How to get started home brewing beer

Updated October 2026.

The short answer: to start home brewing beer in Australia, you need a starter kit (a 30 litre fermenter with airlock, tap and thermometer, a hydrometer, no-rinse sanitiser, a bottling valve, carbonation drops and a capper), a beer recipe kit and some crown-seal bottles. Sanitise everything, mix the recipe kit with water to 21 litres, add the yeast and ferment at 18 to 22°C for 7 to 10 days. Then bottle with carbonation drops and leave the bottles to carbonate. You can have a first taste two to three weeks after brew day, and the beer is at its best from four weeks.

What is beer made from?

Beer is made from four ingredients, and a recipe kit gives you all four measured for one batch.

• Malt: malted barley or wheat. It supplies the sugars the yeast turns into alcohol, plus the beer's colour and body, from the light, crisp taste of a lager to the dark roast of a stout.
• Hops: add bitterness to balance the malt's sweetness, aroma (citrus, pine, floral, herbal or spicy depending on the variety), and act as a natural preservative.
• Yeast: ferments the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The strain shapes the flavour: clean for lagers, fruity for ales, clove and banana for wheat beers.
• Water: most of what's in the glass. Australian tap water is generally fine for brewing.

How is beer made?

Brewing turns malt sugars into alcohol. Malt is dissolved in hot water to make a sweet liquid called wort. Hops are added for bitterness and aroma. Yeast goes into the cooled wort, eats the sugars, and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide over about a week. The beer is then bottled with a small amount of sugar, which starts a second fermentation in the sealed bottle and makes it fizzy.

A commercial brewery mashes its own grain to produce that wort. Brewing from a recipe kit skips that step: the malt has already been mashed and concentrated into an extract, so you dissolve it rather than make it. Everything after that, the fermentation, bottling and conditioning, is the same process a brewery uses.

Ale or lager? The difference is the yeast. Ale yeast ferments warm, at 18 to 22°C, and gives fruitier flavours. Lager yeast ferments cold, at 10 to 15°C, and gives a cleaner, crisper beer. Most people start with ale because normal room temperature is already in range.

What do I need to start home brewing?

The easiest way to start is an AHB Home Brew Beer Kit. It has everything below except the bottles, plus your first recipe kit.

• Fermenter, airlock, thermometer and tap: the fermenter is the 30 litre container your beer ferments in. The extra space above a 21 litre batch gives the foam room to rise. The airlock is a one-way valve that lets gas out and stops air getting in.
• Hydrometer and test flask: measures the specific gravity, which is essentially the sugar level of the brew. Two matching readings 48 hours apart tell you fermentation has finished. It also tells you how strong your beer is.
• No-rinse sanitiser: clean equipment matters more to a good first beer than anything else. No-rinse sanitisers are far better than the old chemicals because there is nothing to wash off.
• Bottling valve: fits the fermenter tap so each bottle fills cleanly from the bottom with no mess.
• Carbonation drops: one drop per 330 to 375ml bottle, two per 650 to 750ml bottle. The sugar starts a small second fermentation in the sealed bottle, which is what makes the beer fizzy.
• Capper and crown seals: to seal each bottle.
• Bottles: heavy glass 750ml long necks or 375ml stubbies with pry-off tops. Do not use thin screw-top bottles, as they can't hold the pressure. A 21 litre batch fills about 28 long necks or 55 stubbies.
• A beer recipe kit: malt extract, hops and yeast for one batch, with instructions.
• For winter or cooler areas: a heater pad keeps fermentation steady when the room drops below about 16°C.

Compare all five setups on our Home Brew Beer Kits page.

How to make beer from a beer kit

Once you have your gear, you're ready for your first batch. Instructions vary from kit to kit, but the method below works for any malt extract recipe. You'll make great beer with it as long as you look after three basics: use a good brewing yeast that suits the style (lager, pale ale, wheat beer, dark ale), ferment within that yeast's temperature range, and clean and sanitise everything that touches the beer.

Step by step beer making instructions

Stage 1: Preparation (brew day, 1 to 2 hours)

1. Clean and sanitise your fermenter, lid, airlock, tap and anything else that will touch the beer.
2. Put the yeast aside for later.
3. Stand the recipe kit can in hot water for 10 minutes so it pours easily. Empty it into the fermenter with any malt extract or brewing sugar in your recipe, and stir until dissolved in 2 to 4 litres of hot water. Use a little less hot water in hot weather and more in cold weather. This sugary liquid is called wort: it's what the yeast will turn into beer.
4. Top up with cool tap water to your recipe's volume, which is around 21 litres for most brews.
5. Add the hops if your recipe includes them. There are two ways. To boil them, bring a litre of water to the boil, add the hops, boil for 1 to 2 minutes, then let it cool for 15 minutes and strain the liquid into the fermenter through a sanitised strainer. Boiling draws out flavour and aroma. To dry hop, sprinkle the hops on top of the brew on about day 4 of fermentation. No boiling is needed and the hops settle into the sediment.

Stage 2: Fermentation (days 1 to 10)

1. Check the wort is below 30°C, ideally 18 to 22°C, then sprinkle the yeast onto the surface.
2. Seal the fermenter, fit the airlock and half fill it with cool boiled water.
3. Keep the temperature steady and out of direct sun. Ale yeast works at 18 to 22°C. Lager yeast usually needs 10 to 15°C. Always check the temperature on your yeast pack or recipe. The airlock should start bubbling within 24 to 48 hours, and most ales take 7 to 10 days.
4. Fermentation has finished when the hydrometer reading stays the same across two readings taken 48 hours apart. Don't go by the airlock alone. A sealed, sanitised fermenter will happily sit a few extra days, which also lets the beer clear.

Stage 3: Bottling (around day 10)

1. Sanitise your bottles following the instructions on the sanitiser.
2. Add carbonation drops: one for a 330 to 375ml bottle, two for a 650 to 750ml bottle.
3. Fill each bottle with the bottling valve. Fill to the top, then lift the bottle off the valve, which leaves about 50mm of space at the top.
4. Cap each bottle firmly with a crown seal.
5. Shake the bottles a few times over the first few hours so the drops dissolve. Stand them upright at around 18 to 22°C while they carbonate. You can try one after a week or so. Give them three weeks for full carbonation.

Stage 4: Maturation

Homebrew improves with age in the bottle and won't go off. It's noticeably better at three months than at one. Store your bottles upright somewhere cool where the temperature doesn't swing. Label and date every batch, and keep a few back to try at 3, 6 and 12 months so you can taste the difference. Brewing a few batches in a row means you always have beer ready while the next lot matures. Serving temperature makes a difference too: see our guide to beer serving temperature.

How to brew beer without a kit

A kit is the easiest way to start, but it is not the only way. Once you have a few brews behind you, there are three steps up, each with a little more control over the beer.

• Extract with grain. Keep using malt extract, and add flavour by steeping specialty grain or dry hopping. It uses the gear you already have.
• Fresh Wort Kits. Ferment real brewery wort at home, with no mash required. See our Fresh Wort Kits.
• All grain. Make the wort yourself from malted grain. The simplest way is brew in a bag (BIAB): one pot, one fine mesh bag, the grain held at 65 to 67°C for 60 minutes, then the bag lifted out and the wort boiled in the same pot. A large pasta pot on the stove is enough for a small trial batch. Our all grain recipe kits contain freshly crushed malted grain, Whirlfloc tablets and instructions. If you would rather brew all grain in a single electric unit, look at the Grainfather range.

All grain does not automatically make better beer than a well-made kit. It is a longer brew day with more to manage. The reward is building a recipe from scratch. Our brew in a bag guide takes you through it step by step.

Your first beer, week by week

• Brew day: 1 to 2 hours to sanitise, mix and pitch the yeast.
• Days 1 to 10: fermentation at 18 to 22°C.
• Around day 10: two matching hydrometer readings, then bottle.
• Weeks two to three: first taste.
• Week four onwards: at its best, and still improving for months.

Temperature matters more than anything else in this timeline. Read why temperature control is critical before your first brew.

How much does it cost to start home brewing?

At October 2026 prices:

• Starter kit: from $154.90 for our Basic Home Brew Beer Kit, which includes your first recipe kit. Kits run up to $350 for the Black Label complete setup.
• Bottles: reuse heavy commercial crown-seal bottles, or buy a carton of 12 heavy 750ml amber bottles for $29.90.
• Every batch after that: a recipe kit costs from $42.50 and makes about 55 stubbies, so roughly 80 cents to $1.75 a stubby depending on the recipe, plus carbonation drops and caps.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to brew beer at home in Australia?

Yes. Homebrewing beer for personal use is legal across Australia. Some remote areas have dry zone restrictions, so check local rules if you live in one. You cannot sell homebrew without a licence.

How long does it take to brew beer at home?

You can have a first taste two to three weeks after brew day, and the beer is at its best from four weeks. Brew day takes 1 to 2 hours, fermentation takes 7 to 10 days, and the bottles keep carbonating and improving after that.

What do I need to start home brewing?

A fermenter with airlock, tap and thermometer, a hydrometer, no-rinse sanitiser, a bottling valve, carbonation drops, a capper with crown seals, bottles and a beer recipe kit. A starter kit covers everything except the bottles.

What are the steps to brew beer at home?

Sanitise your equipment, dissolve the recipe kit in hot water, top up to 21 litres, add the yeast, ferment at 18 to 22°C for 7 to 10 days, confirm with two matching hydrometer readings, then bottle with carbonation drops and wait at least three weeks.

What is wort?

Wort is the sweet, unfermented liquid made by dissolving malt in water, before the yeast is added. Once the yeast has fermented it, it's beer.

Do I need to boil anything to brew from a kit?

Usually not. A kit's malt extract only needs dissolving in hot water. The one exception is a recipe with boiled hops, which take a 1 to 2 minute boil in a litre of water.

Is it better to start with ale or lager?

Ale. Ale yeast ferments at 18 to 22°C, which is normal room temperature for most of the year. Lager yeast needs 10 to 15°C, which is harder to hold without extra gear.

Can you brew beer at home without a kit?

Yes. You can add grain to an extract brew, ferment a Fresh Wort Kit, or brew all grain from malted barley. Brew in a bag is the easiest all grain method: one pot, one mesh bag and a 60 minute mash at 65 to 67°C.

Any questions along the way, call us or drop into the Melbourne store. We've been helping people brew their first beer since 1968.