Home brewing, done properly

Brew it better. Measure it honestly.

Free calculators and plain-English guides for beer, cider and wine made at home. No jargon, no fluff — just the numbers you need and the honest advice to go with them.

Open the Brew Bench Read the basics

ABV calculatorPriming sugarMade by a brewer

Free toolsEvery calculator here is free, forever. No sign-up wall.

Honest kit picksWe only point at gear worth the cupboard space.

Plain EnglishBrewing explained without the gatekeeping or Latin.

Made by a brewerWritten from real batches — including the failed ones.

The Brew Bench

Two numbers most brewers get wrong.

Free, instant, and honest. Work out your ABV from gravity readings, then get your priming sugar right so bottles carbonate — not explode.

Original gravity (OG) Final gravity (FG)

5.3% ABV

A solid session-strength beer. That is dependable, easy-drinking territory.

ABV = (OG − FG) × 131.25. Take both readings with a hydrometer at the same temperature.

The basics

Three truths that make better beer.

Get these right and you are most of the way there. Get them wrong and no recipe will save you.

Sanitation first

Ninety per cent of ruined batches come down to one thing: something touched the beer that was not clean. Sanitise everything that meets your wort after the boil. This is the gospel — believe it.

Hold your temperature

Yeast makes flavour, and it makes its best flavour in a steady, sensible range. A wild fermentation temperature is the difference between clean and cidery. Cool, stable, boring — that is the goal.

Give it time

The most common beginner mistake is drinking it too soon. Let fermentation finish, let it condition, let it carbonate properly. Patience costs nothing and fixes almost everything.

Start here

Two guides to get you pouring.

Whether it is your very first brew or your first time bottling, start with these.

Your first brew

From kit to glass without the panic — what to buy, what to skip, and the three things that actually matter.

Bottling & carbonation

Get the fizz right every time. Priming sugar, capping, and how long to wait before that first cold one.

Kit worth the cupboard space

The short list of gear that earns its keep.

No gadget graveyard. These are the few things that genuinely make brewing easier and better.

A proper starter kit

Fermenter, airlock, and the essentials in one box. The cheapest honest way to find out if brewing is for you.

No-rinse sanitiser

The single most important purchase you will make. Buy more than you think you need.

A decent hydrometer

You cannot measure ABV without one. A spare is wise — they are glass and they break.

Bottles & caps

Reuse crown-cap bottles or buy swing-tops. A bench capper pays for itself by batch two.

Honest note: recommendations here are chosen on merit. Some outbound links may be affiliate links, at no extra cost to you. We only list kit we would use ourselves.

Questions

Asked by brewers like you.

How much does it cost to start home brewing?

Less than most hobbies. A starter kit and your first ingredients will cost about the same as a couple of rounds at the pub — and every batch after that works out at pennies a pint.

Is home brewing legal in the UK?

Yes. Brewing beer, cider or wine at home for your own consumption is legal in the UK with no licence and no duty to pay. Selling what you make is a different matter and needs the proper approvals — that is not what this site is about.

How long until I can actually drink it?

For a straightforward ale, roughly two weeks to ferment and one to two weeks in the bottle to carbonate and settle. Rushing either stage is the most common beginner mistake. Give it time.

Why does everyone bang on about sanitation?

Because it is the single biggest cause of ruined batches. Anything that touches your beer after the boil must be sanitised. Get this one habit right and most problems simply never happen.

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Matthew 5:16 · King James Version

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