Home fermentation can be really exciting. You can create all kinds of beers and ales and get the exact drink that you want to have. If you are going to start making beer, you need to make sure that you have the basic equipment to get started. Some brewing shops sell starter kits so all you need to do is buy the kit, but you can always decide to buy the individual pieces if you want.
Pot
You need to have a pot that will hold at least four gallons of liquid. You are going to use the pot to boil up the grains and hops that are going to make up your home brew.
Plastic Buckets
You should get two separate six-gallon plastic buckets. One bucket should have a spigot on it so that you can use it to sanitize everything before you start making the beer. You don't want anything that could cause problems with your beer, so you need to sterilize all the clean parts, including the bottles that you are going to put the beer in. The other bucket should be a fermentation bucket. These buckets have lids that have holes drilled in them so that you can put them in an airlock.
Airlock
The airlock goes into the lid of the fermentation vessel. It allows the carbon dioxide that is formed during fermentation to escape without letting anything else in. A good airlock will save you from the risk of explosive fermentation.
Rubber Stoppers
You will need all kinds of rubber stoppers. You will also need to have them in all kinds of sizes, especially if you are going to use carboys as well as buckets when you are fermenting. There are stoppers that have holes in the middle so that you can insert tubes that will let air escape as necessary or that you can use with a siphon tube to get the beer from one container to another. There are also stoppers that are solid, which means that they are going to be airtight and liquid-tight. That means that you can also use the rubber stoppers on the bottles that are you are going to put your beer in. The stoppers are reusable, as long as you clean and sterilize them. However, you may want to make sure that you have plenty of extras because they are small and get lost easily.
Home fermentation can be a lot of fun and get you a brew that you will really enjoy.