Hope my wife isn't mad!

Went to my LBHS today and got the ingredients for two batches of stout - a sweet stout and an RIS (both recipes from the forum), plus another Ale Pale and some misc. stuff. Cost $129. I thought that home brewing was supposed to save money! My wife is wondering the same thing. I keep telling her that it will eventually. Anyway, I will be brewing a batch tonight after supper with my assistant brew master (my 10 year old son), and perhaps even bottling a pale ale while we watch the Blackhawks beat the Canucks (hopefully) .

Have a great weekend everyone :rockin:!

if you went out and bought 15 gallons of import beer, i'm sure it would come out to a lot more than 129 bux

AAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA thats a great joke!!! But seriously. The Blackhawks are going to lose miserably. Sorry for you but its True.:rockin:

It saves money in the long run because it's a good hobby that keeps you off the streets so you don't end up in a biker gang or selling amway or something.

Hey, that Canadian almost has my name!

ChshreCat said:

Hey, that Canadian almost has my name!

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Cheschire is my last name

Brewenstein said:

while we watch the Blackhawks beat the Canucks (hopefully) .

Have a great weekend everyone :rockin:!

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Hope your beer turns out better than the score for you.

1) I refuse to watch the NHL until Gary Betteman is out of the commissioner's office, and that has nothing to do with the city I'm from.

2) I've spent hundreds of dollars on beer equipment this year... and a lot of it was, oh, I need this for $20, so I'll tack it on to the ingredient bill.... I've also been looking for deals on used equipment, and I haven't had to buy a new carboy or demijohn since the last time I made mead, 5 years ago.

I'm sure I could sell my equipment for a bundle, but I like my worst homebrews much better than store bought beers.

hahah Homebrew cheaper?? I've told my wife that, but she still wonders why I buy beer at the store.. I told her the other day that the beer are like my children.. And I can't bear to drink my children

I try to save them, but I can't.. DO I have a problem??? Probably, but I like it!!

Just finished the RIS. Went to put the airlock in and punched the rubber gasket right through and into the bucket! I just shoved the airlock in tight and taped it in and hoping for the best. I will go back to the store and see if they have extras Monday. For now I am relaxing and having a home brew (a milk stout that the owner of my LHBS gave me). Have a great night everyone and go Hawks!

cheschire said:

AAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA thats a great joke!!! But seriously. The Blackhawks are going to lose miserably. Sorry for you but its True.:rockin:

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GO HAWKS!!! :rockin: HAWKS WIN!!!

Look at it this way:

Brewing equipment - hundreds
Ingredients - $129.00
Drinking the product of your own labors - PRICELESS

$129 for two batches?

Go Hawks. Buying kits at HBS for me usually isn't the way to save money. You get some good recipes, and they often do taste great, but I find the best way to save a little money is to start finding ingredients on your own and then using recipes from wherever (books, friends, web, ???). I bought malt in bulk for $98/55 lb ($2ish a pound). Brought the price down considerably (not as low as all grain - but still it's better than $45-$50 per kit).

At $9 per 6-pack for good beer (where I live), you are still saving money, but not tons. You have one thing right though - sit back, relax, and have a home brew. There's nothin' better. Have fun

gfd622

zac said:

$129 for two batches?

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That's what I thought, too. For some reason, buying the ingredients at the LHBS is more expensive than getting online from one of the major suppliers. What I've discovered is that equipment is mostly cheaper at the LHBS, but not the ingredients. Kits are about a wash, but not a la carte ingredients.

Brewenstein said:

Went to my LBHS today and got the ingredients for two batches of stout - a sweet stout and an RIS (both recipes from the forum), plus another Ale Pale and some misc. stuff. Cost $129. I thought that home brewing was supposed to save money! My wife is wondering the same thing. I keep telling her that it will eventually. Anyway, I will be brewing a batch tonight after supper with my assistant brew master (my 10 year old son), and perhaps even bottling a pale ale while we watch the Blackhawks beat the Canucks (hopefully) .

Have a great weekend everyone :rockin:!

Click to expand...

Just explain to her that brewing is a lot less expensive than a lot of other hobbies - golf, racing, fishing. And you're at home more. All in all, one of the better hobbies I have taken up in my life.

Brewenstein said:

GO HAWKS!!! :rockin: HAWKS WIN!!!

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no comment

If this is gonna evlovle into a cost discussion... I ran some #'s on a few of my fav batches:

Double Bastard Total Cost to Brew:20.49 Commercial 7.99/22 oz (29 Bottles)= 231.71
1.4 lbs 120L 1.35/lb = 1.89
16. 75 lbs 2-Row .6514/lb = 10.91

2.75 oz Chinook 60 1.62/oz= 4.45
1 oz Chinook 15= 1.62
1 oz Chinook 5= 1.62


Baltic Porter= 13.65
13 lbs Pale Malt .6514/lb= 8.47
11 oz Chocolate Malt 1.70/lb= 1.69
8 oz Caramunich 1.65/lb= .825
6oz Crystal 60L 1.35/lb= .51
4 oz Black Patent 1.35/lb = .34
1.25 oz northern Brewer (60)= 1.17
.25 oz Glacier (15)= .63
WL German Lager 830= 2.50


Arrogant Bastard =18.11 Comm- 5.99/22 oz bottle= 173.91 for 5 gallons

13.5 lbs 2-row .6514/lb = 8.79
1.5 lbs C 120L 1.35 lb = 2.03

2.5 Chinook (60) 1.62/oz= 4.05
.75 Chinook (15) 1.62
.75 Chinook (5) 1.62

These are 3 that I brew all the time, or course this is all grain, but you can see why the 129 for 2 batches jumped out at me.

I buy hops & grain in bulk, and split/pitch on a yeast cake, so I add a nickela batch for yeast.

You need to get smart with her.

My wifey is now used to me nickle and diming her to death. Yesterday I wanted an element to start my conversion to electric. We were in Menards, so I just tell her that I'm going to check something out. Not buying anything, I just want to make sure they have it....So, I come back with it in my hand, ask her what she is looking at, and show her what I was looking at......The situation is now a tie. If she wants what she was after, then she gotta let me have what I was "Just looking at"......End result, I get my new element, and she gets her worthless piece of crap. We are both happy.

ChshreCat said:

It saves money in the long run because it's a good hobby that keeps you off the streets so you don't end up in a biker gang or selling amway or something.

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I ended upin a biker gang..... and making beer.

The $129 included about $30 for another Ale Pale and some misc stuff. The actual ingredients were about $100. Also, I will have some leftovers for the beginnings of another batch. The actual cost for these two batches is more like $85 - $90. Still, 4 cases of the stouts that I usually buy would be around $160 - $175 (at least $8 per six pack), so I still come out ahead. I am looking forward to the days of AG, but that may be awhile.

desertbronze said:

Just explain to her that brewing is a lot less expensive than a lot of other hobbies - golf, racing, fishing. And you're at home more. All in all, one of the better hobbies I have taken up in my life.

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True. But what if you are an obsessive person and also have a golf and a fishing/boating problem?

Then don't brew while you're golfing and fishing. The greenskeeper will hate you, and people will constantly be trying to play through.

Someone here on HBT once wrote: "Saying you are homebrewing to save money on beer is a lot like saying you bought a boat to save money on fish." Truer words were never spoken.

SHHHH... my wife might hear!

You can definitely save money on teh beer. Just not with equipment.

the silver lining comes when you finally drop the CVS number on that shiny new pre-built, computer controlled, pilot brewery. At that point, your wife will relize that you absolutely MUST brew to make the investment pay for itself. When she realizes that, it's no longer "You are brewing AGAIN?".

Instead, it becomes "STFU and go brew some fvcking beer!"

A win, win.

GilaMinumBeer said:

You can definitely save money on teh beer. Just not with equipment.

the silver lining comes when you finally drop the CVS number on that shiny new pre-built, computer controlled, pilot brewery. At that point, your wife will relize that you absolutely MUST brew to make the investment pay for itself. When she realizes that, it's no longer "You are brewing AGAIN?".

Instead, it becomes "STFU and go brew some fvcking beer!"

A win, win.

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That would be AWESOME!

My last trip to the LHBS cost me 85 bucks. Put together a moose drool clone, bought a honey ale kit, a new mash spoon, bottle caps, flip top bottle gaskets, and a few other odds and ends.

i ordered the ingredients from northernbrewer and freshops to brew the 60 minute ipa clone in sam's book extreme brewing....

breakdown of the ingredients below.....


HP53 Warrior Hop Pellets 5 oz 5 x $2.99 ($14.95)
20113 Briess Golden Light DME 9 lbs. 3 x $11.50 ($34.50)
G511 Crisp Amber Malt 1 $2.50 ($2.50)
Y1187 Wyeast Ringwood Ale 1 $6.25 ($6.25)
Subtotal $58.20
BrewSaver Ground shipping $7.99
Sales tax $0.00
Grand Total $66.19

plus i had to buy 3/4 ounes of simcoe & amarillo hops from freshops.com. i did buy extra of both as well as some additional hops and the total was about $48.


i ordered extra hops for a future brew, but i'm guessing this batch will cost me about $75, give or take a couple dollars.