Rationalizing the costs of brewing equipment

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supermoth

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Last night while going over my brewing expenses, I proudly declared, "That last batch was only $15! Of course, that doesn't include any of the brewing equipme..." And I swallowed that last sentence.

When I make a meal, I don't figure the cost of the equipment into the meal. Example: "That pasta was only $20! Oh, but the chef's knife was $100 and the frying pan was $50" and so on. I don't amortize the cost of my Cuisinart over fifty batches of salsa. So I've just decided that my brewing equipment doesn't bring my $2 six-pack back up to $10. Of course, my brewing setup is still pretty modest.

On a distantly related note, I think that the brewing supply websites should get on board with wedding registries.
 
I am in full support of the registries, if you can convince my SWMBO of this philosophy.
 
Ha great points, I have never thought about it like that. I will have to use that the next time my wife bugs me about how much my equipment costs. She has about 4 kitchen appliances sitting in the cupboard that she has never used! In fact, the only time the 300 dollar cuisinart stand mixer gets used is if I am making spent grain doggie treats or pizza. But there is no way to put a value on homemade pizza!

I had a Mr. Beer Kit from Bed Bath Beyond on my wedding registry. Noone bought it for me, so i went straight to 5 gallons!
 
When we figure the price of a batch, we tend to only include the ingredients, not the cost of the equipment, the propane for the outdoor cooker, our time, etc, etc, etc. That is because the beer itself only costs as much as the ingredients (and here comes the rationalization), all the rest is the cost of having a hobby.
 
When we figure the price of a batch, we tend to only include the ingredients, not the cost of the equipment, the propane for the outdoor cooker, our time, etc, etc, etc. That is because the beer itself only costs as much as the ingredients (and here comes the rationalization), all the rest is the cost of having a hobby.

I actually tend to try to at least estimate costs of propane, ice, electric, and other 'operational' costs when I am calculating brew costs. The reason I do this is because I want people to somewhat understand how much comes out of my pocket per batch when they are slugging then down at our parties we have. When you tell people your beer only costs 20 cents per bottle, they tend to want to drink it like its Natty Light.

I also usually tell them that I've dropped over a grand in brewing and kegging equipment. If the chuggers don't get the hint to at least bring us over a bottle of wine or a sixer of craft beer the next time they come over, I tell them the Natty is in the outside cooler!
 
Last night while going over my brewing expenses, I proudly declared, "That last batch was only $15! Of course, that doesn't include any of the brewing equipme..." And I swallowed that last sentence.

When I make a meal, I don't figure the cost of the equipment into the meal. Example: "That pasta was only $20! Oh, but the chef's knife was $100 and the frying pan was $50" and so on. I don't amortize the cost of my Cuisinart over fifty batches of salsa. So I've just decided that my brewing equipment doesn't bring my $2 six-pack back up to $10. Of course, my brewing setup is still pretty modest.

On a distantly related note, I think that the brewing supply websites should get on board with wedding registries.

I agree with absolutely everything here, especially the wedding registry thing. I was scanning stockpot skimmers to skim off hot break, pinch bowls for hops, kitchen scales, etc. trying to get some brewing-related stuff on there. :)
 
I make beer as a hobby, a delicious, delicious hobby. Costs be damned. Plus, once you start counting propane, CO2, electricity, gas to the LHBS, even your consumables cost is going to add at least $5-10 per batch. Just enjoy the beer, hell it's probably still cheaper than keystone.
 
I actually tend to try to at least estimate costs of propane, ice, electric, and other 'operational' costs when I am calculating brew costs. The reason I do this is because I want people to somewhat understand how much comes out of my pocket per batch when they are slugging then down at our parties we have.

I definitely like to include those costs, but more importantly, remind people of your time.

People ask me all the time: "This beer is really good, how much does it cost you to make?"

My answer usually goes: "You know, it's actually pretty cheap in terms of ingredients, I'd say $12-25 for about 50 beers, but the time investment is pretty big. Each batch takes me around 6 hours between brewing and packaging."

They usually respond with: "Oh, wow."

But yes, I include the cost of ice, water salts, propane, and star san into my batchs. All that adds about $3-4 to the cost of every batch. But for me, my time is the biggie. I have no trouble justifying the $15-30 for ingredients, in fact I don't even think about it. I just have a hard time finding time to brew.
 
You don't consider the cost of kitchen equipment more likely because you don't do any real critical analysis of what it costs you to cook food. The reason you don't is likely because eating food is a necessity in a more literal sense than brewing beer. It seems like when it comes to hobbies, people are generally more concerned with how it weighs on the overall disposable income budget so actual cost is more important. Of course, it's usually more important to the person in the household that either doesn't appreciate homebrewing as a hobby and/or doesn't appreciate the beer.
 
Its like production costs for a restaurant... there are things so small and minuscule that you don't actually know but you still add a value to.

When you go out to eat, most places shoot for a 32% food cost, the lower the number the better for the restaurant but anyways... the other 68% covers operational costs, labor and then if anything is left profit...

In your batch of beer, your ingredients only represent half (or less) of what it could be worth. We don't sell it, nor do we want to but if someone asks, add about half the cost of your ingredients to your ingredient cost then add another third for time and labor ;)
 
1. Its a hobby

2. The only beer I really like is microbrewed beer, I have rarely had a bottle of anything where I thought "wow - I'd like to drink another one right now"

My objective is to make my own (hopefully, eventually) very good beer that I really enjoy drinking and friends look forward to drinking.

I don't want to waste money, but I'll spend the extra $8.07 on premium ingredients, and pay an extra $3.57 for the faster auto siphon.
 
I'm an economist but could care less about what my brewing hobsession costs me. Fact is, if I didn't get a net gain in utility (economists' term for general satisfaction or happiness, in which of course money plays a major role) from brewing, I wouldn't do it!
 
I live in Texas, and I am not sure if you are aware of TABC's practices, but it is very difficult to get craft beer here, and the beer you can get its $12-$15 a six pack (dogfishhead is $15 a four pack) Not to mention the populations lack of appreciation for the stuff (born and raised in Portland, so its a big change).

Because of these things, I really have no choice but to home brew as I am not willing to give up craft beer.

Burgs said:
I agree with absolutely everything here, especially the wedding registry thing. I was scanning stockpot skimmers to skim off hot break, pinch bowls for hops, kitchen scales, etc. trying to get some brewing-related stuff on there. :)

I did the same thing, but the majority of what we got were the crap like drapes and other things I have absolutely no use or desire for. I put my foot down and said "there are parts of this registry that we are filling ourselves. period." (e.g. thermapen)
 
I never really cared what this hobby cost, as long as I knew the money was being spent for a reason. I wouldn't go wasting money on something I didn't need, but if I need it, I could careless about how the price factors into anything. It helps that my wife and I keep our money seperate. I will never get a question about any money I spend.
 
"White lies we tell to other people to make them feel better. Rationalizations are lies we tell to ourselves to make us feel better."

- Greg House, MD

"Man is not the rational animal, he is the rationalizing animal."

- Anon.
 
Sure, I can make some batches for less than $10 in consumables. Because, for instance, I spend $100's at a time on sacks of grain alone - I have about 250lbs of just base grains in my basement.

And I've also spent several thousand on equipment.

And the time spent on all aspects of making that $10 batch often exceeds 8 hours. I don't think valuing my time at $15/hour is unreasonable, considering I make a fair bit more than that. So even ignoring the equipment, that $10 batch is suddenly more like $130 if I'm giving the beer away!

Kitchen equipment is different though. Assuming you get a fair amount of use out of the stuff you buy, you HAVE to eat, and 2-3 meals a day is pretty normal. And if you don't prepare it yourself, you pay even more for someone else to do it. Many don't even brew 2-3 times a month, much less per day. So the per-use cost of kitchen equipment is likely to be substantially lower than brewing equipment, and as much as we like to think it is, beer REALLY isn't even a necessity.

I'm fine with it though. I have over $3,000 worth of equipment and I'm already planning out an expensive keezer. I'm not in this to save money. It's a hobby, and using my equipment gives me great pleasure, so I find it worth it. My neighbor spends $60,000/year for a golf club membership and he can barely afford it right now, but he doesn't want to lose his spot. And I'm sure I get at least as much enjoyment out of brewing as he does out of golfing.
 
Rationalizations are lies we tell to ourselves to make us feel better.

Ha, so true! Actually, that is why I tried to come up with a better title for this post than "Rationalizing..". Because to me it's more like applying the same rules to similar situations. Is that another rationalization? :cross:
 
I agree with most of the sentiment on this.

I know I'm not actually saving money..... yet.... but I will eventually. I probably have about $700-1000 worth of equipment, and I just placed an order of about $300 with AHS last weekend (gotta love seeing the UPS email saying I have 96lbs of grain coming to my house!).

I look at it as a hobby. I don't really golf, but how much would that cost if I went out, say, once a month? $40/round? Not including equipment?

I work in IT. Back when I still liked computers, I would buy a new upgrade for my computer every 3 months roughly. Every 18 months I would build myself a new computer. Each piece I would add would cost between $50 and $300. It was a hobby. Did adding more ram, or a DVD burner, or a bigger hard drive save me money, or time, or make me money? Not usually. Was it cool to have and fun to do? At the time, yes. Now, 8 years later, it feels like work - but that's a different conversation...

What I often like to do to justify things, is to compare some of what I'm making to what you can buy.... Sure, its a hell of a lot cheaper for me to go to the store and buy a 12 pack of Bud than it would for me to buy all of the things I need to make that. HOWEVER, a few years ago I had my first "whiskey beer". A friend of mine brought up a 6 pack from some brewery in Kentucky - it was GREAT! I can not buy that anywhere near me.... Closest I found was Goose Island's Bourbon Ale (stout?).... at $22/4 PACK! I set out to brew that, and I think I've made a few that are close, and taste pretty good! It might cost me $2-4 per bottle right now for that, but i get 50 of them, when I want, and it's still cheaper than Goose Island's brew.....

I have another thought on this too.... scarcity... Head out to your local beer store tomorrow and look around for a Kolsch..... can't find one? Ok, look around for a Rauchbeir.... no? Ok fine, something you should be able to find now, in May.... maybe a pumpkin ale? Maybe an Oktoberfest? Nope.... likely not.... at least not more than 1 or 2, and definitely not cheaper than what you can make at home. If I so felt like it, I could brew a pumpkin ale year round and have it fresh on tap in my basement bar. Can you golf in January? :)
 
I have another thought on this too.... scarcity... Head out to your local beer store tomorrow and look around for a Kolsch..... can't find one? Ok, look around for a Rauchbeir.... no? Ok fine, something you should be able to find now, in May.... maybe a pumpkin ale? Maybe an Oktoberfest? Nope.... likely not.... at least not more than 1 or 2, and definitely not cheaper than what you can make at home. If I so felt like it, I could brew a pumpkin ale year round and have it fresh on tap in my basement bar. Can you golf in January? :)

Good point! I have been trying to brew beer that goes well with the season (for instance this spring I have done Pale Ale, Blonde Ale, Kolsch) but I am now thinking it might be cool to buck the trend a little bit and brew out of season beers. Christmas (in July) Ale anyone?!
 
I just racked 10 gallons of a 1.100 Imperial IPA to secondary. After 2 more weeks, it will be bottled for use in the christmas season.
 
"White lies we tell to other people to make them feel better. Rationalizations are lies we tell to ourselves to make us feel better."

- Greg House, MD

"Man is not the rational animal, he is the rationalizing animal."

- Anon.

Absolutely true, however....
 
I'm an economist but could care less about what my brewing hobsession costs me. Fact is, if I didn't get a net gain in utility (economists' term for general satisfaction or happiness, in which of course money plays a major role) from brewing, I wouldn't do it!

The economist tells me my rationalizations are rational. :mug::ban::mug:
 
My neighbor spends $60,000/year for a golf club membership and he can barely afford it right now, but he doesn't want to lose his spot.

that is absurd. then again, $3,000 in brewing equipment is unfathomable at my family's income level.

it's really all about priorities - if you can afford it and you're not having your electricity cut off or your house foreclosed on, then so be it.

brewing is a skill and the knowledge can be transferred to many other areas and that is invaluable :mug:

sip on that nagging SWMBOs!
 
krebs119 said:
I have another thought on this too.... scarcity... Head out to your local beer store tomorrow and look around for a Kolsch..... can't find one?

Living in the absolute bottom level of hell for craft beer lovers - Ontario - where the government owns the single chain of liquor stores, and they only carry just enough selection (which is identical at EVERY SINGLE OUTLET) of non-BMC to justify their existence, and fulfill mandate to provide for all tastes and sectors of the market, I definitely brew in part to be able to experience beers and styles I otherwise can't. But I just wanted to mention that the liquor store actually DOES carry a Kolsch. Not one that is regarded as a particularly excellent beer, but it's still an authentic Kolsch. Probably because it resembles a pale lager - most of the import section is stuff like crappy Polish lagers (although there is a decent selection of English ales, mostly bitters), and even the decent ales available are generally just as pale as any macrobrew - Fuller's London Porter being the exception. For instance, the two non-Inbev Belgian beers available are Chimay Red and Duvel. So a Kolsch is, oddly enough, an unfortunately all-too-characteristic product.

Unibroue in Quebec makes a smoked beer (not an actual rauchbier though) which was available for a while here, but that no longer seems to be the case.
 
I guess my point about Kolsch and other "rarer" beers was more like this.... how many "American Lagers" can you find? A dozen or two? How many pale ales or reds or stouts or porters or ipas can you find? Probably close to a dozen of each. How many Kolsch/Rauchebier/Belgian Strongs/Scottish 80s/Dunkelweizans can you find? Maybe 1 or 2 of each? How many ways can you dream up to brew each of them in your mind?
 
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