price of beer: all grain vs. extract

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HH60gunner

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not including the equipment because I know all grain cost more to do is there much of a price difference between all grain and extract brewing? Is getting all the ingredients for an all grain more expensive per batch or cheaper per batch than an extract?
 
It will generally be cheaper for AG, how much sure I am not sure as I havent been able to take that plunge yet. However if you consider that you are actively paying somebody to extract the malt from the grain for you to use in extract batches that explains the price difference. I am not sure what efficiency you would need and Im sure it will vary a bit from place to place based on prices for different ingredients due to availability but doing it yourself will be cheaper. Obviously the higher your efficiency the less grain you will need to buy, saving you your hard earned cash.
 
For me, AG is a little cheaper. I was doing about $50 for an extract or PM batch (5 gallons). Now at $40 - $45 for an AG batch.
 
Man some ppl pay way too much I guess? Beernik where do you get your stuff from? I brew 5 gallons for $10-$20, $10 being a 4% blonde, $20 for the 7.5 % and 8.5 hops IPA i just brewed. Brewmasters warehouse is a great place. I just order about 6 batches at a time to take advantage of flat rate shipping. They'll give you 10% off when you make your own recipe. Hops come from Hopsdirect but even if you cant buy it bulk it should only raise the price a couple of dollars. But buying from hopsdirect makes so much sense. 1 lb for $10 or 4 oz for $10? your choice.
 
I do partial mashes so I guess I am in between but I pay around $25-$35 depending on the recipe. Usually around 6 pounds of grain and 4-6 pounds of liquid extract. Extract is spendy - I pay 10 bucks for 4 pounds of liquid and around $14 for 6. Hop prices just came down again at my LHBS so that helps a bit.
 
If you are not cutting you cost by half with AG, you're not doing it right. My LHBS has a "grain card" that allows me to buy 55lbs at a time but only take what I need at a given time. $1/lb for base, $2/lb for specialty. I spend $15-18 a batch.
 
northernlad said:
My LHBS has a "grain card" that allows me to buy 55lbs at a time but only take what I need at a given time.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. I need to talk to the owner @ my lhbs about something like that. Do they still crush it for free when you pick it up?
 
I pay about 1/3 if I buy grain and yeast from lhbs, and hops from hopsdirect.com. We just got 5 lbs for about $50 with shipping. Just brewed up Edworts haus pale for $14 total.
 
For me the couple of AG batches I've done its been $1 or more cheaper per pound for the grain versus the price per pound for extract.
 
Let's go to the video tape. Here's a nice, simple Best Bitter recipe I recently brewed AG. Ingredients:

Code: 
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
7.50 lb       Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)          Grain        83.33 %       
1.00 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)     Grain        11.11 %       
0.50 lb       Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        5.56 %        
2.00 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (60 min)                Hops         28.0 IBU      
0.50 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (15 min)                Hops         3.5 IBU       
0.50 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (5 min)                 Hops         1.4 IBU       
1 Pkgs        London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968)        Yeast-Ale
$26.01 from Brewmasterswarehouse.

I used Beersmith to convert to Extract with LME:
Code: 
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
7.00 lb       Briess Golden Light Liquid Extract (4.0 SRM)             Extract      87.50 %       
0.50 lb       Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        6.25 %        
0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)     Grain        6.25 %        
2.00 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (60 min)                Hops         27.9 IBU      
0.50 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (15 min)                Hops         3.5 IBU       
0.50 oz       Fuggles [4.00 %]  (5 min)                 Hops         1.4 IBU       
1 Pkgs        London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968)        Yeast-Ale
$33.63.

Using 6# DME instead of LME came out to $38.32.

So even without bulk grain buys, AG is cheaper. In this case 20-30% cheaper.

-Joe
 
I buy my grains and hops in bulk. The base price for a 5 gallon 5% ABV with imported German Pils or Maris Otter base grains is about $20. If I do something on the expensive side like a Belgian double or tripple, I figure on another $20-$30 per batch. Right now my most expensive ingredient is my yeast at $6.15 a package.
 
I buy in bulk, so the cost is even lower. I pay about $10-15 a pound for hops, and less than $1 pound for base grain. For specialty grains, usually $1.50/pound. I wash and save yeast, buying it twice a year for most of my "regular" style beers.

So, an APA batch with 10 pounds of grain and 3 ounces of hops will cost about $12.50 for 5 gallons.
 
mezak1gd said:
Man some ppl pay way too much I guess? Beernik where do you get your stuff from?
Click to expand...

from a local shop. But they make up for it in other ways. If my daughter spills 3lbs of grain on the floor, they don't charge me. They've also given ms free yeast when I've had a stuck fermentation.

I've only done 3 AG batches. Now that I think about it, I think the stout and the export were both about $35. The weizen was $45. Some of that could be the heavy wheat. Some of that was having to double up tge hops because they were 1/2 the AA I was expecting.

I know I could save more by going bulk and harvesting yeast. But I don't have the space to devote to it right now and I'd worry I wouldn't use the hops up quick enough.
 
I want to add in a few factors of my own here. I have a "nutrition" shop in the next city over from me that will sell extracts kits for about 14-40 dollars. If you did not know this place was here you would probably would never find it. It seems to be based on what they paid for it pricing scale with minimum mark up. They have some separate ingredients and equipment. They are the cheapest in my state for supplies. HOWEVER, they do not stock everything and you never know what you will find!
I have a fabulous LHBS in my town but the prices are high and I mean it may be cheaper to get stuff online and pay shipping vs. buy from here. The flip side to this shop however is an education. The owner is very friendly and knowledgeable when it comes to home brewing I chalk it up to getting an "education each time I go there. This LHBS also has the biggest selection of ingredients I have ever seen in 1 place.
 
I spent around 35 for last IPA batch. I'm considering doing a combo of ordering hops online and grains in the store just so I can go and taste and play around with them before I commit.
 
All grain is most certainly cheaper.

Just made a 5 Gal 6% Hefe for $29 -- including hops and yeast. 5 Gal, 4.7% brown for $25, again with yeast and hops.

I've also done half batches and reused yeast with spare hops for $8. What does extract cost, like $4.00 / lb? Grains are about $1.25/lb for base. Surely you need to use more grains than extract, by mass, to reach the same gravity but the relation is around 40% -- certainly not enough to overcome the 220% price difference.

Someone mentioned $40 batches. That's steep. I second the Brewmaster's Warehouse idea, Ed is the friggen man and you get 10% off for using their recipe builder -- just put your grains in and buy it.

Of course my LHBS overcharges for grains (actually, for yeast and hops as well), if I were going there then it would be expensive. Even so, I did a 5% Schwarzbier with their stuff (just shy of $2/lb for German Pils... bit ridiculous), and it still came out to $35 with hops & yeast.
 
joex444 said:
What does extract cost, like $4.00 / lb? Grains are about $1.25/lb for base. Surely you need to use more grains than extract, by mass, to reach the same gravity but the relation is around 40% -- certainly not enough to overcome the 220% price difference.
Click to expand...

This is all that needs to be said. All grain per batch is cheaper once you get past the equipment costs.
 
WAdamC said:
That's awesome. I need to talk to the owner @ my lhbs about something like that. Do they still crush it for free when you pick it up?
Click to expand...

Free crush and they will even put it in a cloth bag if it is a small amount.
 

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