All time cheapest ingredients

My wife is pregnant with our first and money is going to be tight for the rest of my life. A friend of mine has been in the same situation for 8 years. We are looking for the cheapest method for brewing beer. This includes buying our own barley/corn/rice/wheat/sugar source. We are not extemely concerned with taste, we just want to make beer cheap. Don't bash us for acting like teenagers, we all drink beer for the same reason.

For instance, we are considering finding a farmer, buying a bucket of wheat or corn, malting it, going the full 9. What is a good method for germination? We are considering growing our own hops...what is a good universal variety?

I have got all the equipment for making all grain and can do a lager if possible, so I think I'm set up. Any suggestions?

Wow, well prepare for the onslaught.

First off, Barley is what you want to malt, not corn or wheat. I would recomend planting several varities of hops, as they grow like weeds and the Rhizomes only cost about $5.

Also, do some searching on this site. Many brewers who buy in bulk and propagate their yeast claim $8-9 per 5 gal batch, and that's good beer.

Good luck, malting my own barley is far more work than I'd want to take on, at least on a regular basis.

jatlrdierk said:

We are not extemely concerned with taste, we just want to make beer cheap.

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Then just buy cheap beer. 30packs of Keystone Light Ice go for $11-12 around here.

jatlrdierk said:

Don't bash us for acting like teenagers, we all drink beer for the same reason.

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Frankly, bull****! Complete, and absolute, bull****!

The best answer is to buy domestic 2-row in bulk, you're looking at $35, maybe, for 50# of domestic 2-row. That's pretty negligible on a per-beer basis.

Malting your own probably isn't worth the time and effort if all you're trying to do is save cash. Doing it in bulk requires a kiln, which is a big up front expense. Doing it in your oven will take so much time that you would be better off picking up a minimum wage job to cover the extra grain cost.

Not counting specialty grains, yeast or hops, you can get a 55lb sack of malted 2-row shipped for around 45 bucks. At around 10lb per 5 gallon batch, that works out to about 8.50 a batch or 17 cents a beer. You can probably source malt cheaper than that locally.

What reason do we all drink beer for?

Seriously, if you want cheap beer buy it. In the long run you could make your own beer cheaper, but factoring in equipment costs you'll have to make quite a few batches to break even.

jatlrdierk said:

we all drink beer for the same reason.

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Apparently not... If you are just looking to get drunk, go get yourself a handle of cheap vodka and get the job done.

Carnal Sin....(shakes head)....over working an already complicated enough process and in the meantime it will actually cost more to grow enough hops, malt and kiln enough barley, not to mention steeping/specialty grains, oh and the extra time it takes to ferment a batch naturally.

What Harv said. Frankly if you are just looking to get loaded buy sugar in bulk from a restaurant supply house, build a still and make skull-pop. The most cost efficient way to make beer is to brew all grain. You will need to build, buy or other by some way acquire the equipment for mashing as well as for fermenting and bottling/kegging. The process is not difficult but it does require knowledge, time, effort and some attention to detail. If you cheat on those requirements you are going to wind up with a seriously deficient product. Brewing is easier than malting and kilning grain so I totally agree with fishops on that topic. Also, as Sea said, you want barley to brew beer not corn and wheat. Wheat beer and beer with corn as an ingredient still uses barley as the base. I'm also going to agree with the_bird here and tell you we don't all drink beer for the same reason. At least the reason that you imply. So if you want to invest some time and effort in brewing beer then by all means go for it. Homebrewing is both fun and rewarding. If not I will go back and paraphrase Harv and suggest you check the weekly ads for those 30 pack specials.

So what is the other reason for drinking beer? Don't tell me any of you would drink N/A beer because you love the taste.

Don't take me the wrong way, I love good beer, and I'm not a $10/case kind of guy. We just want make beer in the cheapest way possible. I think the idea of buying barley malt in serious bulk is probably more worth my while than re-inventing the wheel. Hop growing and yeast cultivating seem like good possibilities. Is there a good universal hop variety that is easiest to grow in the mid-atlantic?

jatlrdierk said:

Hop growing and yeast cultivating seem like good possibilities. Is there a good universal hop variety that is easiest to grow in the mid-atlantic?

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The big C hops are your best bet.
Centennial, Cascade, Columbus...they give good yield and are very popular.
If you are stuck on only one variety, go with Centennial. It is high AA (~10%) for bittering and can be used for aroma and flavor if you want. I would grow both Centennial and Cascades. But that's me.

And yeast.....go with a California Ale (Chico) strain. Nice neutral yeast that will go in many styles.

Couevas said:

And yeast.....go with a California Ale (Chico) strain. Nice neutral yeast that will go in many styles.

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Apparently the HipHopapotomus and the rhimenocerous like California ale eh?

jatlrdierk said:

So what is the other reason for drinking beer? Don't tell me any of you would drink N/A beer because you love the taste.

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Most of us drink beer for the amazing variety of flavors that we are able to produce, the alcohol is great, but if I could drink a non-alcoholic beverage that tasted like Anderson Valley IPA, I would.

You specifically stated that flavor isn't important, and that's the reason for the response.

Yep. I quit drinking beer to get blitzed a long time ago. I don't enjoy the day after at all.

jatlrdierk said:

Is there a good universal hop variety that is easiest to grow in the mid-atlantic?

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Yes - The two best fast growers are Cascade & Nugget. Nuggets the bittering hop and Cascade for flavor & aroma. Both are very disease resistant.

Go to http://www.freshops.com As a n00b to hop growing they will recommend nugget & Cascade.

Buy yourself this book. "The Homebrewers Garden" by Joe & Dennis Fisher. Freshops sells it too.

They tell you all you need to know about growing hops. Growing grain, mainly barley, and the malting you need to do. They also have instructions on how to make specialty grains; Toasted, Munich, Crystal, Vienna, Roasted Barley, Black Patent & Smoked Malt.

You can also by 50lbs of pale malt 2-row or 6-row. Then make your specialty grains.....

You can go the American Indian route too. There are many other grains you can grow & malt; Amaranth, Corn, Oat, Quinoa, Rye, Spelt, & Wheat.

Buy the book for hop growing. Its worth every penny!!! :fro:

Sea said:

Apparently the HipHopapotomus and the rhimenocerous like California ale eh?

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I am confused.

Sea said:

Apparently the HipHopapotomus and the rhimenocerous like California ale eh?

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He must be really druck!

¡¡¡ʞɔnɹp ʎןןɐǝɹ ƃuıʞuıɹɟ ǝq ʇsnɯ ǝɥ sǝʎ

¡¡sʇɔǝɟɟǝ ǝpıs pɐq ƃuıʌɐɥ sı puɐ ˙˙˙sɯooɹɥsnɯ uʍo sıɥ ƃuıʍoɹƃ uǝǝq sɐɥ ǝq ǝqʎɐɯ

McKBrew said:

Yep. I quit drinking beer to get blitzed a long time ago. I don't enjoy the day after at all.

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So, like, did you all only smoke pot in college because you liked the smell?

I didn't mean we want to get wasted off of our beer every night. You're missing the point. We want to brew cheaply. We don't care if it's the best tasting beer in the world. We just want some Standard that costs less to make than to buy. I was hoping to find some practical brewers on here who maybe have found ways to get cheap ingredients and can save some money. I didn't realize homebrewing is such a snobby hobby.

jatlrdierk said:

So, like, did you all only smoke pot in college because you liked the smell?

I didn't mean we want to get wasted off of our beer every night. You're missing the point. We want to brew cheaply. We don't care if it's the best tasting beer in the world. We just want some Standard that costs less to make than to buy. I was hoping to find some practical brewers on here who maybe have found ways to get cheap ingredients and can save some money. I didn't realize homebrewing is such a snobby hobby.

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Check out post #16. I believe this is what you were looking for to get the most economical brewing. If I understand you right with having rug rats running around. Time might be more of an issue than $$$$.

What is your level of brewing experience?

jatlrdierk said:

I didn't realize homebrewing is such a snobby hobby.

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Take it easy homey.
Yes, sometimes we can be a little EAC, but if you read through, there is some help there. Read posts 11,12 and 16. Some answers to your questions.

To the OP. Sorry if you feel offended. Take a look at the tone of your posts and you might see where we are coming from. Again, you can brew cheaply, but don't expect it to be cheap right away, it will take awhile to break even after buying equipment.

Good Luck, and I hope you get the information you need.

jatlrdierk said:

So what is the other reason for drinking beer? Don't tell me any of you would drink N/A beer because you love the taste.

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I drink low-alcohol beers because I love the taste.

I brew the kinds of beers that I want to taste.

One thing to remember the people here, I myself included, have disposable income to spend on "Good" beer and the entertainment factor of making beer.

Sometimes the cost doesn't weigh into the decision to make something. We do it because we like too. Many times its the challenge itself.

My wife gambles at the casino and looses most of the time. She does it for entertainment knowing that the odds are that she will loose a great majority of the time. I would never go gamble because I hate to loose money. On the same note she hates beer and could look at my spending cash on something she doesn't particularly like or thinks as idiotic. She knows I like doing it so money isn't an issue if the expense is reasonable for our budget. I'd say the same with her gambling. I would think many of us see it this way.

Cheap beer is usually not what we strive for its usually taste & style alone. Let's not forget the fun of drinking what we make too.

One thing you will find about this hobby is collecting or making beer-making gadgets is a passion among us. Stick around long enough and you know what I mean. Even if its not cheap!!!

If you do this long enough every time you go to Wal-mart with the wife you'll be asking if I can use (this) for beer making.

This;
- Turkey Fryer
- Meat Thermometer
- Veggie Strainer
- 5 gal pail
- Pressure Cooker
- Splatter Guard
- Canning Jars
- Canned/Frozen Fruit
- Pasteurized Fruit Juice
- Pork Chops (Just Kidding)
- Spaghetti Sauce Jars

I can't say that I have "disposable income" all the time, but when I do, I make beer. It's sometimes cheap, but if I figure in all my equipment it is more than a case of natty lite. I am not rich, and I don't brew cause I want cheap beer, b'c before I brewed, my beer of choice was busch. And it was cheap. But this honey ale that I am drinking right now, is getting me blitzed. And it wasn't cheap, but I like it so much more that busch.

Couevas said:

I am confused.

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Have you never seen the show your avatar is from, "my rhythms flow like phosphorus".

And to the OP, I hate the feeling of being drunk. I drink because I love good beer. I am on a very tight income having just graduated college and if I can't drink good beer I don't drink at all, there's no point. I have actually built up quite a stock pile of great (not as good as I can get cheaply) beer because I love to brew more than I love to get drunk. So I don't drink a lot, 1-2 a day, but still make TONS of beer. When I go to the bar, I NEVER order a dollar beer, and I don't remember the last time I had a crappy cheap beer (no offense to those who enjoy a nice can of fizzy water on a hot day). Most of us here brew because we love it, cost be damned. How else could we justify the HUNDREDS to THOUSANDS of dollars we all spend on our brewing.

And to actually answer you. Corn will probably not be able to convert itself, so it's out as the primary brewing grain. Wheat will turn to mush and be un-spargeable without barley to help it out, so it's out too. Many other grains like oats, sorghum and rye, also may not be able to convert in the mash without the help of barley, out. There is a reason that barley has become the grain of choice for brewing over the thousands of years of brewing history, it's the one that works th best.

Look into Yeast Washing, and buying your grain in bulk, and toasting it yourself. Like stated before, you can make good, quality beer for cents per bottle.

Or check out This Place, and lean to make some cheap hooch.

Realistically. I think the bulk idea was great. I've got a 2 year old and a little monster on the way next month. I just quit my 40,000 dollar a year job to move closer to my family and took the 1/3 pay cut to go with it. You might find that your time is worth quite a bit more than you are estimating. The cheap beer you can buy from the store will get the job done. But, if you are like most of us, we love beer. That's why we drink it. We don't brew for a cheap drunk... or else we'd be wasting our time. I think any beer lover can find a love of this hobby. But, it takes time, energy, and about as much $ as cheap commercial stuff will... Maybe even if you and your friend went in on a 50lb bag every month or so. That makes it damn cheap, washing your own yeast is easy, hops aren't awfully expensive, and they look like alot of fun to grow. But, we missed the season. How long have you been brewing?

Here's a good all-grain 5 gallon recipe for you.

5lbs American 6-row
.25lbs Crystal 40L
1Lbs table sugar
.25oz Amarillo (60min)

OG 1.036
FG 1.009
IBU 10
SRM 4
ABV 3.5%

Price breakdown for 8 batches worth... ~40 gallons.

Brewers 6-Row Malt Unmilled 40 lb $37.99
Crystal 40L 2# $3.40
2oz Amarillo $6.98
1 Danstar Nottinghams Ale Yeast 1.59 (reuse it 8 times)
----------------------------------------------
Subtotal: $49.96
Shipping from AHS $6.99
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Total: $56.95

Total Ingredients per batch is $56.95/8 = $7.12, plus the cost of 1# table sugar.

So you are telling me that you cannot spend 10 bucks (after table sugar, water, and gas) on a 5 gallon batch of beer? That's 50-60 glasses of your own hooch!! I think 8.99 is pretty norm maybe on the cheap side for a Busch 30 pack. That's roughly 30 cents a can. If you homebrew it you can make some crap for under 20 cents a glass, yipee! If you are thrifty you will come up with ways of getting ingredients cheaper or barter for them. Visit a local brewpub and see if you can order bulk grain through the guy. Heck, maybe offer to help move spent grain or something in exchange for ingredients. My father used to work at a winery on busy weekend in exchange for juice.

Really if you cannot honestly spend $60 bucks to get 40 gallons of beer, I would venture to say that you should not be drinking beer at all. Heck why are you on the internet? Internet access is too expensive, along with a computer. Powering a computer for a month is like $30 in electric.

Drink up!

Step1 get a brew buddy and split EVERYTHING 50/50
step 2 learn to brew all grain( if you dont already)
step 3 find a brewery close, share your home brew with him and ask to buy grain and yeast from him in bulk, at there cost or just above.
step 4 learn to keep and reuse your yeast.
I hope your a DIY guy you can save some coin that way.
Cheers
JJ
PS or just make CIDER (Apple juice and yeast) if you just want to get tosted.

Cider is actually quite a bit more expensive than cheap brew, unless you can get a DAMN good deal like $2 a gallon or something. At that price you might as well stock up on like 50 gallons of it and start making tons of batches. You can start off with one batch using 1 yeast packet, and use that yeast to fire up more batches.

First let me say congratulations, and my condolences.

You do seem to have a good grip on your reality, so I would say depending on where you live growing your own hops is a great idea, using dry yeas and washing it to make multiple great beers is a good start.

Next, I agree that attempting to grow, malt and kiln your own grains is not worth it. Check out your local micro-brew beer master, or anyone who can buy in bulk, local clubs, brewing buddies, etc.

I salute your vow of poverty until your rich, or at least until your kids are.

Jaybird said:

PS or just make CIDER (Apple juice and yeast) if you just want to get tosted.

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2 gal apple juice, 8 lbs of sugar = "vodka light".
But sugar is not that cheap any more.

Hey guys. I'm sorry I took offense to the ribbing. There are certainly more helpful people than snobs on here. I sounded a bit misleading at the beginning with what I was asking for. There is a ton of good advice on here! Thanks!

If you're new to brewing and don't have equipment yet, the cost to get going on all grain is going to be considerable. What kind of set up do you have now?

tagz said:

If you're new to brewing and don't have equipment yet, the cost to get going on all grain is going to be considerable. What kind of set up do you have now?

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So far, I have a turkey fryer, keggle, cooler with slotted cpvc drain system, spatula, sparge arm, wort chiller, carboy, gravity meter, bucket, upright freezer, temperature controller, cornelious keg, CO2, pint glass, and pork chops. I just went all grain, and the cost to get there from extract was ~$16 (cpvc pipe for the cooler). I think I'm good to go for now. Is there any other essential items I should have?

jatlrdierk said:

Hey guys. I'm sorry I took offense to the ribbing. There are certainly more helpful people than snobs on here. I sounded a bit misleading at the beginning with what I was asking for. There is a ton of good advice on here! Thanks!

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I think that a lot of people make mistakes on internet forums by making statements that are so polar in nature. You opened yourself up to the attack with your comment. The best thing to do is just realize that this is just the internet, and no matter what anyone says, it shouldn't be taken too seriously. That said, there's a ton of good advice out there and I am sure it'll all help.

Oh, and I am a total EAC. I don't drink to get drunk and I have no problem spending 20 dollars on a good 750ml bottle of beer. I just enjoy the craft of making beer as well.

Dude if money is that tight drink Keystone. Brew beer because you want to make QUALITY brew not rock gut.

I agree with the other posts thus far that indicate malting your own grain isn't the way to go, if you're in it for cost savings. Roasting your own specialty grains, and buying your base 2-row grain in 55# bulk sacks are indeed the way to save money. If you keep your batches to around 1.045 starting gravity, you can probably get almost 7 batches of beer per 55# bag.

The link someone else provided for Yeast Washing is an excellent resource - why pay $8 for a single batch of beer's yeast when, for minimal effort, you can get 4, 12, or even more batches from that same yeast? Do it with dry yeast, and your savings go UP UP UP!

It sounds like you've already got the know-how and the equipment. Until you get hop vines established, find "good deals" on high-AA hops when you possibly can. Buy bulk grain, wash your yeast, and get them vines a'growin as soon as your area's weather permits you too. If you need pellet hops to get you through the winter, until next year's rhizomes come out for delivery, check Hops Direct, they have full pounds of certain varieties - one of them is Challenger which makes for an excellent English Ordinary Bitter, another very cheap beer to brew. For example:

7 lbs base grain (assuming bought in bulk, we'll call it $1/lb. Your cost may vary, after all the cheapest price I have here in Nebr. is $64/bag from my LHBS. Any online HBS is $65 or up, once shipping is factored in.) = $7
1 lb home-toasted base grain for flavor = $1 plus time in the oven
1 oz Challenger at 60 minutes for bittering = $2.25 assuming bulk from Hops Direct, factoring in negligible shipping cost
1 packet dry Safale S-04 = $.50 (assuming that you harvest the yeast when done, and use it 3 more times. $2 packet / 4 uses = $.50 per use)
Total 5 gallon cost = $10.75, and it's a nice sessionable 4.25% or so ABV so that you can drink just one for enjoyment, OR drink 12 for the authentic "Session" experience!