Ok, I've always been curious as to how much my per 12oz costs are, but never really had the time to sit down and add it up.
I put together a very rough spreadsheet that is likely missing many items (clamps, tubing, fittings that I don't have a good track of), and doesn't include consumables related to the brewing process. Sometime I'll have to add together the per-brew-session cost of sanitizer, water, propane, electricity to the spreadsheet too.
...but until then, at my current estimate,
I've spent approximately $3.49 per bottle of beer (or equivalent 12oz servings in kegs) for my homebrewing habit, before accounting for the actual cost of ingredients. IIRC, in my first few extract batches, it was higher since I was paying $5.00/lb DME and $3.00/oz for hops, and my yeast cost was high since I had nothing washed/built up yet, plus it was for smaller batches.
Anyway, surprise!
I'm into this $1500+ already and I only own two pieces of stainless steel equipment: a racking cane and false bottom for the MLT. I guess I expected that I wouldn't hit this level of "investment" until I brought a Blichmann home. :cross:
My Brew-costs spreadsheet
I'll see if I can keep my spreadsheet updated and visible to all in case it helps them to justify their brewing costs to SWMBO (or your loan officer!). At this point I'm satisfied that I can brew good quality beer with my 2x carboys, so I don't think I'll be hitting the stainless conicals for a long while. I want this per/bottle cost to drop so I can take advantage of this "cheap all-grain brewing" thing I keep hearing about :cross:. My last AG batch with bulk hops and bulk 2-row came out around $.50 per 12oz serving, including new yeast that I've washed and saved for future brews to further reduce costs.