burch

Recipes 

I made my first batch of an India Pale Ale. Just got finished bottling. I`ve got 28.00 + $9.00 shipping for the beer kit and a hell of alot of work for 2 cases of beer. Is this really worth all of the trouble. Theirs got to be a better way in saving costs. Also I need to make more than 5 gals at a time. So what are you folks doing to cut cost on ingredients and making a larger batch so it`s all worth the effort.

Burch

EdWort

Recipes 

Give All Grain a try. The results in the beer alone are worth it. Buy grain in bulk and bring the price down. I have my Haus Ale down to $7.95 for 5 gallons and it's an excellent beer. AG takes more time and a bit more equipment, but the results are well worth it IMHO.

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Cheers,

EdWort

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Haus Pale Ale, Bavarian Hefeweizen, Robust Porter, Oktoberfest Ale, Wounded Knee IPA, Rye IPA, BCB IPA, Kolsch, Apfelwein

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uwmgdman

Recipes 

A fair amount of people that brew all-grain brew 10 gallon batches, twice the beer in the same amount of work. Although you'll need to consider how you'll move 10 gallon volumes of very hot liquor.

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Primary: None
Secondary: None
Bottled: None
Drinking: Schwarzbier, Raspberry Celebration, Northern English Brown, Carty Cascade Pale Ale - Vintage 2009, Maibock Pale Ale, 1120 IPA
Next: Simcoe IPA Bohemian Pils? Classic American Pils? Robust Porter? Dunkelweizen? Blonde Ale?

SteveM

Recipes 

You have to enjoy the process because if the economics alone are what is driving you to want to brew your own, you will soon figure out that if it is not fun, then your time investment plus your money investment doesn't work compared to what you would spend in both just buying beer.

The other thing is, I don't try to make anything if I can't make it better (in my own humble opinion) than what I can buy. For example, I tried making a hefeweisen and decided that mine was nowhere near the quality of Paulaner's, so I just don't make hefes any more. But making a pale ale that is at least as good or (generally) better than a commercial product is not at all difficult.

So if you don't enjoy the process and the beers you make are not as good as what you can buy, then this might not be the best way to spend your time.

I spend about $30 - $40 at my LHBS per batch (back to economics). Compared with the cost of a top quality micro, this is not at all a bad deal.

david_42

Recipes 

Homebrewing doesn't make sense from an economic stand point, if you compare it to BMC and per pound of alcohol. One has to drink huge amounts of ale, even comparing homebrew to microbrews, before you hit break-even.

I brew because I enjoy brewing and I make ales that are not available locally or have been tuned to my personal tastes, not to save money.

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Remember one unassailable statistic, as explained by the late, great George Carlin: "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"

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Onescalerguy

Recipes 

I do brew to save money!We're doing 6gal batches AG for 15$.And that's counting shipping all my ingredients to Alaska.Heck yea,it's worth it.A quarter a beer for the good stuff!
Cheers

sudsmonkey

Recipes 

I agree. It costs me around $20 for a 5 gal AG batch. I also make around 4 gal of small beer from the leftover sparge water in the mash tun. I can make a better beer than I can buy locally, and it suits my specific taste. The biggest part is that I enjoy brewing. It's my hobby. Luckily, it is complementary to my other hobby, drinking.
AG is the way to go.

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More like a sock monkey, really...

Whelk

Recipes 

Maybe I can buy two cases of Natty Light for less money, but I can make two cases of way better beer for a few dollars more. Yeah, there's some time invested, but I love brewing--if I wanted to get a load on for cheap, I'd go buy some Popov or whatever. Homebrewing is an economical way to get great beer for not a lot of money, but it's not about money, it's about beer and having a good time.

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Nothing until I figure out if I can make it happen over in the UK.

Fingers

Recipes 

Here in Canada any booze is absolutely taxed to death. Our cheapest discount beer goes for about $1.25 a can. Of course if you buy them 24 at a time they knock a quarter off the total price. My SWMBO bought me a 40 ounce bottle of Jack Daniel's for V-day. It was a buck an ounce....

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If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

dibby33

Recipes 

I pay AU$17.50 for a six pack (345ml) of good beer (Malt Shovel Brewery)
I can make two cartons with DME and hops for around $30. It would cost me about $120 to buy that in the shop. 1/4 of the price

Plus I like brewing which helps. Starting to come to terms with not liking to bottle but I am slowly obtaining the gear (SHMBO will never notice?)

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Primarys : empty.
Secondary : Mead (2 gallon trials)
Bottled : all drunk
Drinking : A Lot.
Next Up : Pumpkin Ale