TyTanium

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I have in no way saved money by homebrewing. Not even close. Sure, if you hold consumption constant (volume of homebrew vs. equiv volume of commerical), homebrew is somewhat justified, but consumption isn't constant. Marginal cost of beer falls, therefore consumption goes up. Way up.

My total beer expenditure has increased significantly from before I homebrewed.

pohldogg

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+1
My weekly consumption seems to be around 15 homebrews and 6 commercials. Without homebrewing my weekly consumption was about 6 commercials. Have not saved money.

Obliviousbrew

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I´m not doing this to save money I brew because I like beer, I like drinking it and I love brewing it, I try to manage my expenses and streach the dollar like anyone else but money wasn´t a reason for me and it never will.

negativereaction

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This is accurate and realistic. When I was buying bottled beer, I would feel guilty if I cracked open a third beer in a night, since I knew how much cash I just paid for it. At home, it's faaar to easy to walk out to the taps in the garage and pull a 'free' pint, since it's so far removed from the cash transaction that created it. Result: I drink more homebrew beer than I ever did commercial.

Jayhem

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I understand this argument but what about this side of it:

If you didn't home brew you might be more likely go out to the bar for beers and end up buying dinner as well and end up with $50 bar tabs. Now that I home brew I spend more time brewing and less time going out to eat/drink.

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Next up: Caramel Amber Ale (Chinook)
Primary #1 + 2: Red Zombie IPA
Bottle Conditioning: Centennial Blonde Summer Ale, Shmuck's Belgian Dubbel, Dry Irish Stout
Drinking: Honeybee American Wheat Ale

brycelarson

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No way I'm saving money. I buy tons of beers I don't make - in fact, with my palette getting better due to homebrew and other beer experience I'm buying more expensive beer than ever before.

same.

That said, the cost per unit of enjoyment when homebrewing is really excellent. I can spend $100 on dinner and movies for 5 hours of entertainment for me and my wife or I can spend $20-40 for a good afternoon and weeks of beers. Great deal.

cost per batch ranges from $.50-$.85 / pint.

yso191

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Lets see... $3,873 on brewing expenses since I started in June. 15 gallons brewed... That would be $32.28 per pint.

Steve

TyTanium

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I think my cumulative bar tab for my entire life is less than $50, so that argument doesn't hold for me. May hold for others though.

Golddiggie

Recipes 

Highest cost on mine, for my 15.3% barleywine was about 97 cents per pint (it's still fermenting). Most are in the 45-60 cents per pint range.

I don't go at it trying to make beer as cheap as possible. While we could do it, I doubt many would enjoy drinking that. I'll take my batches (in the above per pint cost range) that taste great every time.

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Hopping Tango Brewery

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On Tap: Caramel Ale, Mocha Porter II, MO SMaSH IPA
Waiting/Carbonating: 12.5% Wee Honey II, 8.9% Old Ale, English Brown Ale, Lickah ESB, Mocha Porter II
Fermenting
K1: MO SMaSH IPA
K2:
K3: TripSix
On Deck: Caramel Ale
Aging:mead
Mead [bottled]:Oaked Wildflower Traditional, Mocha Madness, Blackberry Melomel, maple wine


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negativereaction

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That is a good point as well. Without homebrew as my 'alternate' source of beer, I would normally order a couple pints at a restaurant along with dinner. Now, I have a hard time dropping $6 on a pint, knowing that my nice, cost effective homebrew is waiting for me at home, roughly equivalent in quality to whatever the restaurant is calling a 'premium import' (often Sam Adams or Leinies or some sort of madness like that).

Maybe it all comes out more or less the same in the end. (no, I'm not talking urine).