1Bottle Topped Fully Topped IPA home brew starter kit
This is a proper all-grain beer kit rather than a tin of extract. It makes 5 litres, about 9 pints, of a 5.3% IPA hopped with Bravo, Cascade and Chinook. The fermenting bucket, brew bag, airlock, thermometer and bottling wand are all reusable, so it's a good way into brewing from grain.
Pros
- All-grain, with no extracts or concentrates.
- Reusable equipment for future batches.
- Small batch that suits a kitchen hob.
Cons
- Bottles aren't included.
- Makes about 9 pints at a time.
View on Amazon UK↗UK listing only in this guide.Amazon price at the time shown. Prices and availability can change; the price on Amazon at purchase applies. Product sources
Bottle Topped product page ↗
2WineBuddy Chardonnay 6-bottle starter kit
Wine kits are where a lot of homebrewers start. This WineBuddy box has the ingredients and reusable equipment to make 4.5 litres of Chardonnay, about six bottles, in seven days. They only need to add sugar and water. Red and white refill kits are easy to find, so the equipment keeps getting used.
Pros
- Ingredients and equipment in one box.
- Ready in about seven days.
- The equipment works with most 6-bottle refill kits.
Cons
- Sugar isn't included.
- Six bottles per batch.
View on Amazon UK↗UK listing only in this guide.Amazon price at the time shown. Prices and availability can change; the price on Amazon at purchase applies. Product sources
Balliihoo Homebrew product page ↗
3Inkbird ITC-308S temperature controller
Fermentation temperature makes a big difference to how a beer turns out. The ITC-308S is a plug-in controller with a probe and two sockets, one for heating and one for cooling. With a fridge and a heat pad plugged in, it holds the fermenter at the temperature they set. There's no wiring, and it sounds an alarm if things drift too far.
Pros
- Plug-and-play, with no wiring.
- Controls heating and cooling.
- High and low temperature alarms.
Cons
- Needs a fridge or heater to control.
- Practical rather than exciting to unwrap.
View on Amazon UK↗UK listing only in this guide.Amazon price at the time shown. Prices and availability can change; the price on Amazon at purchase applies. Product sources
Inkbird UK product page ↗
4Tilt wireless hydrometer and thermometer, red
The Tilt floats in the fermenter and sends the beer's gravity and temperature to a phone over Bluetooth. They can follow fermentation without opening the lid to take samples, and log the readings to a free Google Sheets template. It's a premium gadget most brewers wouldn't buy for themselves.
Pros
- Reads gravity and temperature without opening the fermenter.
- Works with iPhone and Android.
- Free cloud logging.
Cons
- Expensive for a hydrometer.
- Two Tilts in use at once need different colours.
View on Amazon UK↗UK listing only in this guide.Amazon price at the time shown. Prices and availability can change; the price on Amazon at purchase applies. Product sources
Tilt product page ↗
5How to Brew by John Palmer, 4th edition
How to Brew is the book most homebrewers end up owning. John Palmer covers ingredients, methods, equipment and recipe design clearly, from a first batch through to all-grain brewing. This fourth edition is fully revised, so it's useful whether they're just starting or already brewing from grain.
Pros
- Suits beginners and all-grain brewers.
- Explains why as well as how.
- Fully revised fourth edition.
Cons
- A reference book rather than a quick read.
- Keen brewers may own an older edition.
View on Amazon UK↗UK listing only in this guide.Amazon price at the time shown. Prices and availability can change; the price on Amazon at purchase applies. Product sources
Amazon book description and Open Library record ↗
What to buy someone who loves homebrewing
Homebrewers like kit that makes each batch more consistent and new recipes to try. The best gifts for homebrewers are an all-grain beer kit, a wine kit for a change, a fermentation temperature controller and a wireless hydrometer. Ask whether they brew from kits or from grain.
How we picked these gifts for homebrewers
We picked each product for what homebrewers enjoy and because it makes sense as a present. The order is our own choice. The pros and cons come from published product details, not customer reviews.
Amazon shows the current price and delivery. Where we've checked that the US listing is the same product, the US link goes there. Otherwise you'll get the UK listing, labelled as such. More about our research.
