tomwirsing
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- Oct 2, 2008
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As someone just coming into brewing, I'm trying to get a handle on costs (and justify things to SWMBO).
What are some estimates of what it costs to generate a 5 gallon batch of beer? I'm only interested in consumables such as propane, grains or extract, hops, finings, and yeast. Let's ignore the limitless cost potential of equipment and call water negligible.
My current fridge stocking choice is to support my local High Life to the tune of about $15 for a 30 pack. This works out to about $26.67 for 5 gallons. I definitely enjoy a wide variety of different and interesting beers. I don't see enough difference between High Life and something like Budweiser to justify the difference in price. The smaller price difference between High Life and the less expensive beers does seem worth it to me. The $8 (or more) six packs for the things I'd really like to be drinking seems excessive. I don't expect to best the High Life price, but if I can brew a wide variety of interesting beers for per costs per 5 gallons comparable to something along the lines of bottled Budweiser (around $42), I'd be pretty happy.
I realize there are a lot of variables, and you could spend a lot on grains doing a barleywine or IRS or hops for an IPA. Let's assume we're doing something around 5-6% ABV and hopping it lightly to moderately. I'd also assume for AG that primary grains are bought in bulk and specialty grains by the pound.
Let me know roughly what I'd be looking at for 5 gallons using extract and 5 gallons with an AG.
What are some estimates of what it costs to generate a 5 gallon batch of beer? I'm only interested in consumables such as propane, grains or extract, hops, finings, and yeast. Let's ignore the limitless cost potential of equipment and call water negligible.
My current fridge stocking choice is to support my local High Life to the tune of about $15 for a 30 pack. This works out to about $26.67 for 5 gallons. I definitely enjoy a wide variety of different and interesting beers. I don't see enough difference between High Life and something like Budweiser to justify the difference in price. The smaller price difference between High Life and the less expensive beers does seem worth it to me. The $8 (or more) six packs for the things I'd really like to be drinking seems excessive. I don't expect to best the High Life price, but if I can brew a wide variety of interesting beers for per costs per 5 gallons comparable to something along the lines of bottled Budweiser (around $42), I'd be pretty happy.
I realize there are a lot of variables, and you could spend a lot on grains doing a barleywine or IRS or hops for an IPA. Let's assume we're doing something around 5-6% ABV and hopping it lightly to moderately. I'd also assume for AG that primary grains are bought in bulk and specialty grains by the pound.
Let me know roughly what I'd be looking at for 5 gallons using extract and 5 gallons with an AG.