The first time someone walks into a homebrew shop, they're greeted by a wall of starter packs, an aisle of fermenters, three different sanitisers, and the strong sense that they need to buy something but aren't sure what. This article is the answer to that. A specific, honest shopping list — with the items you genuinely need, the prices you'll actually pay in Australia, and the items that look helpful but you can safely skip on batch one.

If you're earlier in the decision-making process and still choosing between brewing methods, our complete beginners guide covers that ground first. This article assumes you've decided to start and want to know what to actually buy.

Decision one: which method

Before you buy a single piece of equipment, you need to pick a brewing method. The method changes what you buy. The three realistic options for a first-timer:

Tin extract kits (cheapest entry)

A can of concentrated malt syrup that you dilute with water. Cheapest to start ($150-$200 total including a first batch). The downside is the "kit twang" character that most extract beers have — a sweetish, caramel-honey note you can taste in the finished beer. It puts some first-timers off the hobby. Good if your budget is genuinely tight, less ideal if you want the first batch to convince you brewing is worth doing.

Fresh wort kits (recommended starting point)

A pre-made 23-litre batch of brewery-grade wort in a pouch. You pour it in, add yeast, ferment. Total entry around $200-$300. Higher quality than tin extract — the finished beer is competitive with commercial craft because the wort was made by a brewery, not concentrated. Brew day is the simplest of any method (about 30-45 minutes of actual work). This is what we'd recommend for a first batch unless cost is the absolute deciding factor.

Recipe extract or all-grain (deeper end)

You source malt, hops and yeast separately, then do the boil and recipe assembly yourself. More equipment, more time per batch, full creative control. Total entry $400-$1,000+. Not what we'd recommend for batch one — the failure modes are too many for a first-timer to navigate cleanly — but worth knowing about for the medium term.

For a head-to-head comparison of all three, see our methods comparison guide.

In Short

For most first-timers we'd recommend fresh wort. It produces real craft-grade beer on batch one, the equipment list is short, and brew day takes under an hour. Tin extract is cheaper but harder to be impressed by. All-grain is amazing but a hard first step. Pick fresh wort unless cost is the absolute priority.

Decision two: bottles or kegs

Your finished beer needs to go somewhere. Two real choices for a first-timer:

Bottling (recommended for batch one)

The default choice. Bottle 50-odd 375ml stubbies or 30-odd 640ml longnecks. Cheap, portable, easy to share. Bottling adds about $45-$80 to your kit (capper, caps, priming sugar, bottling wand). You can use re-used commercial bottles for free as long as they're crown-cap, not screw-top.

Kegging (for committed brewers)

A keg is faster to fill, easier to dispense, and produces consistently better carbonation. The downside is the upfront cost — $300-$600 for keg, CO2 cylinder, regulator, and a basic tap setup. Not what we'd suggest for batch one. Most brewers buy a keg setup around batch five or six, when bottling becomes the thing they dread most about brewing.

For now, bottling. Make the keg decision when you've finished a few batches and you know you're staying with the hobby.

The minimum viable starter setup

Regardless of which brewing method you pick, this list of equipment is what you need. Buy these in one trip and you'll be set up for any first batch.

25-litre food-grade fermenter
$40–$70
Plastic is fine. Make sure it comes with a lid, a tap, an airlock and a rubber grommet. The capacity needs to be at least 25 litres so there's headspace above your batch for the foam during fermentation. Some starter fermenters are 30L which is also fine.
No-rinse food-grade sanitiser
$15–$25
The single most important purchase. Most failed homebrews fail because of contamination, not technique. Buy one concentrated bottle — it'll make enough solution for dozens of brews.
Stick-on adhesive thermometer
$5–$10
Liquid-crystal strip that sticks to the side of the fermenter. Read the wort temperature at a glance. Don't skip this — controlling fermentation temperature is the single biggest factor in beer quality.
Hydrometer and test jar
$15–$25
A floating glass instrument that measures the density of your wort. The only reliable way to know when fermentation is finished. Buy them as a set.
Bottle capper
$30–$50
A hand-held or bench-mounted device that crimps crown seals onto bottles. Hand-held is fine for a first batch. Buy the bench-mounted version later if you scale up.
Crown seals (bottle caps)
$5–$10
Standard 26mm crown seals. A bag of 100 is enough for two batches.
Bottling wand
$8–$12
Optional but cheap and useful. A rigid plastic tube with a valve at the tip that lets you fill bottles cleanly from the fermenter tap. Makes bottling day much less messy.
~50 reusable bottles
Free
Pry the caps off your last three or four cartons of commercial beer, rinse the bottles, you're done. Avoid screw-top bottles — they don't take crown seals. Ask mates to save their bottles too.
A bucket or small fermenter for sanitiser
$10–$20
For mixing sanitiser solution and dunking equipment as you go. A clean food-grade bucket is fine.

Equipment subtotal: $130-$220 AUD. This list works for any of the three brewing methods. The next step is buying the ingredients for your first batch on top of that.

Your first batch ingredients

What you add to the equipment list depends on your chosen method.

If you chose fresh wort

That's it. Two items.

If you chose tin extract

If you chose recipe extract

Where to buy each piece

Three realistic sources cover everything on the list.

Specialist homebrew shops

Your local homebrew shop is the best one-stop source. They stock everything on the equipment list, all the ingredients, and the staff can usually answer questions about your specific situation. Most Australian capitals have at least 2-3 dedicated homebrew shops; regional cities typically have one. Buy your equipment and first kit here.

Online homebrew retailers

If you're in a town without a local shop, several Australian online retailers ship equipment and ingredients nationally. Be cautious about shipping fresh wort kits long distances in summer — they're refrigeration-sensitive, and warm transit is the enemy. Check whether the seller offers chilled shipping if you're buying fresh wort online.

Supermarket and hardware store

The bottles, the bucket, lint-free cloths, and household sugar can all come from a supermarket. Don't buy specialty homebrew gear at supermarkets — the quality and selection are generally worse than dedicated homebrew shops, and you'll pay similar prices.

Three realistic starter budgets

What you'll actually spend, by method, including a first batch.

Path A: Tin Extract Kit (Cheapest)
Equipment (fermenter, sanitiser, hydrometer, bottling gear)
$130–$220
First batch ingredients (tin kit + brewing sugar + priming sugar)
$33–$45
Total to first beer
$163–$265
Path B: Fresh Wort Kit (Recommended)
Equipment (fermenter, sanitiser, hydrometer, bottling gear)
$130–$220
First batch (fresh wort kit + priming sugar)
$73–$95
Total to first beer
$203–$315
Path C: Recipe Extract (More Ambitious)
Equipment (above + stockpot + stirring spoon)
$175–$310
First batch ingredients (LME + grains + hops + yeast + priming)
$62–$105
Total to first beer
$237–$415

These figures don't include temperature control. If you're brewing through an Australian summer in QLD, NT, WA or northern NSW, add $90-$210 for a used bar fridge and an aftermarket temperature controller. It's the best money you'll ever spend on the hobby.

$200-$300 gets you brewing real craft beer at home. The first batch alone returns roughly half the equipment cost in saved beer purchases.

What NOT to buy on day one

Things that look helpful in the homebrew shop but you genuinely don't need on batch one.

Multiple sanitisers

You need one no-rinse food-grade sanitiser. Not three. Some starter packs include a separate cleaner, an iodophor, and a powdered "between batches" sanitiser. One no-rinse product covers everything a beginner needs.

A wooden brewing paddle

Looks great on Instagram. No actual use in modern brewing. The wort moves from kit to fermenter, then sits. Nothing needs stirring with a paddle.

A glass carboy

Glass carboys are beautiful but heavy, easy to break, and expensive. A plastic fermenter does the same job better at lower cost. Get a stainless or glass fermenter much later if you stay with the hobby.

An auto-siphon

Useful but optional. You can transfer beer by using the tap on your fermenter into bottles via a bottling wand. Auto-siphons make sense when you have a second fermenter or you're moving to kegs.

Specialty glassware

A tulip glass makes a Hazy Pale Ale look prettier, but you can pour your homebrew into whatever you have. Glassware is a treat to buy later, not a starting requirement.

Recipe books

Not yet. Your first batch should be from a pre-made kit (tin or fresh wort), not a designed-from-scratch recipe. Buy the book after you've brewed 2-3 batches and you actually want to write your own recipes.

Avoid This Trap

Many homebrew shops sell "starter packs" bundling some essentials with several items you don't need yet (multiple sanitisers, paddles, gravity refractometers, hop bags for methods you won't use). The bundle price often isn't much cheaper than buying the items you actually need separately. Pick what's on the list above. Skip the rest.

The order to actually buy

If you walked into a homebrew shop tomorrow with no prior research, the order to buy would be:

  1. Pick your method. Tin extract, fresh wort, or recipe extract. This decision determines everything else.
  2. Equipment kit. The minimum-viable starter setup above. Don't accept any "starter pack" upgrades without checking what's in them.
  3. Sanitiser. One bottle of no-rinse food-grade sanitiser.
  4. Bottling supplies. Capper, caps, priming sugar, bottling wand. Skip bottles for now — collect them at home from your last few cartons.
  5. Your first batch ingredients. Whichever method you chose.
  6. Bottles. Save 50 stubbies or 30 longnecks at home from your existing supply over the next 2-3 weeks while your beer ferments. Don't buy new bottles unless you have to.

For the actual brewing process once you have your gear, see how to brew from a fresh wort kit (for fresh wort) or the complete beginner's guide for an overview of all methods. For more detail on equipment specifically, see our equipment essentials guide.