cmorgan

Recipes 

I finally got everything together to start brewing AG and did my first batch last week. It went pretty smooth and I think things are going well thus far. So I decided I was going to start looking at what my next few beers would be and began browsing Norther Brewer's site. Then I started noticing that the prices for AG kits seemed higher than I thought they should be.

I started comparing and in many cases the extract kits were the same price as the AG kits!!! and in a few cases the AG were more expensive! I went back and looked at an old catalouge and the prices have definitely changed. This was REALLY dissappointing because half the reason I got into AG was so that I could afford to start brewing more often.

Has anyone else noticed this? and is it making it harder on anyone else? If so how are you all dealing with the price increase? I could really use some money saving advice as far as buying AG ingredients. Please help! Please refrain from telling me how much fresher AG will be... because though I might appreciate this, it will get me nowhere in explaining to the wife why I now spend 5-6 hours brewing a beer.

wildwest450

Recipes 

You need to shop elsewhere, ALL of AHS all grain kits are cheaper than extract. You will also save buy buying in bulk where possible.

Revvy

Recipes 

Don't buy kits.....I go to my lhbs's with a recipe and get what I need. Of course I have a freezer full of hops and usually a back log of yeast (I pick up extra hops and yeast whenever I'm there) so most of the time I'm just buying my grain. But even when I am buying a couple ounces of hops and some yeast it's about 20.00 for a batch of beer, maybe 25.00

You can also buy bulk grain as well. Our last bulk buy iirc it came down to about 35 bucks for a 55 pound sack of 2-row.

If you are buying kits, imho, you're ending up paying a huge markup.

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humann_brewing

Recipes 

shop around, you will discover. Also look into buying in bulk but that would require more money by buying a grain crusher etc... unless you want to use a rolling pin, but then you will have to pay your medical bills when you get carpel-tunnel so it is a lose lose situation.

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joety

Recipes 

Places that have deals on shipping have to bake it into their prices, and NB is no exception. An AG kit is simply larger and likely heavier.

As WW mentioned, you won't truly start saving until you buy bulk grain.

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pnj

Recipes 

Hopsdirect.com

cmorgan

Recipes 

Thanks for the fast response all! So I need to buy in bulk... any ideas on where from? I live in Northern, VA. I've been trying to keep my eye open for good bulk prices but haven't found anything yet that's made me look twice.
I only know one other guy that brews AG, I guess I should try to get him to go in on some.

As far as buying everything in bulk goes, do you all have any series of brews that you generally like to do that use similar ingredients? rrr... let me clarify if I can. Do you ever buy, for example, 5 different types of grain and 3 different types of hops in bulk, and maybe use one packet of Liquid yeast(re-harvesting as you go) to brew a couple different batches of beer that all just use different amounts of those ingredients. I hope that makes sense, because it seems like that would be the way to go as far as saving cash.

Thanks again!

The Pol

Recipes 

Yah, bulk is good... should be able to brew 5 gallons of almost anything for less than $20

pnj

Recipes 

I started doing AG about a year ago.

I buy hops in bulk from hopsdirect.com
I buy a 55# sack of 2-row for $42
I buy 7# of various grains like Munich, Vienna, Crystal, etc
I buy 2# or so of grain that I don't use much of.
I use dry yeast that costs $1.50 a pack

RLinNH

Recipes 

ANother vote for buying in Bulk. My LHBS has 55lb bags of American 2 row for $60.00. I get the same bag of Grain from my Homebrew Club (4 times a year we do a Bulk/Hop Buy) for $28.00. Do the math and you will soon see that brewing all grain is cheaper.

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