If you are an experienced brewer, consider what items you already have on hand and whether you need duplicates for your kit. Ideally, you want the equipment in your kit to be built to industry standard so that they'll be compatible with the contents of any other kits that you might buy in the future. Not only will this make the contents of your current kit more useful for a longer time, but it will also save you a lot of hassle if you continue brewing in the future.