How to lower packaging expenses?

[Elysium]

I am about to brew about 30 gallons to beer on a regular basis. Now....I am calculating what costs it will come with and "packaging" is at 12% of the total price (which is a joke..since all the material -malts, yeast, hops- is at 6% of the total cost).

Packaging in this case means getting bottles. The price of a 0.33L bottle in spain is 0.4 USD. Which is not bad.....but if it is 12% of the 100%...well, then it is not good.

Is there a way to lower the price of packaging? The beer wont leave my house...we will drink it here. Shall I just look into kegging?
I kinda like bottling...since I know it, but at this price...it is not an option.

 

[Hello]

I would just look into kegging if the beer isn't really going to leave the house. You can still fill growlers and the occasional bottle.

However, to reduce costs, get free bottles. Ask bars and such. Save your bottles from beer you drink and so forth. I never calculated the cost of bottling myself, but kegging is awesome.

 

[jbob7171]

I might be missing something, but what is the other 82% of the cost? Anyways, kegging will have a large initial cost, but after that, it will be cheap and incredibly east compared to bottling 30 gallons. I can't imagine that nightmare... But if you want to stay with bottling, just re-use them. The only cost will be the initial cost of buying them. Or, better yet, just buy a lot of commercial beer and save those bottles and you'll at least get to drink the beer.

 

[bja]

If a bottle costs $.40 and you say it's 12% of the total cost, that means your cost per bottle of beer is $3.33. Something isn't right here.

 

[PinzonCachondo]

OP states that the ingredients are 6% of the cost so I figure the other 82% is the cost of all the equipment (kettle, mash tun, burner, etc).

Either way, bottling 30 gallons in 330ml bottles means cleaning, sanitizing, priming, filling and capping just under 350 bottles. You'd have to REALLLLLLLLLLY like bottling to go through that nightmare.

$140 ($0.4 x 350) in bottles will get you a big chunk of a kegging system that will save you A LOT of time and hassle.

 

[kh54s10]

Not sure about all the percentages or timing. But FREE bottles is the way to go. As stated ask around for empties. I had friends save them. Within a short period of time I had more than 500 and had to tell my friend to stop saving bottles for me. Now I keg and use only a few of them to bottle for friends.

 

[annalee]

Consumers are becoming increasingly passionate about sustainability and are often more willing to support eco-friendly companies. Design packaging that is easy for consumers to collapse or disassemble for recycling.

 

[day_trippr]

So, plasticized foil pouches, then?

 

[Jtk78]

Consumers are becoming increasingly passionate about sustainability and are often more willing to support eco-friendly companies. Design packaging that is easy for consumers to collapse or disassemble for recycling.

And forum readers are becoming increasingly passionate about people making tangible contributions if they must resurrect a two year old thread. We re-use yeast, packaging, and many of us use our spent grain for other things when we're done brewing. I'm sure when a container is designed that is "collapsible and can be disassembled" that will hold carbonation pressure, is sanitary, and affordable, we will be open to giving it a shot.

 

[JohnSand]

Bottles are cheap, re-usable and recyclable. Solved!

 

[ChelisHubby]

If I was going to brew 30 gallons more than 3 times a year, I would keg. One of the problems with kegging is increased consumption. But it is much nicer to pull a tap handle than it is to open bottles. I don't know how much it cost to do this is Spain, But here kegging is relatively cheap.