how do you save money... and what's your per bottle price?

the title says it ... what are your cool tips and tricks to saving big bucks brewing ?

... i'm making beer at about 80 cents a bottle, is this on par? it's great beer, 2$ a bottle in the store so i'm coming out ahead.


thanks to the great people on here who taught me to buy my hops for 65 cents an ounce... and who taught me all about harvesting yeast cakes.

That would be about it, buy in bulk, re-use yeast.

No chill can cut down on some water cost (marginal).

A recipe with minimal hops (i.e. Centennial Blonde) can be made for ~30 - 40 cents/bottle.

I think a lot of people forget to add in propane, electric, C02 and water costs when they quote how much a beer costs to make.

I do mostly very lightly hopped beers (1-2 ounces per 5 gallon batch) and I have set up a yeast bank with my favorite strains - I come out around 50 cents to $1 per bottle. Not bad considering the price at my local store is around $1 each for BMC and $1.50-2.00 per bottle for most craft beers.

how does hops account for 40 cents a bottle?


i spend 2 dollars total on hops for a five gallon batch

i got a pound of fuggles for 8$ using it 2 ounces at a time

Pretty sure he meant 30-40 cents per bottle total ingredients, not just hops. That recipe he mentioned only has like 1-2 oz's.

sorry guys, i started drinking early today

justenoughforme said:

how does hops account for 40 cents a bottle?


i spend 2 dollars total on hops for a five gallon batch

i got a pound of fuggles for 8$ using it 2 ounces at a time

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Ok... make an IPA with 8-9oz total of Amarillo, Citra, Galaxy etc. and let me know if it affects your price.

Fuggles? What the fug?

i had no idea IPA was so much more expensive than dubbel. never even thought about it.


i did buy an ounce of Citra, and i can see how it adds up.

i only use cheap pre boil hops for bittering.

I use about a gallon of propane per batch so we will call it $4
I always use RO water and its $3.50 for 12 gallons.
Bulk grain costs .68 - $1.20 so we can round up and say $12 worth of grain a batch.
Builk Hops average around $1 per oz so lets say $4 for hops
I slant yeast and build up off of canned wort starters 1L of starter wort costs around 50 cents, so lets say $1 for yeast.
Electricity I'm going to assume is very minimal so maybe $2
Add another $1 for brew salts, whirlfloc, starsan and another $1 for CO2

Add that up we get $28.50 for an average 5 gallon batch. So averaging 56 cents an average beer. Obviously you can go higher if you are making an IIPA or lower for an ESB but 50 cents a bottle is pretty fair and pretty hard to go below once you factor in everything. Either way coming out ahead cause I can guarantee you there are no $3 6 packs near me.

Grain = $21.00
Hops = $4.00 - $8.00
Yeast = $6.00 (If I don't pitch on top of the old cake)
Caps, Propane, StarSan... $10.00

So somewhere in the neighborhood of $40.00 makes two cases of beer.

I have probably spent over $300.00 on equipment, so that also needs to be amortized so lets say six batches per year times 2 years adds $25.00 per batch.

At the end of the day - this isn't a money saving proposition.

Thank Chris. Sadly, i also enjoy it so much, so... i might keep doing it.

Chris_Primavera said:

At the end of the day - this isn't a money saving proposition.

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I actually disagree with this a lot. That's like saying eating out is cheaper because you don't have to buy pots and pans and a stove and refrigerator. Initially sure, after a year or two, no way.

My neighbor has supplied all my beer bottles. I have never bought empty bottles. I have bought some 12 packs, but they came with free beer.

I already had buckets, carboys, tubes, hoses and vacuum pump from my wine making days.
I did purchase parts to build an immersion chiller.
my only cost was yeast, grain, extract, hops.
I tend to buy ingredients separately from paycheck to paycheck.
But I have my cream ale down to about $30 and I get about 48, so what ever the math is on that. ( I am shutting my work computer down for the day and not doing math)

Chris_Primavera said:

Grain = $21.00
Hops = $4.00 - $8.00
Yeast = $6.00 (If I don't pitch on top of the old cake)
Caps, Propane, StarSan... $10.00

So somewhere in the neighborhood of $40.00 makes two cases of beer.

I have probably spent over $300.00 on equipment, so that also needs to be amortized so lets say six batches per year times 2 years adds $25.00 per batch.

At the end of the day - this isn't a money saving proposition.

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I'm saving a ton of money right now. I basically stopped buying craft... so it's huge for me. Of course I BIAB, and got a lot of stuff handed down, scrounged up. I've invested a whopping $100 on brewing equipment.

I have a 20 gal kettle ($68), all my carboys/bottles/racking handed down, free keg system 3 - 5 gal cornies, 20 lb CO2 tank, free refrigerator, auto-siphon ($15), and then just other odds and ends, thermometers, bags etc.

It really is a money-saving proposition if you forego adding labor (this is a hobby) and don't spend a fortune on equipment.

I just can't wrap my head around people that say you can't save money doing this. I would drink beer anyway, and would have to buy it at the store.

Plus all the equipment everyone buys and continues to buy. I don't really think anyone is "saving" money here - it's a hobby. All hobbies cost money - whether it's golf, video games, whatever. I try to cut costs too - buying cheap kits and lump several together on one bulk shipping price as well as harvesting yeast, but I bet if I totalled all the $ I've spent in 1.5 years of this addiction, I've spent more than I would have if I bought the same amount of beer at the store - say Sam Adams price.

justenoughforme said:

the title says it ... what are your cool tips and tricks to saving big bucks brewing ?

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Drink less and brew less. In fact, probably don't brew at all. Beer is actually pretty cheap.

Spending 8 hours on a Saturday (plus a few hours planning the week before) with $1000 of equipment and $20-50 of ingredients to get a batch of beer isn't an efficient way to save money. You could probably do better with dollars saved per hour by clipping coupons while drinking an All-Day IPA.

I just noticed that Chinook hops are really expensive right now. Don't know if they've always been, but on my last brew I noticed they were at least twice as expensive per ounce as other popular favorites like centennial, citra, cascade.

I'm going to start saving money by using other bittering hops. I mostly use chinook early in the boil when they don't contribute that much flavor, so they can be interchangeable. Might as well use anything that's cheaper for that stage.

Oh, and just like the I heart Yooper thread, can we get a mod to merge this with the 1000 other threads like this and just sticky it?

I did extract brews for 10 years but I've been brewing with a cooler and an 8 gallon pot (call it $125 out the door) for at least 175 all grain batches. You don't have to spend a ton of money to make beer. I feel like I am waaaaay in the black on 2 cases of tasty handcrafted beer for ~$25 for an average batch. Some batches for much much less.

So ... it can be as expensive as you want it to be.


for me, i made 500 bottles of wine last year, so i have all the equipment, minus a capper for bottles and bottlecaps.

i figured this would cut my alcohol budget in half.

Chris_Primavera said:

Grain = $21.00
Hops = $4.00 - $8.00
Yeast = $6.00 (If I don't pitch on top of the old cake)
Caps, Propane, StarSan... $10.00

So somewhere in the neighborhood of $40.00 makes two cases of beer.

I have probably spent over $300.00 on equipment, so that also needs to be amortized so lets say six batches per year times 2 years adds $25.00 per batch.

At the end of the day - this isn't a money saving proposition.

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Wow. If I had to spend that much I'd probably hardly ever brew. Thank god for bulk buying.

Just brewed 5 gallons of 11% 90 IBU barlywine, grains, hops, and yeast wernt even 30 bucks

I currently spend around $20 for 6 gallons of beer. Buy hops and malt in bulk. The last time I bought malt a local brewery was nice enough to let me and some friends buy a few bags. The $20 a batch includes $8 for yeast. If I re-pitch I save the cost of yeast.

BPO you're an inspiration.

come to think of it, since i grow corn anyway, i wonder how hard it would be to grow half an acre of barley.

Buy grain by the sack when you can, $35 for 50 lb of Rahr pale malt locally.

Buy hops by the pound when you can, about a buck an ounce delivered peletized.

All electric brewing, no propane.

BIAB, sell all the extra stuff off and KISS (keep it simple stupid)

Keg into cornies, no bottles, bottle caps etc.

StarSan, make up 5 gallons and pull it off the full bucket when needed, its an acid based sanitize, it will last for months!

Get a brew buddy, have him pay for half of the ingredients and split the beer or have him buy the grain bill and you supply the rest and the equipment.

Pitch washed yeast or saved yeast, it works fine if you keep it clean.

Like @Psylocide , I have spent next to nothing on equipment, considering what I could and would spend.

I get pale malt for .95/lb, so call that $11, I'm still buying hops and ounce at a time, my last batch is 6 oz. for a total of $14, I harvest my yeast cakes, so I'm running on free yeast. $25 for 48 bottles of a quality IPA that would set me back $10 for six. My blonde only had 2 oz. of hops...so 4 bucks...and the grain bill was only 9 lbs...15 dollars. 33 cents a bottle.

Homebrew is cheaper than soda, if you want it to be.

Any recommendations on where to buy hops in bulk? Ive only done 2 all grain batches but l like the results to want to start stocking up. Thanks in advance!

great tips firewalker ...


...1977, have you considered a pound of hops... i've seen 60 cents an ounce that way easy at hopsdirect.

I get bulk hops from
https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/

1977Brewer said:

Homebrew is cheaper than soda, if you want it to be.

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Sure, it's cheaper than cans of coke, but what about homemade soda? Homemade soda would be cheaper than homemade beer.

justenoughforme said:

great tips firewalker ...


...1977, have you considered a pound of hops... i've seen 60 cents an ounce that way easy at hopsdirect.

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I have, and I'm planning on jumping on it. $1.75 - $2.50 / oz is killing me, and my recipe formulation.

TallDan said:

Sure, it's cheaper than cans of coke, but what about homemade soda? Homemade soda would be cheaper than homemade beer.

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I can't make Dr. Pepper, so I'm not even gonna try.

I do want to give root beer a shot though.

hockeybrewer said:

Any recommendations on where to buy hops in bulk? Ive only done 2 all grain batches but l like the results to want to start stocking up. Thanks in advance!

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http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/

They have some great deals, fast shipping.

1977Brewer said:

I can't make Dr. Pepper, so I'm not even gonna try.

I do want to give root beer a shot though.

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Dr. Pepper makes me poop in like, 2 mins flat.

1977Brewer said:

I can't make Dr. Pepper, so I'm not even gonna try.

I do want to give root beer a shot though.

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Nonsense. If any beer can be cloned, any soda can be cloned.

Psylocide said:

Dr. Pepper makes me poop in like, 2 mins flat.

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It's the prunes.

And to further the soda derail; can anybody point me toward some San Pelligrino type soda recipes?

Biggest thing that has cut cost for me was buying my hops in bulk and harvesting yeast. Just today, I was able to net another 6 pint jars/carboy of 1056. RO water costs me less than 5$ for 15 gal. Dont have to worry about refilling my propane every other brew since I use the BoilCoil. My next investment will be a mill and some storage containers so I can stock up on base malts and cut the cost even more.

I save money by not buying every single gadget (hi-tech or otherwise) that is offered by a corporation telling me that I just GOTTA have it or my beer won't be fit to flush down a toilet....

Grains per batch: 10x 0.75 for 2row. $2 per lb for everything else. Average grain bill is about 13lb. $13
Hops: average about 2 oz, bought in 4oz packages from farmhouse. Average cost roughly 1.25 per oz. $2.5
Yeast: Harvested from starters, buy maybe 2 vials a year. $14 per year, $1.75 a batch~

Average cost per batch: $17.25. Lets round up to $20 for c02 for kegging, electricity, DME for starters, starsan, etc $0.40 per pint/bottle

Roughly make 8 batches a year or so.

Spent about $450 on equipment, sold a lot of it for more than I got it for, net total is $225 spent on equipment.

To save some money, keep at least one session brew on hand. Belgians are also low cost as they're mostly base malt, don't buy the light candi sugar, just use corn or invert some yourself when neeeded. Make few IPAs, get some browns, milds, etc.

I value my brews at about 2 bucks a bottle. The Trippels, saisons and such are much better "return on per brew" than a brown or stout or pale ale, as they're often clones of bottles sold exclusively in 750ml/22oz which makes them more expensive to buy. Return on investment for me was met a long time ago, despite having 4 keg setup, 9 gal kettle with ball valve, temp control, stir plate, 2x heat sticks, refractometers, ph meter etc. A good point was that I assisted a friend and "we brewed" ~40 gallons for a friends wedding last fall where he paid for the kegs of beer at 30% of cost of commercial which still more than paid for the cost of them.

I brew all grain and save money by getting all my grain, hops, and yeast for free.

I brew with well water and don't pay the electric bill on the well pump, so nothing there.

All my brewing and kegging equipment has payed for itself in beer savings, so I don't count that.

I don't factor in my time and labor. As was already said, this is a hobby.

I do use propane, so a tank fill is about twenty bucks. That's really my only cost. A tank will last, say five brews? Probably more. I don't really know as I use my tanks for other things besides brewing.

So twenty dollars divided by five is four dollars for a five gallon batch. Roughly two cases of beer. So I'm in for all of sixteen cents per twelve ounce pour. Probably less. but I always pour sixteen ounces.