What do you guys intend to do?

I am astounded by the recent rise in the price of grain and hops although not terribly surprised. I haven't even priced LP gas recently but can make a pretty acurate guess based on the price of gasoline.

And I am thinking I will just stop brewing (at least for a while). I can get Sam Adams Octoberfest, Imperial from Costa Rica, and Spaten Octoberfest and Optimator all for $10.49 a 12 pack. Or about $0.87 a 12 oz. bottle.

Right now it looks to me like the cost of both time and money just aren't worth it.
I know it's a hobby but DAMN. Buy my calculations I'm thinking it actually cost more to brew myself then buy from a commercial brewery, if all the costs are considered and my time is valued at $5/hr. Which I can do things around the house that would cost me a hell of a lot more than $5/hr. to pay someone to do for me. The cost comes to about $0.89 a 12 oz. bottle

My question is do you guys intend to keep right on brewing paying these prices?

Am I the only one out here who thinks this is nuts I'm not going to pay these prices?

I know people new to the hobby don't know any difference so I suspect the number of people getting beer kits will remain about the same as any other holiday season.

I know at some point the price of grain and hops are going to push commercial prices up too. Or the price of grain and hops may come back down (but I'm not going to hold my breath).

So I'll just take a wait and see attitude and drink my commercial brew for a while.
Anybody else feel this way or am I in this boat alone?

Non BMC commercial beers have been expected to go up in price. Many have speculated as much as $3/6er.

I'm going to keep brewing. Prices be damned.

Edit: BTW commercial beers will always be more expensive then Homebrews, if you don't factor in your time.

I am planning on buying in bulk, should help to keep the prices reasonable. If there are anyother brewers in your area you could see about putting big bulk orders together to try to save everyone some money. I am going to try to organize a bulk grain purchase (1000 lb's or better) for my homebrew club.

Cheers

Nothing changing at Bee Cave Brewery. I'm stocked for the duration. Over 400# of various base malts (2 row Pale, Pils, Wheat, Vienna, & Flaked Barley), plus loads of hops that I use.

Business as usual.

They're gonna have to go up a whole lot more to keep me from brewing. Even if my brew cost as much as commercial craftbeer at the end of the day, I'd still brew because I love it.

Plus, I bought 110 lbs of grain and 6 lbs of hops before any increases really hit. So, between my 9 lbs of hops and 130+ lbs of grain, I think I'm set for awhile even if prices go crazy.

oh, by the way, if the grain price increases piss you off, then do yourself a favor and vote for Ron Paul. He's the only candidate the I know of that opposes the farm bill and all the stupid-ass ethanol subsidies that are in turn driving up the price of grain.

I will continue brewing as normal.

For me, brewing is not just about the finished product (although it is an important factor). I can easily buy a sixer of any style I want, sometimes cheaper than I can make it and sometimes it is better than I can make it. That is not why I brew though. I like the history, science and sense of pride/ownership I get from making it myself.

Until the grain and hop prices get astronomical, like over $75 for an AG batch of Pale Ale, I am all in.

Price be damned. I brew because I enjoy brewing and prefer the control over finished product. As stated before...the prices would have to get ridiculously expensive to get me to stop.

I don't buy in bulk (no mill) but I think it's still an affordable hobby. There are very few drinkable commercial beers available in my area, so if I want good beer I have to make it, or drive to Green Bay (150 miles) to go to Woodman's.

I know many people who will still drive ATVs and snowmobiles with the price of gas way up. Like me, they'll just economize in other areas. I don't smoke, go out to eat, go to movies, have a cell phone, etc. so I figure I deserve a little splurging. My splurge is brewing and winemaking.

Once I started homebrewing I quickly realized it wasn't going to be about saving money. Even if I get a great deal on ingredients, I am always going to be upgrading and buying more equipment.

To me, brewing is about the process and the end result. Nothing more satisfying than opening a bottle of homebrew and saying "I made this, and damn it's good."

Homebrewing is my only hobby, and I intend to keep on enjoying it.

Woops: I didn't read the question right and accidentally voted no way.

I'll keep brewing. I'm just as much in love with the process of making HB as I am drinking it. In fact I've been brewing a little more than a year and I'm finding myself not even that attracted to commercial beers that much anymore. Even ones that I really liked before I started HBing.

I guess price is subjective. I mean if it's a hobbie and you enjoy it, then what price are you willing to pay to enjoy yourself?

I never started HB'ing to save money on beer. I'm a craftsman. I like to craft things. So if my beer is a bit more expensive than commercial beers in time and $$$ thats fine with me. My beers are way better than anything I like to drink commercially anyways!

I'll brew!!!!!

No changes planned for me either. I love brewing too much to give it up just because the cost is increasing. Plus I love the beer I make too much to give it up for commercial beer again.

I will definitely keep brewing, price isn't even in my way of thinking. I am starting to invest more in big bags of specialty grains to bring my costs down a little bit more by buying everything in bulk. I have always bought base malt in the big bags though.

Business as usual for me too. It's going to take a lot more than this price increase to get me to stop brewing.

Ain't about the money, it never has been. If it were, I'm already so far in the hole...

Commercial beer prices ARE going up. Sammy took a huge hit on their margins last quarter, but other companies have been successful at bumping their prices up. I see a helluva lot more $8 and $9 sixers these days, stuff that seems like it used to be $6 or $7.

I'll keep brewing. But I'll definately look into organized bulk buys with other brewers in my area.

I may actually drink less beer in the coming year, mostly to lose weight

I will continue to brew as time and money allows. You can't figure an hourly rate into a hobby. What's next charging yourself for a hike or fishing trip.

If you thinik that your hiatus would be a temporary one, I believe you are wrong. The prices are not going to come down. With the push towards ethanol fuels and subsequently corn, other grains are going to be raised less and less, thus keeping the prices up.
I don't brew to save money. I brew because I love it. I don't care what it costs.

I'll continue to brew, it's a hobby, a form of entertainment. I certainly don't do it for any savings. With my PM setup, I'm about a wash with buying 6ers in the store. I enjoy the time spent coming up with a recipe, brewing, and sampling as it ages into usually a very tasty brew. It's even better when a buddy and I split a batch and I have someone to brew with.

Bernie Brewer said:

If you thinik that your hiatus would be a temporary one, I believe you are wrong. The prices are not going to come down. With the push towards ethanol fuels and subsequently corn, other grains are going to be raised less and less, thus keeping the prices up.
I don't brew to save money. I brew because I love it. I don't care what it costs.

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I keep hoping that someone in Washington will come to grips with reality and realize that using 7 barrels of oil to get 8 barrels of ethanol and using 1700 gal. of water the get 1 single gal. of ethanol is a poor use of scarce resources. From what I understand there is starting to be a pushback against these centrally planned govt. mandates.

But I'm probably just as alone in that thinking as well.

I see these commercial brews which I like very much as a bargain that is probably going to be short lived. So just like the folks that were smart enough to stock up on grain which I missed out on. I'm now stocking up on commercial brews I see as a bargain.

Joe Dragon said:

We take a fishing trip to Minnesota every year that costs about $400 per person for everything- excluding the boat and gear. The lake we go to (Vermilion) now allows you to bring home 4 walleye in a slot limit- do the math. You could buy caviar cheaper.

A decent all grain batch with dry yeast is well under $20 so it’s 40 cents a beer- and YOU made it. I grow my own grapes and make wine but it aint for the cost savings. Home brewing is definitely discretionary spending.

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I did do the math

12# of grain @ $1.70/# = $20.40
2 oz. hops = $ 2.50
Lp gas @ $3/gal = $ 5.33
dry yeast = $ 1.95
water usage approx. = $ 1.00
-------------
$31.18 / 53 beers = $0.59 / beer

I was brewing at $0.40 per beer but it looks like those days are over.

And I can buy very good commercial beer at $0.89 / beer

I like brewing I guess I just don't love it. Too many other things to do with my precious time right now. I was injured when I started brewing now I'm healthy again. It was a great hobby to keep me occupied when I was limited in the things I could do. Now those limitations are lifted and I feel like I'm being gouged on the price increases.

I'm still under $0.50 a beer. Why should I trade that for $2.50 per beer?

abracadabra said:

I keep hoping that someone in Washington will come to grips with reality and realize that using 7 barrels of oil to get 8 barrels of ethanol and using 1700 gal. of water the get 1 single gal. of ethanol is a poor use of scarce resources. From what I understand there is starting to be a pushback against these centrally planned govt. mandates.

But I'm probably just as alone in that thinking as well.

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You're not alone. Until there is better technology available for ethanol production from corn (better methods do exist, but using other crops) that makes it economically viable, this country driving around on corn is a pipe dream. This is another argument for another thread, and one that's probably not on this forum. I appologize ahead of time for opening a can of worms with this post.

Back to beer. Its just the capitalist in you seeing your costs increase. But (IMHO), what that same capitalist inside you SHOULD be saying instead of "stop brewing" is "how can I brew more economically?". There's plenty of good suggestions in this thread alone (bulk buying, group buying). If you run your home brewery like a business, your thought process may be to start outsourcing your homebrewing (commercial brews). But if it truly is a hobby that you enjoy, then the time you put into it is priceless, not 5$/hr. Hell, you're not even paying yourself minimum wage.

Personally, I've been brewing for about 8 months now, just getting into PM brewing. When I was an extract brewer, I was paying roughly$40 to $45 per batch, and getting an output just under two cases. $22.50 a case. I can buy a case of Bell's/Victory/Troegs for $3-$5 dollars more a case, and have no time in it. But, to echo the majority's point here, I enjoy what I do too much, and with a move more toward larger grain bills using a PM technique and eventually a move to AG, I should be able to bring that down to $25/batch. I can't get a case of Schlitz for $13.50 (I might be able to, I don't price Schlitz very often).

The long and short of it is, I will continue to brew and strive to keep my costs down. Like any good capitalist brewery.

Cheers,

Once I factor in equipment, my homebrew is much more expensive than commercial microbrew, which run $1.20-$2/bottle around here. [Got to love the three-tier system] Since the more I brew, the lower the capital cost per batch ...

I'm stocked for hops, even had some decent yields on homegrown this year. Grain isn't a big deal and I rarely use liquid yeasts. As hobbies go, brewing is one heck of a lot cheaper than owning an RV and I can enjoy the results every day.

I didn't get into this hobby as a way to save money and while the price increases have affected my wallet somewhat, it's not really as bad as all that.

I'm making some adjustments.

Just signed up with a local guy who coordinates bulk grain deliveries (about $30 a sack...delivered). I'm picking up two sacks Monday night.

Leaning toward some mild browns, wits, belgian blondes and other lower hopped brews.

Continue to do 10-gallon batches.

Pimping myself out to the ladies at local retirement centers.

BierMuncher said:

Pimping myself out to the ladies at local retirement centers.

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LOL how much does that pay these days? I know a guy that does that but he calls it selling insurance.

Joe Dragon said:

I did do the math

No offense intended if you took it that way.

Anywho- have a great turkey day- my favorite holiday of the year!

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No offense perceived sorry if I made it seem so. It's often difficult to communicate on forums like this and my style of writing is terse at best.

I was just trying to point out that my calculation shows a %50 increase in the cost of brewing.

And while I spent $8 for a Sam Smith last week at a resturant. I become indignant when I perceive that I'm being taken advantage of. Plus I wanted to point out that these deals on commercial beer aren't going to last.

Have a great one yourself!

There are very few 'cool' microbrews available here in Lincoln, and what you do find is well over $1.00 per bottle.

hell I pay almost $8 for a 6-pack of Blvd. Wheat anywhere in town.

I enjoy brewing. I like brewing the batches I won't drink myself. The price of commercial brews are irrelevant to that.

All the "increases" mean are that my batches cost a few bucks more (and provide more encouragement to buy in bulk). If shortages didn't, inflation would have.

The price of oil, gold, corn, hops, grain, groceries aren't going up. The value of a dollar is going down. That way the tremedous amout of money the US Goverment owe's in debt goes down. Your salary goes up and thereby the amount of tax dollars you pay goes up but the past debt remains the same. And as long as they can fool most everyone into thinking inflation is tame it basically an end around the debt.

When I can buy good imported German beer for less than $0.90 a bottle I intend to take advantage of the situation it surely won't last long.

I keep on brewing until I run out of grain then watch the situation. Meanwhile I'll be stocking up on good commercial brews that are currently at bargain basement prices.

I dont really brew to save money, I think most hobbies are not cost effective in the long run.

First off, it's a hobby. All hobbies have sunk costs, one time costs, depreciation of equipment, etc., and most importantly YOUR TIME!

That one comment about $5/hour was just too damn funny. I make $40/hour. Should I use that price when estimating how much my beer costs me to brew? I seriously doubt it!

Any way, none of these costs should be factored into pricing your end products. What should be are just the ingredients.

If you are paying higher prices for your supplies it's only because you are not buying bulk. I buy my DME in 55# boxes at $140 (2.55/lb). The LHBS sells 3# bags for $12-14 (I really don't know because I dont purchase them, but I'm sure I'm in the ballpark...). That's a minimum of $4./lb. Using 5-6 lb per batch would cost $24-28, plus yeast and hops. In bulk that $15.30. I buy hops in bulk (not being a hop head also saves $$$ on needing to use extra ounces of hops in a batch) and I wash my yeast (a $7 vial used 7 times brings the per use cost down to $1, but I use mine more than that).

So, 15.30 + hops @ .75/oz + 1 for yeast = $17.05. That's still under $20 a batch...I also top up to 5.25 gal which results in having over 5 gals left at bottling time.

Most of the time I get about 37 - 0,5 liter bottles, a time or two I have gotten 40.

Let's look at the math:

Local beer place: 37 * 2.50 = 92.50 - 20 = $72.50 savings...IF they sold what I made/liked/wanted.

Bar/restaurant" 37 * 5 = 185 - 20 = $165.00 savings...IF they sold what I like to drink.

But, hobbies aren't about $$$, although this post could lean on that way. It's about abilities/skills/knowledge and PRIDE in making a product that is very enjoyable to consume and share with others.

Then again, if you can drink the stuff they've convinced you are great beer then by all means this hobby may not for you, but I think you are looking at it at the wrong angle.

No matter how high the prices of supplies go up it'll always be cheaper to DIY versus drinking megaswill.

Brew away...:rockin:

My brews cost about 13 cents per 12 oz. serving, but I have not factored in the capital investment in equipment (I'm afraid to do that). If I did, I think they would be in the $10 a bottle range.

EdWort said:

My brews cost about 13 cents per 12 oz. serving, but I have not factored in the capital investment in equipment (I'm afraid to do that). If I did, I think they would be in the $10 a bottle range.

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Ed,
I wish I knew your secret. I figure it cost 12 cents a 12 oz. serving just for fuel and water usage.

99,
I don't think Spaden, Imperial and Sam Adams is megaswill I think it's excellent beer. If you feel otherwise then that's OK.

But my off time is precious and valuable to me if your off time has no value to you the that's OK too. I just used the $5/hr as a comparison for people who do place some value on their free time. If the only beer you like is the beer you make then by all means pay what ever they feel like charging you. But the price has gone up whether or not you buy in bulk.

OK it's a hobby. But I for one have many different hobbies and interests.

Some peoples hobby's make money some peoples hobby's cost money.

There again I am just trying to point out to the people that there is a fantastic value in certain commercial beers right now that won't last long.

I don't see a real price increase, but that's on account of my just getting into this hobby recently and I don't see how much less expensive it may have been in the past. I just accept the current prices as they are. From my perspective, if the prices go down I'm going to be even more excited about homebrewing!

Damn, I wish I made $40 an hour. I wouldn't know what to do with all that money!!

abracadabra said:

Ed, I wish I knew your secret. I figure it cost 12 cents a 12 oz. serving just for fuel and water usage.

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Brew all grain, buy in bulk, & propagate your yeast. Here are the costs of my standard brews. I propagate the hefe & koslch yeast and pay retail for the specialty grains for the Haus and retail for the hops for the Kolsch.

My Haus Pale $7.85
My Hefe $6.55
My Koslch $8.42

Just talking to my in-laws today about the grain prices. It's not ALL to do with corn and soybeans. Sure, soybeans are getting up to $10 per bushel, corn is getting to $4.00 a bushel and land prices are getting as high as $6,200 per acre (in Iowa) but the grain shortage has more to do with droughts. That's what rose the price of grain - simply not enough supply due to weather. Now it's true that a lot of people are growing corn, but I wouldn't worry about the grain prices. They'll probably go down if weather is better next year.

So sayeth my inlaws, who are 3rd generation to farm the same land.

Thanks Cheese that's great news.

abracadabra said:

Ed,
I wish I knew your secret. I figure it cost 12 cents a 12 oz. serving just for fuel and water usage.

99,
I don't think Spaden, Imperial and Sam Adams is megaswill I think it's excellent beer. If you feel otherwise then that's OK.

But my off time is precious and valuable to me if your off time has no value to you the that's OK too. I just used the $5/hr as a comparison for people who do place some value on their free time. If the only beer you like is the beer you make then by all means pay what ever they feel like charging you. But the price has gone up whether or not you buy in bulk.

OK it's a hobby. But I for one have many different hobbies and interests.

Some peoples hobby's make money some peoples hobby's cost money.

There again I am just trying to point out to the people that there is a fantastic value in certain commercial beers right now that won't last long.

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If I placed a value on my time this board would owe me enough cash to pay for all my 2008 brews