explosivebeer
Well-Known Member
I've been brewing for almost a year now, doing a batch every month or two. I'm generally happy with extract brewing but I'd like to find a way to minimize costs.
I've primarily been using LME from my LHBS ($2.50/lb) but am interested in finding other alternatives. I saw another post on here about buying in bulk, which got the price down to around $2/lb. For some reason, that still seems exorbitant to me though. I've heard those 55-gallon drums of LME only cost around $200 but neither do I know where to get one, nor could I use that much in a timely manner. I do have nitrogen though, so if I could get my hands on one, that would help extend the life of it.
Also, I'm curious how critical the brand and type of yeast is. I know some people absolutely swear by White Labs and liquid yeasts in general, but I used a Californian dry yeast that kicked ass and really rocketed through fermentation. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but it was impressive, since we did another batch at the same time with a White Labs liquid yeast and fermentation took two to three times as long. They were different beers but had roughly the same amount of fermentable sugars.
Anyway, I guess I'm just curious to see if anyone else has encountered the same issues and what their experience has been. Any advice or suggestions on how to economize while maintaining quality would be very much appreciated!
I've primarily been using LME from my LHBS ($2.50/lb) but am interested in finding other alternatives. I saw another post on here about buying in bulk, which got the price down to around $2/lb. For some reason, that still seems exorbitant to me though. I've heard those 55-gallon drums of LME only cost around $200 but neither do I know where to get one, nor could I use that much in a timely manner. I do have nitrogen though, so if I could get my hands on one, that would help extend the life of it.
Also, I'm curious how critical the brand and type of yeast is. I know some people absolutely swear by White Labs and liquid yeasts in general, but I used a Californian dry yeast that kicked ass and really rocketed through fermentation. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but it was impressive, since we did another batch at the same time with a White Labs liquid yeast and fermentation took two to three times as long. They were different beers but had roughly the same amount of fermentable sugars.
Anyway, I guess I'm just curious to see if anyone else has encountered the same issues and what their experience has been. Any advice or suggestions on how to economize while maintaining quality would be very much appreciated!