Does all grain brewing become expesive

If I stopped buying equipment upgrades, it wouldn't be bad at all. Being able to brew some bada$$ brews for 20-30 bucks @5 gallons is awesome. I seem to be addicted to upgrades

thadius856 said:

I've bought $8 22oz bombers without blinking.

Thought I haven't been able to produce anything coming close to them yet.

Click to expand...

I've agonized over a few batches and come close $8 bombers. My point was that you're not brewing Old Milwaukees Best, you can't compare your costs to their prices. That said, I've had a $10 DFH 12 oz World Wide Stout, and I'd buy it again.

Ag brewing does not need to be an expensive hobby. I'd go as far as to say it may be one of the cheapest hobbys out there. I'm in at under $700 total which includes, two burners, a mill, Johnson controller, two chillers, a 15 and an 8 gallon kettle etc. I consistently produce $40 per case beers for $15 per case and have been for the last year. My equipment has been payed for over six months at that rate. If you wish to buy $400 kettles or more beer brew sculptures your never going to save money, but if you enjoy being frugal and don't mind mismatched equipment you'll easily save money. Oh and no one will Ever pay you to have fun so stop including your time in your expenses.

I just dropped $200 between keggle upgrades (ss bulkhead and valve, sight glass and brewmometer) and a new bayou banjo burner. Im getting a bit more serious about it and figured if i wanted to expand, i could do that easily from here on out. Plus it'll be nice to have 2 burners, one to heat boil and the other sparge water.

Keeping my equipment cost out of it I have found I can brew a batch of high quality tasty beer pretty cheap.This is the cost of an awesome pale I just finished brewing. I factored in all costs except gas to go to the LHBS and of course my time as this is a hobby after all

11 lbs 2 row purchased in bulk @ $0.59 per pound = $6.49
1.75 lbs specialty grains from lhbs @ $3.33
4oz hops purchased in bulk @ $0.57 per oz $2.28
City water given to me in jugs $0.00
1 pack US-05 $3.50
Irish moss $0.10
yeast nutrient $0.10
$3.00 propane

Total = $18.80

OG 1.078

Estimated final G = 1.017

For those who buy the grains in bulk, how long do they stay good/fresh? How are they stored? Anything special?

rdbrett said:

For those who buy the grains in bulk, how long do they stay good/fresh? How are they stored? Anything special?

Click to expand...

6 months minimum on base malts, probably closer to a year without any noticeable differences. 12 months no problem on specialty grain, perhaps more.

For base malts, I splurged on storage. I can fit 49-51# in a "40 lb" Vittles Vault. They're a little pricey, but I loved how they stored my dog food, and wanted something that would last for life (and not be able to be chewed open by dogs).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002H3S5K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You could get by with much less expensive containers. While 50# of 2-row sounds like a lot, I've had batches that used 25#.

For specialty grain, I store in half-gallon mason jars. I'm hoping to push their longevity to 2 years, so I vacuum sealed them using a FoodSaver attachment I picked up off Amazon for $10. A brake bleeder pump can be modified to work too if you don't have a FoodSaver.

One half-gallon jar holds 2# to the neck, closer to 2# 4oz near the lid. They're $13 for 6 at Ace Hardware (stocked in most stores, also available for site-to-store special order at same price) or $9.80 at Commissaries if you have access to a base. Of course, they include lids and bands. If you want to go cheaper, wide-mouth quarts hold 1# to 1# 2oz for $10.40 at Walmart, or narrow-mouth quarts hold the same for $9.40.

Good luck!

I try to stay around a dollar (shipped) per 22 oz bomber. Works out to around $25 per batch.

I've probably spent around $500 for my equipment and DIY materials.

Regarding storing grain- uncrushed has the shelf life stated before (6 months, longer). Crushed will go stale quickly. Some say in a week or 2. Store grain in a dark cool place and minimize any air.

My experience so far

-$60 for my Home Despot mash tun.

-$90 for a 2-port brew pot

-$50 for a basic outdoor propane burner

-$50 in misc supplies that I didn't need for doing full-boil stovetop batches

So, let's say $250 in basic equipment for doing all grain.

I then spent $80 on grains, hops, yeast, etc. That's enough for an IPA, a Pale Ale a Stout and Rye PA, with a leftover pack of Safale lager yeast for a yet undecided project.

So, let's say $20 per batch including yeast and sanitizer

Each 5.5 gallon batch works out to be about 2.5 cases worth of beer (based on the standard 341ml bottle here in canada)

A case of rotgut adjunct lager like Laker is 26.40 per case including bottle deposit. This works out to $1.10 per beer including deposit or $1 after bottle return. 2.5 cases (60 bottles) would run me $60 .

Comparing those numbers, I get an operating 'profit' of $40 per batch, or to put in in easy terms, my equipment will pay for itself inside of 7 batches.

Now, this doesn't take into account the fact i've also started kegging as a direct result of starting all grain... A good quality pressure tested corny costs me about $70-$75 shipped to my front door with taxes in, 2.5 cases of PET bottles costs me $30 without caps, 36.6 with caps, and once we include taxes i'm in to about $42 per batch to bottle in PET. I've grown to hate PET for doing anything but quick "drink it now" batches. so the extra $30 for a corny is well spent.

Even adding in the complete cost of my kegging setup (to be completed soon), with new fridge, stainless tap tower with perlick faucets, 3 kegs to keep one constantly waiting in the wings, CO2 tank, reg, etc, my setup will still pay for itself within 15 batches over buying crappy commercial beer.


I also buy premilled grain right now too, so as soon as I get my own mill, my costs will shrink again.

Just a note on BIAB (which is the easiest way to start AG there's some great posts on aussiehomebrewer forums and biabrewer forums on how to get started)

For all that is holy dont use muslin, as its cotton it will fall apart very quickly. Either buy a purpose made bag from homebrew shop OR buy a couple of meters of SWISS VOILE from a haberdashery/furnishing fabric shop. Pure nylon. Usually in curtaining section, very fine mesh. Really cheap too.

Once i moved from K&K brewing to BIAB it's being a much easier process ramping up my brewery. Started with a 19l(5gal) pot, now I have a 40L(10gal) electric urn, next I'm converting a cooler into a Mash/lauter tun, and future plans will include a much larger boil kettle relegating my urn to being only a HLT.

BIAB has been great tho, being able to do all grain brewing for a while now with nothing more than a pot and piece of cloth as extra to my previous extract kit brewing

But to agree with all above AG is much more affordable (ingredients only not equipment) than buying commercial beer. And much kinder to your taste buds than drinking megaswill!