A hydrometer which is used, in conjunction with the thermometer, to measure the specific gravity of the wort is a must have in your home brewery. Translation - it tells you how much sugar is in solution and therefore how alcoholic the beer will end up. A hydrometer is something I consider essential only if you are a statistics nut or you are going to be brewing a lot. First time out, it doesn’t really matter. Fourth, a secondary bucket for bottling. You want to siphon off the beer that is sitting on top of the spent yeast cells. It makes for a clearer, tastier brew. You’ll notice I said ’siphon,’ you’ll need six feet or so of clear plastic tubing and a bottling tube.