Noob question #2

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DesignatedDecoy

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Aside from the cost of the equipment. How much does it cost to brew, lets say a 5gallon batch of beer (or whatever you normally do)?

Whats the cost of raw materials? on average.

Has anyone calculated the cost in electricity for making a batch?
example: (~$0.12 per kilowatt an hour) x (2 kilowatt element) x (1.5 hours)

i literally just made up those figures they're prob no where close to realistic but hopefully you get what I'm trying to ask
 
Costs me about $13 + $3 + $2 +$2.50 = about $21 for 6 gals. Has malt flavor, some body, some head; not great, not bad. Point is, with experience, you can brew ANY kind, color, flavor, hops, strength, and, it's not pasteurized.
Like underwear: Depends
Get Palmer's book, join a local club, read HBT.
 
If you buy extract kits I doubt that you can save any money. After a large outlay of $$ on all grain equipment, buying in bulk and reusing yeast etc. You can save money. Just expect it to take a couple of years just to break even. The cheapest method would be BIAB, put personally, I find it a PITA.
 
For me hmm let me check hmm approx 82 usd total for electricity hops and malts and bottles and its 5.3 gallons beer at 9,20%. wheras beer i buy in the store. cheap beer at 4,7% and for 60 bottles is 179 usd.. so for me im saving a hell of a lot

and yeah all the equipment i bought cost me a total of 500 usd... so it wont take me long to save in that cash
 
I buy hops by the lb and malt by the bag, either use dry yeast or wash and reuse liquid. Most batches are around $12-15, including propane. (Also, these are mainly session beers.) I BIAB, so never spent much on gear, apart from the kegging stuff.
 
Let's look at a kit:

usually $35-40 for 2 cases.

4 12-packs of good beer would be about $60.

15 years ago home brewing was MUCH cheaper. Today it is a little cheaper, once you save enough to cover the equipment.... and then the ferm chamber... and then the kegging equipment, and then your home bar, etc.....

It "could" be cheaper. But you will get on the quest for that perfect brew enjoyed out of a tap and it will be a money hole.
 
Let's look at a kit:

usually $35-40 for 2 cases.

4 12-packs of good beer would be about $60.

15 years ago home brewing was MUCH cheaper. Today it is a little cheaper, once you save enough to cover the equipment.... and then the ferm chamber... and then the kegging equipment, and then your home bar, etc.....

It "could" be cheaper. But you will get on the quest for that perfect brew enjoyed out of a tap and it will be a money hole.

when i started 2 years ago with kit brewing (the once i buy is not ****, but excellent kits.. actually drinking brown ale now from kit) i probably saved close to 1200 usd in two years by brewing myself.) Student life you know :p
 
I figure about $22-27 for grain and yeast. Add a buck or two for hops (which I buy by the pound) + propane + caps + cleaning supplies = probably $26-32 per 5 gal. batch or $13-16 per case. I compare my beer to the cost of buying micro-brews at $8.00 per six-pack = $32 per case so I'm saving about half on a case of beer. (Not fair to try to compare my beer to a case of Bud Light at Costco - nowhere close to an apples-to-apples comparison.)

Now, as another poster said, you have to recover the cost of the equipment. It's going to take a lot of beer before I figure I'll break even.
 

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