Cheaper beer

RandallBrew · 08-06-2008, 01:06 AM

Im looking to make cheaper beer.

I only want to buy enough to make 1-2, 5 gallon batches.

Im thinking of just buying
8 pounds Light Liquid Malt Extract
4 oz Cascade Hops
and some good ale yeast.

Would this taste decent? Any suggestions?

Is there a good cheap recipe that tastes good?

I dont mind what type of beer it is, except he has to be a ale..

Any suggestions for a good website?

Thx for looking

**Yuri_Rage** · 08-06-2008, 01:15 AM

This website has a wealth of knowledge and recipes. Do some searching. Your initial hack at a recipe has merit, but you should do a little more reading before simply dumping all of those ingredients into anything and attempting to make beer. Try www.howtobrew.com for a basic brewing reference.

Why do you only want to make 2 batches? And why must it be so cheap?

xamers · 08-06-2008, 01:18 AM

I think most of us get into the hobby to produce beers we can't buy. Considering even the cheapest equipment necessary (been there, done that), it would be cheaper to go out and buy some Natty Light or something.

Brew-boy · 08-06-2008, 01:25 AM

Most of us here are brewing to make the highest quality beer possible and most do not care what it costs us. May I suggest two things to you, buy How to Brew and read read then read more so you don't waste your money making bad beer and second if cheap is really your highest concern they go buy King Cobra and drink it.

RandallBrew · 08-06-2008, 01:34 AM

some of these kits cost $30-$40 each. Thats a little more than half price for store bought beer. Plus the time and effort make brewing at home not that much of a money saver.

I guess my question was if I could buy in bulk for 1 maby 3 batches. If there was a simple but decent to great tasting beer recipe that somebody knew of.
Thx for replies

**Mutilated1** · 08-06-2008, 01:39 AM

Hey RandallBrew, those ingredients can make you a couple of batches of pretty good beer. Might want to consider maybe 10 #s LME instead though, and some specialty grains wouldn't set you back that much and could add a lot to what you end up with.

**Revvy** · 08-06-2008, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallBrew

some of these kits cost $30-$40 each. Thats a little more than half price for store bought beer. Plus the time and effort make brewing at home not that much of a money saver.

Considering the kind of beer I buy (when I buy) it costs me usually 16 bucks for either a 4 pack (Dogfish Head) or 14 for a 6 pack of a Bell's Beer, of 5 bucks for a 22 ouncer of a Rogue Beer...30-40 bucks for TWO CASES OF FANTASTIC AND FRESH BEER is not really that much.

If I buy one 6 pack (for ease let's say it cost 13 bucks) that means that a case of 24 beers would be $52 bucks...For 2.5 gallons of beer.

5 gallons of really good beer at that price would be $104.00

So to me 30-40 bucks for a kit that makes a beer on par, if not better than most of the craft beers in the store, though not cheap, is still a better bargain than buying 2 cases of the same beer...

(I've done a side by side taste test, with people, of my Rogue Deadguy Clone side by side with the real thing, and mine always comes out ahead...A 22 ounce bomber of Rogue Dead Guy sells locally for $5.95)

There are 640 fluid ounces in a 5 gallon batch....640 fluid ounces of Rogue Dead Guy would cost me 172.55 +Without the 10 cent/bottle deposite I would be paying for 2 cases.

Having said that, If I make my own recipes Ala cart with extract w/grains then it is even cheaper at my lhbs than the premade kits, especially if I have built up a supply of hops over times, as well as a yeast bank...

By brewing allgrain the same recipes can cost me around 15 dollars a batch....By brewing small 2.5 gallon AG batches on my stovetop...I've had 2.5 gallon batches cost me $9.95, and for twice that I get 2 different cases of beers..

AND I enjoy brewing, and thinking about brewing, spending time with other people who are as passionate about good beer and food as I am...both in my area AND online here...AND to me spending a 6-8 hour day brewing Isn't a waste of time...It's doing something that I love, and that is more precious to me than then money I spend on recipes and gadgets.....

You won't get much sympathy/help here if you wanna just make cheap swill to get plastered with, which kind of sounds like it by some of your posts...if that's the case go buy a couple of cases of whatever Anheiser Busch is deep discounting these days. Take a look at some of the threads around here and you'll see that people like that usually just get run off...

If you want to make Great Beer, you will get plenty of help....If you like to DIY or want to cut some costs, like how I mentioned there are plenty of threads around here, a lot of us like to find bargains, and make our own beer....But not at the sacrifice of quality and taste. We leave that to the likes of Budweiser.....

RandallBrew · 08-06-2008, 02:24 AM

I havnt drank enough beer I guess to know what good beer is. Good beer to me is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale $24 a 24 pack. Thats where I was coming up with my figure.
Ive only brewed beer once and it took longer than I expected and I was up late. I think brewing in the day would be more enjoyable.

pcolson · 08-06-2008, 02:43 AM

i mean ive only brewed a few batches and it is extremely fun and just think when its done you get to drink it... how could you pass that up! and ive been dropping hundredr of dollars on stuff my bank account hates my new hobby hah... i mean 26q turkey fryer hah. mmm

**Yuri_Rage** · 08-06-2008, 04:06 AM

It's been said many times: if you're in this hobby to save money, you have found the wrong hobby. Equipment + time + ingredients will cost you far more than simply buying a few cases of half decent beer.

However, if you're ready to enjoy brewing beer for the sake of brewing (and drinking) beer, buying in bulk and building your own gear will make this hobby far less expensive.