Homebrew Economics: Can I really make 890 "light beers" for the price of buying 150?

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I've been doing some calculating on the cost of brewing vs buying. Cream ale is what I typically drink the most of. I drink plenty of brown/stout/hefe/wheat too, but cream ale is sort of the go to brew, and what I plan to use as a base for making a light beer swmbo will drink. I used BM's Cream of Three Crops recipe to base my ingredient cost on as that's the recipe I will be using after I make a bulk grain purchase this week.

Like I said, I've been wanting to brew something swmbo will drink. She's a MGD 64 drinker and hasn't drank more than a sip of anything I've brewed. There's no converting her to real beer, so I thought I'd try brewing something really light by reducing a cream ale recipe. I haven't done this yet, but I screwed up a batch of hefe on my 2nd all grain attempt, coming in at 1.031 og rather than the expected 1.050. FG was 1.008, so 3.1% abv. I almost dumped it, since it tasted like water to me. But before I did, I had her try it, and for once she said she liked it.

We like to buy in bulk to save on trips to the store, so we will often pick up 5 30pks of MGD 64 for her at a time, which is roughly $100 for 150 beers. So here's my calculations based on spending $100.

BM's Cream of Three Crops will currently cost me $21.52 which makes 11.5g or 115 beers. MGD 64 is 2.8% abv, which is 60% of the 4.7% cream ale, so if I cut back the ingredients to 60%, the cost for 11.5g goes down to $12.91. For the same $100 I could make 7.75 batches x 115 beers per batch = 890 beers.

This is with reusing yeast. Even if I have to use fresh yeast every now and then, I typically use notty at $1.10/pack, so with washing/reusing, the cost per batch is negligible. I also plan to grow my own hops next year, so this will lower the cost even more since my calculations were at $1.50/oz or $3.00 per regular batch of BM's cream ale.

Am I miscalculating something, or can I really make 575 regular beers or 890 extra light beers for the cost of buying 150?
 
Yeah probably, that MGD 64 stuff is mostly water anyhow. It's a pretty sweet racket that they somehow sell it for the same price as, say, regular MGD.
 
Why don't you go to the grocery store and buy a case of bottled water. Then give it to her and tell her it's your new brew?
 
I'm not doubting you, but I don't see how you're presently doing 11 gallon batches for 22 bucks.

Do you pay retail? Are you accounting for everything (like gas/propane, water, priming sugar, bottle caps, sanitizer, etc)?
 
dont forget to use amylase enzymes in your fermentors to dry it out like a MGD64. You can reduce batch costs even more by lowering your starting gravity, but finishing at 1.000 for 2.8%
 
Why don't you go to the grocery store and buy a case of bottled water. Then give it to her and tell her it's your new brew?

That's the problem, she IS buying cases of "bottled water", but at $20 a pop. ;)

I'm not doubting you, but I don't see how you're presently doing 11 gallon batches for 22 bucks.

Do you pay retail? Are you accounting for everything (like gas/propane, water, priming sugar, bottle caps, sanitizer, etc)?

BM's recipe is as follows for an 11.5g batch and what I pay:

12lb 2 row - $1/lb = $12
4lb flaked corn - $1.30/lb = $5.20
1lb rice - $1.32

1oz Crystal - $1.50
1oz Willamette (i think) - $1.50

Total - $21.52 with using washed yeast or pitching onto a cake

I didn't account for gas. Some quick figuring of 100k btuh from my 23 tip jet burners, 1.5 hours to heat sparge & strike water, 1.5 hrs to heat/boil is 3 hrs. 100k btu's take almost 100cf of NG, so about 300cf total. I believe my current cost is $0.82433/100cf, so $2.47 for gas.

I use tap water with 1 campden tablet, so next to nothing there.

I keg, so no priming sugar or caps. There is co2 cost of about $1 per 5 gallons, so that would add $2 per batch.

I buy starsan in the large bottle, and only mix up about a gallon at a time with RO water (from my kitchen sink). I used to mix up a few gallons each brew day or keg transfer, but quickly found it was a waste. Mixing just a gallon at a time with RO water and using a spray bottle has made it go a LONG way.

So if I add say $5.00 per batch for those expenses, and I think that's being generous, but if I grow my own hops and save that $3.00 per batch, I add a total of $2.00 per batch.

So $23.52 per 115 beers x 4 = $94.08 for 460 regular cream ales.

The light beer would only save $1.20 per batch on hops, so add $3.80 + $12.91 = $16.71 x 6 batches = $100.26 or 115 beers x 6 = 690 beers.

I guess that's a bit less after adding those expenses, but still a hell of a lot cheaper than buying it.
 
Fuel (propane or electricity) and cost of water (although cheap) should be factored as well.
 
You are going to spend money growing those hops, too. Pesticides, fertilizer, water, and whatever knick-knacks you end up shelling out for the drying process. And storage... vacuum sealer? A second fridge?
 
I've been doing some calculating on the cost of brewing vs buying. Cream ale is what I typically drink the most of. I drink plenty of brown/stout/hefe/wheat too, but cream ale is sort of the go to brew, and what I plan to use as a base for making a light beer swmbo will drink. I used BM's Cream of Three Crops recipe to base my ingredient cost on as that's the recipe I will be using after I make a bulk grain purchase this week.

Like I said, I've been wanting to brew something swmbo will drink. She's a MGD 64 drinker and hasn't drank more than a sip of anything I've brewed. There's no converting her to real beer, so I thought I'd try brewing something really light by reducing a cream ale recipe. I haven't done this yet, but I screwed up a batch of hefe on my 2nd all grain attempt, coming in at 1.031 og rather than the expected 1.050. FG was 1.008, so 3.1% abv. I almost dumped it, since it tasted like water to me. But before I did, I had her try it, and for once she said she liked it.

We like to buy in bulk to save on trips to the store, so we will often pick up 5 30pks of MGD 64 for her at a time, which is roughly $100 for 150 beers. So here's my calculations based on spending $100.

BM's Cream of Three Crops will currently cost me $21.52 which makes 11.5g or 115 beers. MGD 64 is 2.8% abv, which is 60% of the 4.7% cream ale, so if I cut back the ingredients to 60%, the cost for 11.5g goes down to $12.91. For the same $100 I could make 7.75 batches x 115 beers per batch = 890 beers.

This is with reusing yeast. Even if I have to use fresh yeast every now and then, I typically use notty at $1.10/pack, so with washing/reusing, the cost per batch is negligible. I also plan to grow my own hops next year, so this will lower the cost even more since my calculations were at $1.50/oz or $3.00 per regular batch of BM's cream ale.

Am I miscalculating something, or can I really make 575 regular beers or 890 extra light beers for the cost of buying 150?

Reading this post makes me feel like Rain Man...without the math skills!;)
 
You are going to spend money growing those hops, too. Pesticides, fertilizer, water, and whatever knick-knacks you end up shelling out for the drying process. And storage... vacuum sealer? A second fridge?

At the price of a bag of seven dust and some miracle gro, and how far they go, I think it would only add up to pennies per lb.

I really don't consider water a factor in this either. I have a lot of plants, a pool, and 3 people showering/flushing/laundry/cooking/etc..., and pay about $25/mo for water, so I don't think this would add even pennies per lb.

I can make a drying setup for free other than time, I have all the material available between scrap lumber and old window screen.

I have plenty of freezer space. (two fridges & a deep freeze)

I do lack a vacuum sealer, but that's a one time expense. I'd consider that a tool that doesn't get figured into the cost. Kind of like all of the brewing equipment. Every time you brew with it, the cost per beer gets lower and lower, until it's not a factor. Especially if you like to drink beer as much as we do. :D
 
In the long run, it will be much cheaper. It's hard to pin down exactly how much. I had never considered propane in my cost per batch. I never considered water either, but it's negligible for me - > $.15 a 10 gallon batch
 
I have been trying to figure out cost difference. The easiest and most direct way I have found was looking at the Kegging costs. Micro brew 5gal kegs locally for me are roughly $80 (UT prices suck) and home brew costs $20-40 depending on type. Time is the only factor that is priceless. But an awesome hobby is well worth the time.
 
I guess the other question is how quickly does your wife go through 5 cubes of MGD64?
 
BM's recipe is as follows for an 11.5g batch and what I pay:

12lb 2 row - $1/lb = $12
4lb flaked corn - $1.30/lb = $5.20
1lb rice - $1.32
1oz Crystal - $1.50
1oz Willamette (i think) - $1.50

I can't speak for corn or rice prices, but you may be able to do much better on the grain prices, and if you don't grow your own hops you can still buy those in bulk at a massive discount. I believe I got a pound (really 17+ ounces) of Willamette for $6.75 (n/i shipping), and I can get 2 row locally for 60 cents per lb and thats not even as cheap as you could get from a bulk buy. I've heard in the ballpark of 45 cents per lb in a bulk buy (n/i shipping), but obviously you have to take what you can get. The hops prices seem to vary depending on the season. Some places such as Nikobrew and Northern Brewer sell in bulk quantities with flat rate shipping.
 
I can't speak for corn or rice prices, but you may be able to do much better on the grain prices, and if you don't grow your own hops you can still buy those in bulk at a massive discount. I believe I got a pound (really 17+ ounces) of Willamette for $6.75 (n/i shipping), and I can get 2 row locally for 60 cents per lb and thats not even as cheap as you could get from a bulk buy. I've heard in the ballpark of 45 cents per lb in a bulk buy (n/i shipping), but obviously you have to take what you can get. The hops prices seem to vary depending on the season. Some places such as Nikobrew and Northern Brewer sell in bulk quantities with flat rate shipping.

Those prices would be great, I just can't seem to find them locally, so shipping kills the deal on grain. How much is considered bulk? The best I can find locally is $50/50lb on 2 row, corn & rice is $32.50/25lb. If I could get grain for $.45-.60/lb, I would buy quite a bit at a time.

I've seen some good sales on hops, but not as low as 6.75/lb. That's cheap, and would be worth paying shipping. I'll be paying for hops for the next year at least, so I'll have to keep an eye out for those deals.

I guess the other question is how quickly does your wife go through 5 cubes of MGD64?

She drinks 1-2 beers at a time, depends if she's smoking a cigarette.
 
Time is the only factor that is priceless.

This is the main driver right here. If brewing is a hobby that you like to do, the time spent brewing is time not spent wasting money on other things so you end up saving money.

If you factor your time into the price it will end up more expensive.
 
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