Extract is expensive!

So I've been an all-grain brewer for longer than I can remember but my club has an extract meeting (at least 50% of fermentables from extract) coming up soon. I figured I'd brew an extract recipe for it...just dropped $45 at the LHBS. I forgot how expensive it is compared to AG!

Honestly that is a bit expensive . What did you buy ? I order my kits and hardly ever go over $30.

As and avid extract brewer. When brewing extract your buying time. What's your time worth ? Some of us can't afford to do a 8 hour brew day.

Time is important, but you also need to consider efficiency. I can only manage about 50% efficiency on my BIAB setup, so I don't typically save much money going all grain. But, then, I also am not buying my grain in bulk.

Yeah I don't have the time or space for all grain. I love the more in depth process but it is a lot more time which I don't have right now.

cheech1006 said:

Time is important, but you also need to consider efficiency. I can only manage about 50% efficiency on my BIAB setup, so I don't typically save much money going all grain. But, then, I also am not buying my grain in bulk.

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What's going on with that that you can only get 50% when I average 80%+? Who crushes/grinds your grain? Is it double milled if crushed?

When I was doing extract batches I could make a batch in about 3 hours. With BIAB all grain I take about 30 minutes more. No 8 hour days for me!

BxBrewer said:

Honestly that is a bit expensive . What did you buy ? I order my kits and hardly ever go over $30.

As and avid extract brewer. When brewing extract your buying time. What's your time worth ? Some of us can't afford to do a 8 hour brew day.

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Nothing too fancy...wheat DME, White Labs Yeast, 2 oz hops. I don't mean to sound like I'm knocking extract brewers. I buy extract for yeast starters but it's been a while since I bought enough for a whole batch, so just a little sticker shock. I can't lie though, I am looking forward to a short brew session this week.

YES, extract is very expensive. I seem to spend $40 to $60 for most of my 5 gallon extract batches. (I generally brew beer that is 6% and up). However, the equipment to go all-grain is also expensive. Since I cannot manage to afford a "true" all grain rig any time soon, I will be stuck with extract for the time being. As soon as I can afford an 8-gallon stockpot, I will probably switch to BIAB, but with the 4 gallon pot I have now, I cannot even do that yet. It seems that HOMEBREWING is expensive!

Well DME costs more right off the bat and depending on what kind and how much it can get pricey. White labs yeast costs more than dry and hop prices can vary a bit.

Extract brewing can get pricey if you want to make your own kits and experiment. Ive wanted to try a few things but i cant get myself to spend the extra money. lol

I wonder how much extract the OP bought. For $45 I can get 12 pounds of dry extract which is enough for a 1.100 beer.

Most of my extract batches only cost about $30 for 5.5 gallons (excepting HG and extremely hoppy beers).

You could always do smaller BIAB batches, or do partial mash. I usually do 3 gal all grain or 5 gallon partials in a 5 gallon pot. Yeah I would like to do full boils but I'm happy with my results.

microbusbrewery said:

Nothing too fancy...wheat DME, White Labs Yeast, 2 oz hops. I don't mean to sound like I'm knocking extract brewers. I buy extract for yeast starters but it's been a while since I bought enough for a whole batch, so just a little sticker shock. I can't lie though, I am looking forward to a short brew session this week.

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i do some extract brews with dme. hefe is 1 of my normal extract beers. i use 2 bags wheat at $11 apiece, wb-06 at $3.50, and 1.5 oz hersbrucker ( $1.15 total since i buy in bulk ) . total 5g extract hefe is a little less than $27

I have switched to AG but it isn't because of the high cost of extract...

Here are my real numbers...

My LHBS sells LME for $1.64/lb (33 lb carboy) and 2-row for $1.10 in 50 lb sacks. Figure 8 lbs LME provides same gravity as about 11 lbs malt, I pay about $13 for the extract vs $12 for the malt...

If I added in fuel cost for heating mash and sparge water probably just about even...

I like AG because I like the challenge of mashing to achieve a targeted fermentability of my wort. I also like to be able to play with things like domestic vs uk malt, or add in significant quantity of Munich/victory or some other specialty malt. I also like the Dave Miller quote "brewers make wort, yeast makes beer." Grinding the grain and mashing makes me feel more like I'm brewing and other than trolling here that's what I like doing...

Please don't bother pointing out you can get base malt at $0.70 / lb, I looked and I can't, at least until I hook up with a group buy. But frankly to save a couple bucks per 5 gal batch I'm just fine ordering through my LHBS. Way more convenient for me and I like shopping there.

Caveman3141 said:

I wonder how much extract the OP bought. For $45 I can get 12 pounds of dry extract which is enough for a 1.100 beer.

Most of my extract batches only cost about $30 for 5.5 gallons (excepting HG and extremely hoppy beers).

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That is still a high price to pay for extract.

eric19312 said:

That is still a high price to pay for extract.

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Yah, that's why if you extract brew full-time buying in bulk is your best option. Doing so brings the cost down to about $3 a pound. It's still cheaper for grain but it's not quite so stark a difference.

$1.64/ lb is my cost for LME

eric19312 said:

$1.64/ lb is my cost for LME

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That works out pretty well for you and where you are. For me, though, it's $3/lb for DME and about 75 or 80 cents a pound for base grains.

I know. My LHBS owner thinks I'm nuts brewing AG....

DrummerBoySeth said:

. Since I cannot manage to afford a "true" all grain rig any time soon, I will be stuck with extract for the time being. As soon as I can afford an 8-gallon stockpot, I will probably switch to BIAB, but with the 4 gallon pot I have now, I cannot even do that yet. It seems that HOMEBREWING is expensive!

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I just switched to all grain after alomst 20 years of extract brewing. My AG equipment is home built. $45 for a mash/lauter tun. $9 sparge arm/coil. $25 for a wort chiller. $35 7 gal pot. $12 grain mill.

So for roughly $130 my batches have gone from $25- $45 a batch for all extract to $10- $20 all grain.

I am on batch 10ish of AG so I am about to break even. Time wise is the other story. Brew times have gone from 1 hour extract to the fastest AG was 4 hours.

I made some awesome extract brews. I have made some awesome AG brews.

Time is money.
I now have more time than money.
To each thier own.

All my extract and kits come from Moorbeer. I make sure to buy enough clear the shipping. Shipping and tax free.

Caveman3141 said:

That works out pretty well for you and where you are. For me, though, it's $3/lb for DME and about 75 or 80 cents a pound for base grains.

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Same here, no idea where he/she found that. Quickly browsing vendor sites here have bulk listed on average $3.50 pound for 50 pounds bulk (AHS) .My local store is over $4 a pound.

Morebeer, since it was mentioned is 3.75 a pound. *shrugs*

http://www.miamibeerandwine.com/BRIESS_GOLDEN_LIGHT_GROWLER_33_LB_p/1097.htm

This is what I was buying last year from my LHBS for about $55. Looks like price has gone up. So this is now $2.36 / lb.

Should look and see if he has any still marked at that price...

eric19312 said:

http://www.miamibeerandwine.com/BRIESS_GOLDEN_LIGHT_GROWLER_33_LB_p/1097.htm

This is what I was buying last year from my LHBS for about $55. Looks like price has gone up. So this is now $2.36 / lb.

Should look and see if he has any still marked at that price...

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Thats quite the deal since their DME is 5.99 a pound http://www.miamibeerandwine.com/BRIESS_CBW_SPARKLING_AMBER_DRY_p/1106.htm

$3.78 per pound non-bulk on LME: http://www.miamibeerandwine.com/BRIESS_GOLDEN_LIGHT_CANISTER_p/1637.htm

Its a no brainer to buy bulk from them!!

DrummerBoySeth said:

YES, extract is very expensive. I seem to spend $40 to $60 for most of my 5 gallon extract batches. (I generally brew beer that is 6% and up). However, the equipment to go all-grain is also expensive. Since I cannot manage to afford a "true" all grain rig any time soon, I will be stuck with extract for the time being. As soon as I can afford an 8-gallon stockpot, I will probably switch to BIAB, but with the 4 gallon pot I have now, I cannot even do that yet. It seems that HOMEBREWING is expensive!

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Sorry, Off topic!!

Check out Wal-Mart, I've seen 32 qt tamale pots for about $23. The nice thing about them for biab brewing is that they come with a shelf, it keeps the bag off the bottom of the pot.

I pay $11.95 NZD per kilo of DME or about $12.50 NZD for LME. If I went AG, I would pay $3.95 NZD for NZ Pale Ale base malt.

When I do a 20 litre brew, it works out at about $2.50 per 500ml bottle. When I buy a local craft beer, like Epic or 8wired, it will cost between $8 - $12 NZD per 500ml bottle. So even though extract is more expensive than all grain, it's still cheaper than buying all my drink from the bottle store

For me...buying from either of my LHBS options brewing AG is 30-40% LESS expensive than Extract buying on an individual batch basis.

Buying in bulk might decrease the spread slightly but all grain is much less expensive...based on the purchase options available to me. If I ordered LME in bulk kegs...it might be different...but shipping eats most of that up....don't think morebeer includes the LME bulk in the free shipping program.

DME $4/lb
LME $18/6.6lb

quality 2-Row Base grain: $1.10/lb-$1.50/lb

I agree, it costs too much. Grain you can get cheap. My time spent brewing is relax time for me, so would rather more time, less cost. AG is the ticket. Extract is a short cut you have to pay for. Realizing that now that I am getting away from using it.

Wait does more beer include 59 lb grain sacks in their free shipping program?


Edited: no 50 lb sacks of grain aren't free shipping...

Edited again. But they do sell 9 lbs LME for $2.60/ lb, eligible for free shipping. Not terrible. AG still cheaper but maybe this helps you get to free shipping faster.

I did recently purchase some morebeer LME at the local freight damaged grocery store. I'm not sure how they end up at NPS in SLC....but they occasionally have a few bags vaccuum mylar bags og extract from Morebeer. Usually priced at under $2/lb.

It is all about a give and a take. I do both, but my all-grain days (I'm old school apparently and do the mash-tun, not BIAB) rarely take longer than 4 hours.

But extract lets me brew inside, and saves me at least an hour. While my time is very valuable, so is a brew day that doesn't happen outside when it's raining/snowing/zombie apocalypse

How exactly do you weigh out the LME when you buy in bulk? Especially w/o making a mess that SWMBO would kill over.

For the last couple years, I've been stopped buying kits and moved exclusively to brewing from recipes. Most of my extract batches run in the $40-45 range. If I make a big beer with more than 2 cans of LME, it gets ridiculous, so I try to keep that limited to once a year. A friend of mine (who also brews only extract) made a DIPA last year that ran $75 for 5 gallons!

That said, I like the shorter brew days, less equipment, and being able to take care of everything on the stovetop. Either side has their pros and cons.

Extract for me cost $30-50. But you get caps, yeast, everything you need. You have to do your research and see what's the best deal. Monsterbrew or Austin home brew are great places.

It think extract works out to about 2-4x the cost of base malt. But base malt is only part of the total. Specialty grains, hops, whitlfloc, sanitizer, cleaner, propane... All these things contribute cost.

All I'm saying is don't look to all grain as an answer to bringing down the cost of your home brewing hobby...

eric19312 said:

It think extract works out to about 2-4x the cost of base malt. But base malt is only part of the total. Specialty grains, hops, whitlfloc, sanitizer, cleaner, propane... All these things contribute cost.

All I'm saying is don't look to all grain as an answer to bringing down the cost of your home brewing hobby...

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exactly. cheap 2-row is one thing, but other base grains like MO are near $2 a lb at my stores along with specialty grains and other additions like orange peel etc. while DME is $3.99 and LME $2.99 a lb. then add in the price of propane for full boils, wort chillers etc and the differences are NOT that great.

I brewed an all grain stout for $22 .... the extract version cost $29.75

my all grain hefeweizen is $19, my extract version is $22

I know a lot of people here (including me) whine about shipping costs but I like the Midwest kits but $18 for shipping can almost double the price

MoreBeer ! I buy a couple of kits a month to keep the pipeline going. Free shipping on orders over $59. There kits include everything but caps,yeast and grain bag. They do include a whirlfloc tablet in there kits. Since using them im on my 3rd batch now. I must say there ingredients are impressive. No more stuck 1.020 FG. No more sweetness or twang. Im getting really good malty hoppy beer ! Do what i did. Buy the same type of kit from all the big names out there and go with who you liked best.

If you can get in on a local group buy, Country Malt Group sells 5 gal. (60 lb.) LME for $75.90 plus about $5 shipping. Briess DME is $92 for a 50 lb bag. plus shipping around $5.

http://www.countrymaltgroup.com/downloads/Champlain 2013 Price Sheets - Updated 12-31-12.pdf