Cost

[crowdent]

I have been really interested in home brewing for sometime but I just never followed through with it. I have ask a local brewer if it was expense and he told me he stop because it was costing to much. Does it cost a lot to maintain?

Thanks


Thanks

 

[hoppheadIPA]

It's as expensive as you want to make it, or as cheap as you can get it.... Really, it's not expensive if you research and don't buy "bling" gear.

 

[twistr25]

Up front is the worst, but it depends on how big you want to go. 1 gallon batches you may just need a small bucket to ferment in and you can use a regular soup pot you already have for boiling. Bigger batches cost more to get the equipment. I am pretty well established now and really only spend on ingredients which average around $40 for a 5 gallon batch or about 50 beers.

 

[twalte]

The cost is all on the front end to get started....after that, additional spending is not necessary but some like to upgrade equipment to larger, shinier or automated. In addition, you may want to start taking control of other processes like crushing barley, harvesting yeast, etc (all of which requires more equipment, but provides an ROI over time)

This poll has been going on which shows costs.

Once you get everything you need to brew, the expenses can stop except for ingredients. However, I am about $2k into the hobby with another $1k planned to finish it out. I will be done for a while and will have everything I need to brew for the next 30 years.

It's a great hobby...and you can start small with a homebrewing kit from Midwest or Northern Brewer. You could also play with one gallon batches if you want to limit equipment purchases and learn.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/poll-what-your-investment-homebrewing-378239/

 

[cramar]

Well, "expensive" is a relative term, but I'd say no, it's not expensive but it does cost money.
You can get a beginners 5 gallon fermenting kit plus recipe kit for, I dunno, $150 US or so, maybe a bit less, that should have everything you need to brew.
1 gallon kits are even less.

Price it out online, one you have the fermenting kit all you need is a recipe kit each time you want to brew, price it out.

 

[rklinck]

It does not have to be expensive. You can get a basic equipment kit from around $65 or $70. You also have to buy the ingredients for each brew. For beginners, ingredients for a 5 gallon batch (which makes about 48 beers) start at around $25 and go up based on the type of beer and how complicated you want to get. So you are paying $.50 per beer after the startup costs.

It gets expensive because most people get hooked and quickly decide that there are logs of additional equipment that they "need." I have been at it for about two months and I have already gotten a large brew pot, a turkey fryer to boil outside, accessories for the whole brewing process, and a kegging system for two kegs.

The upside is that I am quickly approaching the point that I will not need to buy any beer for home consumption because my pipeline of beers is getting full.

 

[kh54s10]

If you are going to brew to save money you will need to do several things. The first is that you will have to brew all grain. I think that the price of extracts prohibit you from brewing for less than you can buy commercially.

You will probably have to reuse your yeast and you will have to buy your grains in bulk.

The upfront cost for the equipment is pretty large. Even with BIAB, which requires less equipment there is a sizable upfront cost. I brewed for a year before my cost per bottle fell below $2.

 

[crowdent]

I haven't seen his setup and when I did ask I got a quick answer . " he isn't doing it anymore" so I figured it was just a quick answer so I didn't ask more. Do most of you do it for hobby with a dream to become more or just a hobby?

 

[rklinck]

If you are going to brew to save money you will need to do several things. The first is that you will have to brew all grain. I think that the price of extracts prohibit you from brewing for less than you can buy commercially.

You will probably have to reuse your yeast and you will have to buy your grains in bulk.

The upfront cost for the equipment is pretty large. Even with BIAB, which requires less equipment there is a sizable upfront cost. I brewed for a year before my cost per bottle fell below $2.

I have to disagree. You can buy extract only ingredient kits starting at around $25. That makes ingredient costs around $.50 per beer. There are certainly the start up costs (which can be as low as $70 for an extract brewer) and some incidental costs (e.g., the cost of water and increased use of either electricity or gas to brew), but those are rather small in the large scheme of things. I currently do partial mash BIAB and my batches run me around $30. I don't harvest yeast and buy my grains in increments of 5 pounds or less.

 

[twalte]

I enjoy it as a hobby...

I am constantly learning new things...so it is mentally challenging

I enjoy the brewing process....with a beer in my hand and good tunes

I enjoy testing and sampling in "the cellar" while it ferments

I enjoy the end result. There is something so cool when you pour a great tasting beer and you realize that you made that.

So overall, it is a hobby that occupies a great deal of my time.

 

[dbsmith]

I haven't seen his setup and when I did ask I got a quick answer . " he isn't doing it anymore" so I figured it was just a quick answer so I didn't ask more. Do most of you do it for hobby with a dream to become more or just a hobby?

Many craft breweries were started by homebrewers. As for me, I'm content with it being a hobby. As a general rule, once something becomes a job it is no longer fun. Breweries are more concerned about process, control, cost, etc.. I enjoy the freedom to brew whatever and whenever I like.

 

[sok454]

After years of thinking about doing it I finally jumped in back in Sept/October. I do extract brewing right now and have 2 bottled w 2 ready to be bottled this weekend. The first two have turned out great. My outlays have been as follows:
Midwest Supplies:
10/26/12 $119.18 Hops yeast LME/DME (Enough for 6 batches)
10/5/12 $169.14 More Grains, Yeast, Fermenter, Extract
9/26/12 $196.93 Brewing Starter Plus Kit + Extra Cleaner

Bought some bulk hops for about 35.00

Bought a larger pot, capper, bottles, 2 kegs, like 50 various pint glasses and misc. items for about 150.

So I'm sitting around 700 in the last 3 months. But I also have a lot of ingredients left even after 4 batches.

Luckily I got 200 in gift certs for the LHBS for x-mas. Not sure what I'll use it on but I'm excited to get to St. Louis.

My next purchases will be a burner, larger pot w possible thermometer/drain built in. Wort chiller. Also a CO2 tank and eventually kegerator.

So between those items I'm close to another 500 easily.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I agree with others, cost is how much you want to spend.

 

[the_trout]

Assuming you have nothing and you want to make 5G batches. To buy all the stuff you need + the stuff you really should have. I think your into it for about $250 startup and then about $45 for ingediants that will yeild you 2 cases. However there is really no limit as to how much you can spend and if you stick with it you will almost certainly buy more than the minimum required.

If you thinking about getting into it to save money, don't bother. If you not sure if you want to make that big of an investment buy a 1G starter kit. You'll probably out grow it but if you decide youre not into it you will not have spent much. If your pretty sure youre going to like it buy one of the mid level kits at Norther Brewer, Austin Homebrew, Midwest Suppies, ect... and the biggest pot you can afford.

 

[crowdent]

After years of thinking about doing it I finally jumped in back in Sept/October. I do extract brewing right now and have 2 bottled w 2 ready to be bottled this weekend. The first two have turned out great. My outlays have been as follows:
Midwest Supplies:
10/26/12 $119.18 Hops yeast LME/DME (Enough for 6 batches)
10/5/12 $169.14 More Grains, Yeast, Fermenter, Extract
9/26/12 $196.93 Brewing Starter Plus Kit + Extra Cleaner

Bought some bulk hops for about 35.00

Bought a larger pot, capper, bottles, 2 kegs, like 50 various pint glasses and misc. items for about 150.

So I'm sitting around 700 in the last 3 months. But I also have a lot of ingredients left even after 4 batches.

Luckily I got 200 in gift certs for the LHBS for x-mas. Not sure what I'll use it on but I'm excited to get to St. Louis.

My next purchases will be a burner, larger pot w possible thermometer/drain built in. Wort chiller. Also a CO2 tank and eventually kegerator.

So between those items I'm close to another 500 easily.

Do you live near St. Louis?

 

[lopatkam]

Expense is relative. However, I do not think that the cost of home brewing is something that I considered when I first started. While home brewing is easy and relatively inexpensive, it is the duty of every home brewer to make it as expensive and complicated as possible.

Mark

 

[Varmintman]

Man you guys jumped in with money right off the get go. My biggest expense at first was tubing and the stuff for the first batch. I had a cooler and the stuff to make my mash tun laying around the house.

My fist batch of beer including everything to go from grain to glass was under 50 bucks. Well grain to plastic pop bottles. Now I have a ton more stuff and it is much easier to brew but can I say the beer is any better....No but my process is

 

[twalte]

Man you guys jumped in with money right off the get go. My biggest expense at first was tubing and the stuff for the first batch. I had a cooler and the stuff to make my mash tun laying around the house.

My fist batch of beer including everything to go from grain to glass was under 50 bucks. Well grain to plastic pop bottles. Now I have a ton more stuff and it is much easier to brew but can I say the beer is any better....No but my process is

Yeah...got going quick here. Going from a 60-70 hour work week for 20 years to unemployed is a shock to the system. This and my motorcycle are my therapy...and it is working rather well (maybe too well)

Besides, nothing excels like excess.

 

[mcangeli]

If you are going to brew to save money you will need to do several things. The first is that you will have to brew all grain. I think that the price of extracts prohibit you from brewing for less than you can buy commercially.

You will probably have to reuse your yeast and you will have to buy your grains in bulk.

The upfront cost for the equipment is pretty large. Even with BIAB, which requires less equipment there is a sizable upfront cost. I brewed for a year before my cost per bottle fell below $2.

I'm finding that the extract recipes I'm looking at from Brewmasters Warehouse are cheaper (by a dollar or two) than the all grain kits. Plus, I don't have to have the extra equipment to do the all grain stuff right off the bat.

Its as expensive or cheap as you want it to be.

 

[unionrdr]

I think I've got about $500 in it all said & done. But I have 2 fermenters,etc for 2 people to be able to brew at once. I save 1 gallon Sunny-D jugs for storing PBW & Starsan. I marked off a 3rd one in 1QT lines to measure my water with. I bought a set of 4 nested,polished SS stock pots with lids & steamer trays on sale at Giant Eagle for about $25. The 4 & 5 gallon kettles are great for partial boils. The 4 gallon can also be used to heat sparge water when doing partial mash,partial boil biab in my 5 gallon BK.
So you could buy a 5G SS kettle & the $65 basic starter kit from midwest for starters. then drink a couple cases of pop top brown beer bottles. Or have family & friends save'em for you. It doesn't have to be expensive to brew at home,but it can be if you want bling.

 

[Homercidal]

The basic equipment runs about $100-$150 and on up. You can mostly get by with that. "Kits" are about $30-55, depending on the beer style. There are a few odds and ends to get, but not many if you are just doing it quick and easy.

The cost danger is when you start to enjoy the habit, er I mean, hobby. Then you want to "upgrade" and get convenience items. Many switching over to AG to "save money"

Now, you can brew AG using BIAB method for hardly any cost more than extract and kits are less expensive too.

The short answer is, It's relatively inexpensive to brew. The long answer would add, "Until you decide to upgrade your stuff." That can vary from a couple of hundred to a few thousand, depending on how much "BLING" you have to have and how much you can do yourself. I try and do as much as I can myself and enjoy the DIY part of the hobby and I've spent several hundred on items the past few years. I'd hate to think what my cost would have been if I had not been able to build certain things.

 

[Grantman1]

All grain isn't that expensive for equipment if you don't want it to be. I made my mash tun for around $40 if I recall, and use a stock pot that I paid $40 for. Sure you could spend more, but it's not necessary.

More specifically, I always see people worry about going from extract to all grain because they feel they don't have enough room or money. Well, if you have $40 and room for a cooler at your place, then no need to worry.

 

[sok454]

Do you live near St. Louis?

I live in Springfield IL. So only about 90 minutes. There is a good home brew store in st. louis. But we make it downt here fairly frequently. (to st. louis not store)... Here is the link. I went there a month or 2 ago and they were helpful. Its cool to see the stuff in person etc.

http://wineandbeermaking.com/

Also if you are member of a homebrew group they give a 10% discount.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

 

[crowdent]

I live in Springfield IL. So only about 90 minutes. There is a good home brew store in st. louis. But we make it downt here fairly frequently. (to st. louis not store)... Here is the link. I went there a month or 2 ago and they were helpful. Its cool to see the stuff in person etc.

http://wineandbeermaking.com/

Also if you are member of a homebrew group they give a 10% discount.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

I am two hours from St Louis, MO in Cape Girardeau, mo. So i would make it a day to see this.

thanks for the website and information.

 

[PAjwPhilly]

I am in about $800 (including what my gf spent).

~200 for an upgraded starter kit (2 primary better bottles, 1 secondary)
~220 for a 10g brew pot with spigot and thermometer
~150 for mash tun cooler
~100 for a plate chiller (xmas gift)
~40 for bottles (4 cases of 22oz.)
~80 for ingredients to start a 10g batch.....

So i went right off the bat with big purchases. I have thought about doing this for 2 years and read a few books before beginning.

 

[PAjwPhilly]

I am in about $800.

~200 for an upgraded starter kit (2 primary better bottles, 1 secondary)
~220 for a 10g brew pot with spigot and thermometer
~150 for mash tun cooler
~100 for a plate chiller (xmas gift)
~60 for bottles (4 cases of 22oz.)
~100 for ingredients to start a 10g batch.....

So i went right off the bat with big purchases. I have thought about doing this for 2 years and read a few books before beginning.

 

[crowdent]

I am in about $800.

~200 for an upgraded starter kit (2 primary better bottles, 1 secondary)
~220 for a 10g brew pot with spigot and thermometer
~150 for mash tun cooler
~100 for a plate chiller (xmas gift)
~60 for bottles (4 cases of 22oz.)
~100 for ingredients to start a 10g batch.....

So i went right off the bat with big purchases. I have thought about doing this for 2 years and read a few books before beginning.

which books?

 

[PAjwPhilly]

All I really needed to feel confident and start brewing: a big stock pot, maybe a $40 starter kit at a homebrew store, 1 book to guide me along, and a recipe using malt extract.

 

[PAjwPhilly]

which books?

I bought "how to brew" by john palmer. Really all you need to understand the basics and start brewing.

For christmas I got a book by the owner of dogfish head (sam calagione) from my girlfriend, "Extreme Brewing." Has some good extract recipes inside that are high ABV beers.

And I asked to swap out "how to brew" with "designing great beers" bu ray daniels.

 

[rklinck]

The two books I would recommend are: How to Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian.

 

[crowdent]

Have any of you seen "beer wars" on netflixs? Really neat movie

 

[PAjwPhilly]

The two books I would recommend are: How to Brew by John Palmer and The Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian.

Is there really any difference between the two? I was lead to believe one was simplified (joy) and both are introductory books for beginning.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Is there really any difference between the two? I was lead to believe one was simplified (joy) and both are introductory books for beginning.

No major differences. I liked How to Brew more myself, but both are good reads and both miss some small things.

 

[rklinck]

Is there really any difference between the two? I was lead to believe one was simplified (joy) and both are introductory books for beginning.

I don't have them in front of me so it is hard to answer completely. They are both geared to beginners and they have different tones. I read them both and enjoyed them both. I tend to like repetition to learn but can't bring myself to read a book more than once, so it may have just been that reading them both was my version of repetition here (in law school I tended to buy and read multiple study guides for precisely this reason). I do feel that one of the real values of Papazian is that he stresses: relax, don't worry, have a homebrew. I think that helped me to stay calm and not freak out about every little oddity that came up (e.g., all the "help I think my beer is infected" posts).

 

[helibrewer]

One thing to consider is "How am I going to heat/boil 3-7 gallons of liquid?" If you are limited to stove top is it gas or electric? Are the burners close enough to use 2 burners under a single pot?

If you are able to boil outside using propane on a "turkey fryer" or similar large burner then that is a potential additional cost.

In your reading you will come across "full boil" and "partial boil" processes. Partial boil allows you to boil smaller volumes and add the remaining water after the boil process. Full boils need to accomodate 7+ gallons of liquid and are easiest with a 10+ gallon pot...full boils generally require large burners, outside, using propane/natural gas.

Consider your process, it's limitations with regard to your living arrangement (house, condo, small apt.) before gathering too much hardware.

Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions here if you are unsure about choices in equipment, just be sure to provide a lot of detail

 

[PAjwPhilly]

I freaked out on my first 5 gallons (I did 2 5gallon batches for repetition) and the 2nd 5 gallons I was fine....

so I completely understand about freaking out

 

[unionrdr]

Hey,it doesn't stop there. I was the same way with my 1st partial mash ale. Midwest's pm cascade pale ale kit. With premium dry yeast it was only $25! But I was freaking inside like a noob. Nordeastbrewer77 had to talk mr down like I just took the controls of a 767. Kinda like Megadeath's "sweating bullets". "yeah yeah,just keep on thinkin it's my fault...& stay an inch or two outta kicking distance". Dang mash temps...

 

[sok454]

I would say Palmer's book helped me w the basic concepts. The 4 batches I have done have either been ones I've created or ones I have modified from this Forum. I have yet to do a full boil, but that is my next step and then probably a partial mash.
As everyone has said you can spend as much as you want... or as little (within reason). My biggest fail was the fact my cousin (R.I.P.) brewed for 10 years and had all sorts of stuff for AG brewing and after he died his family got rid of it about 6 months before I started brewing! In fact my first beer was in his honor!

 

[crowdent]

I have seen AG brewing all over. What does AG mean "all Grain" ?

 

[sok454]

Yes