Curious about cost saving and what got you started

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If I actually drank all the beer I make instead of giving it away (parties etc) I would be doing pretty good ;)

My coworker gave me a homebrew kit he got a few years ago and never used. I brewed my first batch and 2 days later went and got another bucket and some more ingredients... That was about 6 months ago. Now I have 5 buckets and a chest freezer ($100 craigslist) w/ Ranco thermostat ($50). I bought a cheapo 5 gallon SS boil pot and do partial mashes.

I just got a sanke for $20 and am thinking about stepping up to all grain, but that probably wont happen for a few more months while I figure out the cheapest way to do it :).
 
For me I like Belgian beers. Here in the Pac NW, they're not exactly cheap. If I can brew up some AG belgian clones let 'em age for a couple months, I know I save $.

Other ways to save money are doing BIAB Aussie style or Deathbrewer's Stovetop AG brewing (as opposed to a cooler MLT) , and buying your grain and hops online in bulk. My LHBS charges $5 / 2oz of hops (average). You can get 2009 hops online for $12 / pound ( = less than $1 oz). Same story for grain.
 
JetSmooth said:
Probably not the best deals. ;)

I was rounding. I honestly lost track when I was pricing it out.

~$100 for the cooler (I KNOW!)
~$150 for the pump
$170 total for kettle and fittings
$80 for hoses and quick disconnects
~$50ish for bottling and other plasticware stuffs

Then come the kegs, and the other kegs, and that big keg.

Anyone want to buy some kegs? :eek:
Click to expand...

Ah, the pump... that's the one thing I havent gotten too yet, still doing gravity feed. But if I had one or two I would bet I get close to that figure.
 
floyd242 said:
If I actually drank all the beer I make instead of giving it away (parties etc) I would be doing pretty good ;)
Click to expand...

I think this is what kills most of the savings (that and fancy pants equipment). A huge proprotion of the people who are into brewing brew A LOT more than what they "really" need to for personal consumption. The champions of beer drinking are the Czech at 156 litres a year on average. Most people on here seem to do at least a 5 gal batch a month, wich equals roughly 200 liters a year. So you need to drink more than your average Czech (where beer drinking is literally the national sport) if you want to keep up with your beer production. And that doesn't take into consideration still going to pubs from time to time or buying brews to replicate.

Sure you have gifts, and maybe a loved one who enjoys your brews, but 5 gal batches a month is on the low side for some of the most active members who throw keg/brewing parties. Not that there is anything wrong with that in the slighest. All thing considered, it's a pretty cheap hobby.

I'm an avid fisherman and tie my own flies. Ask me how much stuff I bought before I caught my first salmon... That salmon wouldn't have been more coslty had it been made out of gold.
 
Ugh. I was browsing new brew kettles today. Clearly I won't be breaking even any time soon either if I can't keep the wallet closed. :)
 
jfr1111 said:
^^^

Why not get a job at a microbrewery or shop and gain experience ? Jumping from homebrewing to pro isn't unheard of in the least. I have a friend who started homebrewing when he was 18 (yeah, right...) and went on to pursue a graduate degree in "food ingeneering" of whatever it is called. Lost touch with the guy when he moved to Montreal, but I'm pretty sure he now works in the biz in some sort of function as a "food ingeneer".
Click to expand...

Trying to do that right now. Also enrolling for a "hops course" in eastern washington and a few other programs in the beer related fields. I may also go back to school and study micro biology or something along those lines. Trust me I fully understand the task I am going to attempt to undertake and I am going to love every second of it. As I said.
I'm all in.
 
Anubis said:
Trying to do that right now. Also enrolling for a "hops course" in eastern washington and a few other programs in the beer related fields. I may also go back to school and study micro biology or something along those lines. Trust me I fully understand the task I am going to attempt to undertake and I am going to love every second of it. As I said.
I'm all in.
Click to expand...

There it is again.

I'm telling ya.

All In Brewworks.

:mug:
 
On an upswing on the consumption curve I go through a keg in 1.5-2 weeks. :mug:
:drunk:

Batch of ingredients costs me $30-$40 (less if I start buying in bulk). That's $15-$20 per week for good beer, as strong and flavorful as I feel like making. Also it's a nice conversation piece for the occasional guest, and I can kill dead time at work reading the HBT forums!

I'd be spending $50 per week for cheap beer.

Better beer at a $1500 ($30 x 52) yearly savings is not a hard decision.

[Startup Costs] -- The initial brew startup kit was a gift, but I did spend about $500-$600 on "stuff" (including kegs and gas and a keg fridge and taps for the door of the fridge). That should recoup over time.

A cheaper decision would be to (shudder!) stop drinking altogether, of course, but some ideas are too horrifying for further contemplation.
 
I think that when most of us get into this hobby, we convince ourselves that one of the reasons for doing it is to save money. You quickly find out that you don't even care about saving money, just making the beer that you love to drink.
 
Equipment costs are an up-front investment. I've probably invested more than $200 at this point in a kettle, carboys, sanitizer, various tools (auto-siphon, wine thief, hydrometer, floating thermometer, bottling equipment) and the tap-a-draft I just bought.

Ingredients are where I save, and the savings curve will continue to go up.

I brewed up a copy of Rogue's Dead Guy ale. A 6 pack costs around $12 here (plus tax).

5 gallons makes about 40 bottles. 40 bottles of Dead Guy ale would be more than $80 when I factor in taxes.

To brew a partial mash recipe cost me about $60 in ingredients.

If I went with all grain it would have been cheaper.

Another advantage to homebrewing is availability. By January or February I should have 3 pretty different varieties of beer on hand, to choose from. I don't have to run out to the store unless I want to.

There's also the whole geek factor too, but I think the OP already touched upon that. I love to cook, I love beer, homebrewing is an almost natural hobby for me :)
 
I have about 50 bucks into equipment so far. I hit craigslist a lot as well as thrift shops and such. Got a Mr. Beer keg and bottles for 10 bucks, a better bottle style carboy for free, brew pot was free (it is a big pressure cooker pot that was missing the lid), beer bottles are free. Also got a cooler that I am going to convert for 2 bucks at a yard sale, brand new and never used.

Had to buy caps, tubing, capper, hydrometer, etc..

You can do it on the cheap if you put the effort into it. Part of the fun for me is the hunt for something that can be used for brewing. I put an ad on CL asking for any beer making gear people had. I got several offer for bottles as well as the plastic carboy the first day and several offer to buy stuff that was overpriced. Give it a try if you are looking for equipment, you may just get what you need.
 
Mermaid said:
Equipment costs are an up-front investment. I've probably invested more than $200 at this point in a kettle, carboys, sanitizer, various tools (auto-siphon, wine thief, hydrometer, floating thermometer, bottling equipment) and the tap-a-draft I just bought . . .

Ingredients are where I save, and the savings curve will continue to go up . . .

There's also the whole geek factor too, but I think the OP already touched upon that. I love to cook, I love beer, homebrewing is an almost natural hobby for me :)
Click to expand...

Mermaid, its like you were channeling my thoughts :)

For me, what you call the geek factor is really at the top - i like doing something from scratch, handmade, artesanal.

I use organic ingredients, but within that constraint, I've got ingredient costs down to $15 - $20 per batch, buying malts in bulk, buying hops during a once-a-year sale, and harvesting/washing yeast.

As for equipment, I know many people here find that they are constantly buying more/better equipment. That's not my experience. Part of it, I suppose, is that I'm not looking for ever more automation - I like the handmade part of this hobby. I like grinding my grain by hand and sometimes joke that my half gallon pitcher is my most important brew day tool.

When I first started brewing (extract and steeping grain), I bought all the standard equipment. Then when I decided to brew all-grain, I had another significant set of costs. But since then, really, I replace things that break, had added a carboy here and there, that sort of thing, but nothing big.

I'm drawn to the simple, low-tech solutions when possible. For example, my brewery/basement stays generally in the low to mid 60s. Occasionally, it will get up to around 70, a little too warm for my purposes, but instead of building/buying a fermentation chamber for this very occasional issue, I put my carboys in a rubbermaid tub filled with water and swap out frozen 2 liter soda bottles in the morning and evening and it keeps the temperature right around 60 or so.
 
Brewpot and burner setup - $100
All-Grain setup - $50
Kegs, CO2, Regulator, hoses, etc - $300
Fermentors, Carboys, etc - $120
Misc brushes, cleaning, etc - $75

Brewing with the kids...Priceless

913-brewing-kids.jpg


I used to be pretty big into doing blacksmith work, but really after my kids were born, I just dropped off with it. It's hard on the body, requires alot of dedicated room, it's alot more expensive than brewing, and it is not kid friendly at all.

I had been interesting in brewing for a long time, and it seemed like a perfectly kid friendly activity. My 2 year old (in the picture) helps by holding hoses, and opening/closing stuff for me, dumping in the hops, etc. My 4 (almost 5) year old gets lessons on math, temparature, time, gravity, etc while we are having fun and doing things together. Plus I get beer out of the equation, how can you beat that.
 
finley said:
I had been interesting in brewing for a long time, and it seemed like a perfectly kid friendly activity. My 2 year old (in the picture) helps by holding hoses, and opening/closing stuff for me, dumping in the hops, etc. My 4 (almost 5) year old gets lessons on math, temparature, time, gravity, etc while we are having fun and doing things together. Plus I get beer out of the equation, how can you beat that.
Click to expand...

Perfect!
 
I'm definitely into this for the fun and quality, not for the cost. Equate this to fishing--hey, catch fish for free instead of spending 5 bucks a pound....until you factor in the costs for rods, reels, tackle, bait, head boat fees, beer (requirement, not option), and such. Now those 3 flounder you caught last night just cost you 500 bucks.

Next, you go buy a bass boat......
 
jturie said:
I'm definitely into this for the fun and quality, not for the cost. Equate this to fishing--hey, catch fish for free instead of spending 5 bucks a pound....until you factor in the costs for rods, reels, tackle, bait, head boat fees, beer (requirement, not option), and such. Now those 3 flounder you caught last night just cost you 500 bucks.

Next, you go buy a bass boat......
Click to expand...
Been there...done that. Brewing beer is much cheaper!
 
Well what started me brewing was my Father. He and mom have been making wines for years. (Apple, mulberry, raspberry and grape) I asked him about making beer and a few months later he surprised me with my 1st brew day.

We made a batch from an extract kit. Dad has since past away and lots of the equipment was dual purposed so, it is still in use at the farm. I now help keep the wine going with mom on the farm, as well as, help her as much as possible.

So, I started out doing an extract recipe on the stove, got some deals on Craigs and hunted garage/moving sales. I did get some great deals as well as getting a few items from my LHBS. (This spot sounds just about where you are.)

I then wanted to stop buying extracts because they are pretty expensive so I focused on getting to AG but was a bit uneasy, so I went the partial mash route, then to AG on the stove top doing "split boils" in the kettles I had. (I followed Death Brewers guides that are stickied in the Beginners section and recommend them.) SWMBO disliked me doing this in the kitchen, a few DIY projects later and a month or so I had 1 keggle and a propane burner.

Now, I am all set to make the jump outside but realized I was in deep trouble. I had been brewing a 5 gallon batch or bottling every other weekend. While I had no issues with this, SWMBO wanted to do other things with me than brew beer every weekend, something about birthdays and friends... So, I needed to rethink my strategies. This did take me awhile to do. Fortunately, I have been "collecting equipment" I needed to execute my new plan and since I had been brewing a lot I had built up a decent pipeline. I also have been buying beer to make the HB's I have last longer.

My plan is to have "brew day" 1 time every 6-7 weeks, Giving SWMBO lots of time to plan things like our wedding and all the other "stuff" she wants/needs me for. When brew day comes however, I need to be able to brew 2 - 12.5 gallon batches of the same beer to go into my 30 gallon fermenter and my "specialty/seasonal" batch all in 1 day. My bottling/kegging/clean-up and let the equipment rest day would be done 1 day the weekend prior. I plan on brewing 1 - 20 gallon batch for me then the next one for SWMBO. (This will be my cycle)

I have JUST completed my 3 keggle brewery, I do NOT have a brew stand so it is "modular" (2 propane burners and an old enclosed printer stand with wheels) and "portable". I tell my self this to keep from buying a welder to make myself a brew stand. I have made 1 - 12.5 gallon batch so far in the new brewery and it worked pretty well. By the next brew day I should have my march pump. :D I already have/had the hoses and quick disconnects I need. I also should have my 30 gallon fermenter project completed as well.

I am very excited for the completion of the major components in my brewery; the rest (brew stands and such) will need to wait until after the wedding this spring.

As, for "cost savings" I will be able to make a batch of beer for about 0.30-0.50 a bottle with all the supplies and energy included. (I like strong beer.) I will need to drink beer for a LOOOONG time before this equipment has "paid for itself". The bright side is it is almost all stainless steel so it will last that long! :mug:
 
Zamial said:
Well what started me brewing was my Father. He and mom have been making wines for years. (Apple, mulberry, raspberry and grape) I asked him about making beer and a few months later he surprised me with my 1st brew day.

We made a batch from an extract kit. Dad has since past away and lots of the equipment was dual purposed so, it is still in use at the farm. I now help keep the wine going with mom on the farm, as well as, help her as much as possible.

So, I started out doing an extract recipe on the stove, got some deals on Craigs and hunted garage/moving sales. I did get some great deals as well as getting a few items from my LHBS. (This spot sounds just about where you are.)

I then wanted to stop buying extracts because they are pretty expensive so I focused on getting to AG but was a bit uneasy, so I went the partial mash route, then to AG on the stove top doing "split boils" in the kettles I had. (I followed Death Brewers guides that are stickied in the Beginners section and recommend them.) SWMBO disliked me doing this in the kitchen, a few DIY projects later and a month or so I had 1 keggle and a propane burner.

Now, I am all set to make the jump outside but realized I was in deep trouble. I had been brewing a 5 gallon batch or bottling every other weekend. While I had no issues with this, SWMBO wanted to do other things with me than brew beer every weekend, something about birthdays and friends... So, I needed to rethink my strategies. This did take me awhile to do. Fortunately, I have been "collecting equipment" I needed to execute my new plan and since I had been brewing a lot I had built up a decent pipeline. I also have been buying beer to make the HB's I have last longer.

My plan is to have "brew day" 1 time every 6-7 weeks, Giving SWMBO lots of time to plan things like our wedding and all the other "stuff" she wants/needs me for. When brew day comes however, I need to be able to brew 2 - 12.5 gallon batches of the same beer to go into my 30 gallon fermenter and my "specialty/seasonal" batch all in 1 day. My bottling/kegging/clean-up and let the equipment rest day would be done 1 day the weekend prior. I plan on brewing 1 - 20 gallon batch for me then the next one for SWMBO. (This will be my cycle)

I have JUST completed my 3 keggle brewery, I do NOT have a brew stand so it is "modular" (2 propane burners and an old enclosed printer stand with wheels) and "portable". I tell my self this to keep from buying a welder to make myself a brew stand. I have made 1 - 12.5 gallon batch so far in the new brewery and it worked pretty well. By the next brew day I should have my march pump. :D I already have/had the hoses and quick disconnects I need. I also should have my 30 gallon fermenter project completed as well.

I am very excited for the completion of the major components in my brewery; the rest (brew stands and such) will need to wait until after the wedding this spring.

As, for "cost savings" I will be able to make a batch of beer for about 0.30-0.50 a bottle with all the supplies and energy included. (I like strong beer.) I will need to drink beer for a LOOOONG time before this equipment has "paid for itself". The bright side is it is almost all stainless steel so it will last that long! :mug:
Click to expand...

I like that style, reminds me of the old time farmers around where I live: they would make a "house cheese" all year long and make seasonal varieties as temperature and herbs permitted. So every farm had their own cheeses with their own recipes.

You just do the same with beer: big batches of the stuff you always want to have around and small "special" batches in rotation.
 

Similar threads

C
Best brewing system for 5-15 gallon batches
Replies
25
Views
1K
Ninoid
Ninoid
S
Going from my old, simple set up to something more "modern", opinions?
Replies
16
Views
1K
JeffersonCoastal
JeffersonCoastal
madscientist451
Cost of Drinking Conundrum
Replies
12
Views
1K
Yesfan
Yesfan
T
Brewing darker beers with corn roasted in a home coffee roaster?
Replies
6
Views
784
cmac62
cmac62
level-one
What are your tips for keeping costs down
6 7 8
Replies
287
Views
17K
JAReeves
JAReeves
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top