WOW! All grain kits are expensive

[JONNYROTTEN]

I just brewed a Zombie Dust clone with my own ingredients so for no good reason I looked up the kits to compare ingredients. Not including yeast that I have the kit with shipping is $70. I figured mine cost $30 or just under. All there doing is sticking the same ingredients they sell in a box and more than doubling the cost..I cant see why anyone would by a kit when they can just as easily order the ingredients online or go to the LHBS.I had no idea there was such a markup.I just gained a new respect for my grain mill.

http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...ahUKEwjj66nQlfbPAhXDMj4KHcUfAzwQvhcILQ&adurl=

 

[IslandLizard]

I guess you're also buying hops by the pound, that makes THE big difference in pricing, not just the grain.

I never got the advantage of kits either.

 

[laredo7mm]

Where are you getting your hops? I just did a quick search and a pound of Citra hops at Ritebrew is $19.99 plus $5.50 in shipping. At my LHBS they are $2.59 per ounce which would be $41.44 for a ten gallon batch.

 

[botigol]

Yes, they tend to be marked up, but not by as much as you would think, especially for some of us (prices seem to vary wildly across the country).

Estimate in Denver metro:
$2/lb for grain = $26
$3.50/oz for Citra = $28
Local tax = $4+
Total = $58+

NB regular price without yeast and extras = $61.51
NB shipping = $7.99
Total = $69.50

NB price with 20% coupon (come out regularly) = $47.98
NB shipping = $7.99
Total = $57.20

Obviously per unit prices come down with buying in bulk, but that's not the comparison you're making.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

I always look to see what the grain bill is in the kit and bring it to my LHBS and I save on average 15 dollars. I don't understand kits either.

 

[Konadog]

Not much to understand, some people like everything to be included and pre-measured, with step by step instructions and don't mind paying for it.

I'm not that person, but I do understand it.

 

[timdillon36]

I think we need to compare apples to apples here.

If a kit is more expensive than a list of items from the same place that is a poor job on that stores marketing department.

A burger, fries, and a drink as a #1 should always be less than a la carte.

My LHBS has a great website and great service. They sell their own kits and are usualy 10% less then per item price. And the AG kits from them are crushed and hops weighed and bagged per addition at the time of the order.

I dont have to buy in bulk
I dont have to store in bulk
I dont need a mill
I dont need a grain scale
I dont need a gram scale

They do online orders the same way, shipped to your door.

I do not work for nor am i paid by my LHBS for this post.

 

[IslandLizard]

When you price out a kit vs. loose ingredients by the pound (grain) and ounce (hops) from the same or similar vendors, the kits are usually very close or better priced when they have specials or other discounts.

BUT... when you buy (base) malt by the sack or through a group buy, and hops by the pound at the right time from the right places the difference is indeed astounding, as the OP pointed out.

The first beer I brewed was from a kit, then on to the LHBS where I got ingredients based on recipes I found on the 'net or in books for about the same $ or quite a bit less (extract, hops by the ounce), but I liked tinkering with recipes and ingredients.

I think the kit was OK, it tasted like a Pale Ale. I would score it around 28-30, mostly due to n00b process on my part, bad kit instruction (secondary after x days), and lack of ample hops in the kit. The self compounded recipes started at about the same level, but got better and better quickly, and took a bit leap up when I discovered HBT, started to do all grain and liquid yeasts with adequate size starters.

Buying grain in a group buy and hops by the pound certainly keeps the cost down and much lower than any kit. Plus having some stock, I can brew pretty much any time I want.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Not much to understand, some people like everything to be included and pre-measured, with step by step instructions and don't mind paying for it.

100% this ^


A NB all grain kit comes with all the grains combined into one bag (crushed or not), and 1-oz packs of hops thrown in the box. Comparing Kit vs Loose in this case doesn't look like a great deal. If you buy the 1oz hops packs you're ~$1.50 cheaper than the kit, and if you buy the 8oz bulk bag of hops you're ~$14 cheaper than the kit.

As mentioned, generally the kit is at or slightly below the price of loose ingredients from the same vendor, with periodic sales providing even more incentive to buy the kit.

Moral of the story - know what you're buying and shop around. Also, buying in bulk is cheaper than buying single serving (duh?).

 

[christyle]

Also, some people don't live close to a LHBS, or are intimidated by it. I started buying kits for extract and then my LHBS when i went to all grain. I hear some people talk about the nearest LHBS being 45mins+ away, and not even very good. Sometimes it's worth it for the convenience as well. I have no intention to buy anything in bulk for brewing, as it is not a regular commodity I go through quickly enough to warrant storing tons of different grains and hops, owning a mill, etc. Cost savings is minimal to me, i'd rather buy fresh and just what I need, when I need it. That being said, I haven't bought a beer kit in probably 2 years.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

My comparison was buying the 2 row and hops in bulk and specialty grains by the ounce.At my LHBS I'm at $1 #(bulk) for 2 row and around $2.50 for specialty grains. Higher than other parts of the country I believe? If buying at a group buy I thought I saw the 2 row at $34 once. The difference would be even greater. Which brings up a totally different aspect,Why would anyone NOT buy in bulk for the basic stuff like 2 row and hops? You know your going to use it and it stays good for a year.Except for specialty grain maybe,those I buy by the ounce. Its nice to have on hand and your saving money....seems like a no brainer..I've never wasted a single hop pellet or any grain.

 

[kh54s10]

I think we need to compare apples to apples here.

If a kit is more expensive than a list of items from the same place that is a poor job on that stores marketing department.

A burger, fries, and a drink as a #1 should always be less than a la carte.

My LHBS has a great website and great service. They sell their own kits and are usualy 10% less then per item price. And the AG kits from them are crushed and hops weighed and bagged per addition at the time of the order.

I dont have to buy in bulk
I dont have to store in bulk
I dont need a mill
I dont need a grain scale
I dont need a gram scale

They do online orders the same way, shipped to your door.

I do not work for nor am i paid by my LHBS for this post.

It depends on what you are comparing as apples to apples.

I buy my grains and hops in bulk. So I may pay something like $1.00 per pound and that would be 1.20 for a 5 pound package or possibly 1.50 for a single pound.

Most kits will be close to the by the pound price. They also cover the labor cost of putting the kit together. So I can easily beat most kit prices.

If you look at it closely I would bet that you can buy the ingredients separately at a lower price than the kits.

Your burger and fries analogy does not fit either. If I buy ground beef, buns, fries, soda at the grocery store, I get several meals far cheaper than one meal at the fast food joint...

I buy in bulk and pay a lot less.
I have the room so storage is not an issue
I have a mill which means I can store grain longer.
I have one scale that measures pounds ounces or grams
I can find a recipe, go to my stock and brew right away.
I save a ton over buying kits.

 

[Paps]

Where are you getting your hops? I just did a quick search and a pound of Citra hops at Ritebrew is $19.99 plus $5.50 in shipping. At my LHBS they are $2.59 per ounce which would be $41.44 for a ten gallon batch.

Hop prices vary wildly by hop type.
Citra is NOT one of the cheaper ones.
There are several mail order hop vendors.
It would be wise to browse through several of them before commiting to purchasing any
I recently bought 10-LBS of hops for around $80-$90 shipped to my door.
1-LBS bags, 10 different varieties.
I wasn't using the freezer space before and figured this was a good use for it. My LHBS charged me $25 pre-tax for 1-LBS of hops recently so if you do the math, you can see the savings.

As for bulk grain.
I buy the 50-55 LBS sacks from my LHBS
They mill them up in their $2000 mill and i store the grain in a fridge.
I do however only buy base malts by the sack.
Specialty malts i might buy in bulk eventually if i start brewing a lot more or get extra storage space but for now, buying it by the LBS at the LHBS is just fine.

 

[laredo7mm]

...Why would anyone NOT buy in bulk for the basic stuff like 2 row and hops? You know your going to use it and it stays good for a year...

I brew about once a month so I guess I could buy bulk sacks of base grain, but I would still need to go to the LHBS to get the specialty grains. If I buy bulk hops, I will have to store them some how as well as the bulk grain.

Briess 2-Row at my LHBS is $1.19 a pound. Specialty grains are up to $2.59 for a one pound sealed bag and that is if they don't have what I need in the 60 to 70 grain bins that they have. If they have it in the bulk bins, then they are around $1.49 to $1.79 a pound. Hops are from $1.69 to $2.59 per ounce.

If I wanted to buy bulk grains and hops I would need to get:
1. A grain mill
2. Grain storage bins
3. A vacuum sealer
4. Another fridge to store the hops
5. A place to put the grain bins
6. A place to grind the grains as I won't do it in the house
7. Buy a scale to weigh the grains
8. Keep track of my inventory

I am pretty sure my LHBS sells 50 pound bags of grain for around $45. I don't brew IPAs and I don't like hoppy beers so I only use an ounce or two of hops per batch.

So for me, it is easier to just stop by the LHBS on the way home from work and buy what I need. It is only a few miles out of my way and the place is great. Saving $3 or $4 a batch isn't worth the effort and cost of getting myself set up to buy bulk grains and hops.

But then again, I don't buy kits either.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I brew about once a month so I guess I could buy bulk sacks of base grain, but I would still need to go to the LHBS to get the specialty grains. If I buy bulk hops, I will have to store them some how as well as the bulk grain.

Briess 2-Row at my LHBS is $1.19 a pound. Specialty grains are up to $2.59 for a one pound sealed bag and that is if they don't have what I need in the 60 to 70 grain bins that they have. If they have it in the bulk bins, then they are around $1.49 to $1.79 a pound. Hops are from $1.69 to $2.59 per ounce.

If I wanted to buy bulk grains and hops I would need to get:
1. A grain mill
2. Grain storage bins
3. A vacuum sealer
4. Another fridge to store the hops
5. A place to put the grain bins
6. A place to grind the grains as I won't do it in the house
7. Buy a scale to weigh the grains
8. Keep track of my inventory

I am pretty sure my LHBS sells 50 pound bags of grain for around $45. I don't brew IPAs and I don't like hoppy beers so I only use an ounce or two of hops per batch.

So for me, it is easier to just stop by the LHBS on the way home from work and buy what I need. It is only a few miles out of my way and the place is great. Saving $3 or $4 a batch isn't worth the effort and cost of getting myself set up to buy bulk grains and hops.

But then again, I don't buy kits either.

1. Yes. $100.Will pay for itself buying in bulk and you own a mill
2. Nice but not needed,roll up the bag for free
3. Nice but not needed,hops stay plenty fresh in the freezer
4. IF YOU NEED A SEPARATE FRIDGE TO STORE HOPS GOD BLESS YA
5. A closet or empty corner work just fine
6. Why???
7. A scale cost like $6 and you can use it to cook with when not brewing
8. Just plain silly

 

[christyle]

1. Yes. $100. Will pay for itself buying in bulk and you own a mill
2. Nice but not needed,roll up the bag for free
3. Nice but not needed,hops stay plenty fresh in the freezer
4. IF YOU NEED A SEPARATE FRIDGE TO STORE HOPS GOD BLESS YA
5. A closet or empty corner work just fine
6. Why???
7. A scale cost like $6 and you can use it to cook with when not brewing
8. Just plain silly

What works for you doesnt work for everyone you know...crazy, I know, but true.
1. Sure it can, but after how many batches? I'm brewing maybe a batch every other month, so to me, this isn't worth the hassle. Also, I need to store one and maintain one (minimal, but still)
2. Ok, still need to house big sacks of grain somewhere temp/moisture/critter friendly and then you still need to go to the LHBS for the specialty stuff....
3. Debatable, especially for someone who doesn't brew once a week
4. Sorry I don't use one type of hop in my beers. I generally have leftover 2-oz sacks of 6-7 different hops at any one time in my freezer. If those were leftover 1lb bags, it would take a good chunk of space...
5. Again, the point here is my house is not a brewery, I have enough brewing gear filling up spaces in my house/garage/shed, i'd like to use my house as a house, not a brewery.
6. The driveway is likely fine for this
7. AGAIN, another piece of equipment for a very small purpose. I don't know about you, but I don't weigh out pounds of anything when I cook.... My ounce hop scale sure, but not a scale for weighing pounds of grains...
8. Whether you want to admit it or not, there is work involved in keeping track of all the different items you're mentioning that are currently not needed in the current process.

Really, it all boils down to preference. It's a no brainer to ME to buy for the beer I want to brew, not keeping a bulk stock on hand of numerous ingredients. If I brewed weekly, it may make more sense. If I brewed similar beers that used the same common ingredients, it may make more sense. As it is, I don't feel the need to buy more equipment, store more ingredients, and end up compromising my recipe design by feeling a need to use the base stock of items I bought in bulk (or keep more items on hand to avoid this). Plain and simple. If it works for you, cool, if this works for me, who cares, all i'm doing is supporting the shops that sell items by paying a higher markup for this convenience. At the end of the year, it might be a total of like $100 saved, and that benefit doesn't outweigh the items mentioned previously to me.

 

[kh54s10]

What works for you doesnt work for everyone you know...crazy, I know, but true.
1. Sure it can, but after how many batches? I'm brewing maybe a batch every other month, so to me, this isn't worth the hassle. Also, I need to store one and maintain one (minimal, but still)
2. Ok, still need to house big sacks of grain somewhere temp/moisture/critter friendly and then you still need to go to the LHBS for the specialty stuff....
3. Debatable, especially for someone who doesn't brew once a week
4. Sorry I don't use one type of hop in my beers. I generally have leftover 2-oz sacks of 6-7 different hops at any one time in my freezer. If those were leftover 1lb bags, it would take a good chunk of space...
5. Again, the point here is my house is not a brewery, I have enough brewing gear filling up spaces in my house/garage/shed, i'd like to use my house as a house, not a brewery.
6. The driveway is likely fine for this
7. AGAIN, another piece of equipment for a very small purpose. I don't know about you, but I don't weigh out pounds of anything when I cook.... My ounce hop scale sure, but not a scale for weighing pounds of grains...
8. Whether you want to admit it or not, there is work involved in keeping track of all the different items you're mentioning that are currently not needed in the current process.

Really, it all boils down to preference. It's a no brainer to ME to buy for the beer I want to brew, not keeping a bulk stock on hand of numerous ingredients. If I brewed weekly, it may make more sense. If I brewed similar beers that used the same common ingredients, it may make more sense. As it is, I don't feel the need to buy more equipment, store more ingredients, and end up compromising my recipe design by feeling a need to use the base stock of items I bought in bulk (or keep more items on hand to avoid this). Plain and simple. If it works for you, cool, if this works for me, who cares, all i'm doing is supporting the shops that sell items by paying a higher markup for this convenience. At the end of the year, it might be a total of like $100 saved, and that benefit doesn't outweigh the items mentioned previously to me.

It is good that this works for you. But I save a ton by buying in bulk, milling my own grain. All my equipment has been covered by the savings.

1 My grain mill is a corona style. They can be found for less than $30, mine was a gift. At $30 it only takes a few sessions to pay it off.

2 I store mine in my basement so no problems with space. I DO NOT have to go to the LHBS for specialty grains. I buy online in 5 lb amounts or with discounts frequently so I don't have to go to the LHBS.

3 I already had the vacuum sealer. I buy most of my hops for $1.15/oz. or less.

4 I have about 10 pounds of hops in storage. It takes up less than 1/4 of the freezer section of the refrigerator that I already had and converted to a kegerator.

5 The part of my house that does not store my brew gear is also my house.

6 I have my mill mounted on my work bench in the basement. There is a little dust, but it is relatively easy to control.

7 my scale was $19 it will weigh in pounds, ounces and grams. No need for more than one. I occasionally use it for something else. $19 in the scheme of things is not much.

8 yes you have to keep track of what you have. But that is not much different than deciding what you need then making a trip to the LHBS to get it. I don't have to go get anything and if I decided I want to brew today all I have to do is create a recipe, or use one I have already made.

If you don't have storage or don't want to that is up to you but don't poo-poo those that prefer to buy in bulk to save considerable money.

I would estimate that I save an average of $15 on a recipe, depending on what it is. That is saving me between $180 to $360 per year depending on how often I brew. I also never have to worry about not having an order not arrive for brew day, or that the LHBS does not have what I need.

BTW I have a very good LHBS close by and use them for about 1/2 of my purchases.

 

[bucfan1234]

I don't really buy in bulk, but I do buy more base malts than I need and vacuum pack. I buy small amounts of specialty grain from LHBS. I harvest and repitch yeast, which I think provides a good savings.

Even if I buy out a whole recipe from my LHBS, I am not anywhere close to those all grain kit prices per batch. No idea why they are so expensive.

 

[christyle]

Again, if that works for you, good! It's like you're trying to explain to me how I could be saving costs, but i've worked it out and it doesn't make sense in my situation.

I never poo-poo'ed anyone for buying in bulk as you suggest, conversely, I replied in kind to mr Rotten's tone of why buying in bulk obviously makes more sense, since it's a "no brainer". I'm simply stating that to some, buying in bulk does NOT make sense, is not worth the small savings/hassle/storage/etc, so the savings over a pre-made kit aren't as large as it could be to others...

I'm not going to go into further detail about why I disagree with many of your points for my situation. Just know that I obviously don't have the free space you do, or the desire to store more brewing equipment than I already have. Buying in bulk might save me around $5 a kit (not the $15 you are seeing), and as I said, at maybe 12 batches a year, max, that's like $60 for me. I'm confused though when you talk about buying specialty grains online, but not having to wait for orders arriving in time? Do you really stock enough specialty grains, yeasts and hops on hand at all times that you can brew anything you want, whenever you want? If so, that's great, and I envy you, but I don't have the means to carry that much inventory for a hobby such as this.

 

[acidrain]

It's funny, I'll spend thousands of dollars on shiny stainless stuff, but need to buy bulk grains and hops to save a buck.
Plus I like having different grains and hops on hand just to have. Just like I have different fruits & vegetables, liqueurs or meats. It's just nice to have a variety on hand.
I should add that I have a couple of great HB stores within a few miles of me. Maybe I'm spoiled living in a big city.

 

[PADave]

Or maybe the regular prices at NB are crazy expensive. Here is basically the same kit from morebeer, less than half the price.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/soulless-hop-pale-ale-grain-beer-kit.html

 

[PADave]

I'm still trying to justify buying in bulk as I just bought a grain mill. Comparing 4 or 5 recipes that I plan on brewing again there are only a couple overlapping ingredients. I just can't justify buying every one in bulk, then figuring out what to do with the leftovers. Much easier to just plan the next 2-3 brews and buy just what's needed. I like trying the kits to try different recipes. The key is to buy when they are on sale.

 

[jrcrilly]

There is nothing wrong with all-grain ingregient kits if you are going to be using someone else's recipe anyway. I rarely buy them because (a) I buy the grains and hops that I generally use in bulk from my LHBS and (b) I like to control my recipes. I ordered a kit yesterday, though. The recipe looked interesting and it used a number of grains and hops I don't keep in stock. I would have had to buy the ingredients a la carte at normal prices so it would been a relatively expensive batch for me anyway - and it is a pain to buy ingredients piecemeal. When I have checked, I have always found a recipe kit to be less expensive than the same ingredients a la carte from the same vendor (or from my LHBS). They are pricey only in comparison to my normal stock. If I love it I will tune the rexipe a little, add some of those ingredients to my bulk list, and make a larger (and cheaper) batch next time. Most of my current inventory (a dozen grains, a dozen hops) was selected in this way over the years. I can make any of my usual brews or anything similar on the spur of the moment but if I want to try something very different a kit can be convenient.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Or maybe the regular prices at NB are crazy expensive. Here is basically the same kit from morebeer, less than half the price.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/soulless-hop-pale-ale-grain-beer-kit.html

That MoreBeer kit is an unusually good deal.

$12 in Citra ($1.50/oz in bulk)
$8.24 in 2-row ($0.75/lb in bulk)
$3.75 in Specialty ($1.50/lb LHBS)
$24.00/batch

$6 mark up for the convenience of not storing pounds of grain and hops isn't too bad.

 

[laredo7mm]

1. Yes. $100.Will pay for itself buying in bulk and you own a mill
2. Nice but not needed,roll up the bag for free
3. Nice but not needed,hops stay plenty fresh in the freezer
4. IF YOU NEED A SEPARATE FRIDGE TO STORE HOPS GOD BLESS YA
5. A closet or empty corner work just fine
6. Why???
7. A scale cost like $6 and you can use it to cook with when not brewing
8. Just plain silly

Like I said, it is not worth it to me to save $50 a year. A two year payback on some POS Chinese made $100 grain mill that I have to hand crank is not a good selling point. Having sacks of grain, in the bag with rolled tops, sitting in my 110 year old damp and dirty basement is not a good selling point either.

Having 8 pounds of bulk hops in my freezer (freezer is already full) of which I use a couple ounces of each per year, will take me years to use each pound. That is not going to happen.

I don't have any extra closet space to store my grain bins. My closest are all already full. I don't want sacks of grain sitting in the corner of every room attracting rodents and bugs. I don't want my house filled with the dust and dirt from grinding grains indoors. I brew in my kitchen and i don't want to have to take everything outside and grind grains on the porch. Especially when it is -20° or 90° outside.

The only thing that is silly is your complete inability to be able to understand why buying in bulk doesn't work for everybody. If I wanted to save $50 a year then I wouldn't have started home brewing in the first place.

 

[sd_brewbie]

My LHBS lets me buy 50lbs of 2-row for about $45. They give me a card and mark how much I have left. If I want a different base malt they will subtract the normal 2-row price ($1.20 I think) from the price giving me a discount of about $0.30. This is nice as I get the advantage of buying bulk, don't have to store it and I can substitute it anytime I want. I do have to make my way to the store though, but I generally need specialty grains, yeast and hops anyways.

I do often grab a full lb of hops if a recipe has more than 8oz of the same hop or something I use all the time like Magnum.

 

[BeardedBrews]

The only thing that is silly is your complete inability to be able to understand why buying in bulk doesn't work for everybody. If I wanted to save $50 a year then I wouldn't have started home brewing in the first place.

Most of my friends that brew are buying their ingredients one kit at a time for the exact same reason you are. Their lives are busy, and while they enjoy brewing and drinking the beer that they've made, they value convenience and time savings too. This is also the reason that a high quality extract kit still counts as brewing.

If I didn't have a dedicated brewing space with storage I would be watching for sales at NB/InBev and buying those nice easy to stack kits 2-3 at a time. I'd be using dry yeast and fermenting in my closet too!


On the other side of this, because I do have storage space I try to offer to store/mill for my friends that don't have the room or the equipment. If I can help them save a couple bucks I figure it makes them more likely to keep brewing (and keep giving me beer).

 

[metaltim]

I think we need to compare apples to apples here.

If a kit is more expensive than a list of items from the same place that is a poor job on that stores marketing department.

A burger, fries, and a drink as a #1 should always be less than a la carte.

My LHBS has a great website and great service. They sell their own kits and are usualy 10% less then per item price. And the AG kits from them are crushed and hops weighed and bagged per addition at the time of the order.

Bad example with fast food. If a customer just buys burger and fries, the place made less money than if they get combo, which is probably another $.50 on top of burger/fries, because the drink costs store about $.05. So while combo was cheaper, the store actually made more profit.

There is no ingredient in homebrewing that has such a huge markup to result in a similar situation. Certainly not hops or yeast.

With a kit you are paying for convenience hands down, as well as benefit of only getting the amount of hops you need, when they are usually sold in 1oz increments. Have you heard of meal delivery website like blue apron? The markup is huge, but you can justify 'saving' because you don't have to buy a whole container of a specific spice you've never used at $6 or an entire bunch of celery, you just get the 2 tbsp or the single stalk you need for the dinner.

Same idea with a kit. I have a brew I'm about to make after a long hiatus with quite a few hops at 1/2oz and even one with 1/4oz. Well I have to buy an ounce of each of those. If I don't use what's left over, that cost needs to go into my 'a la carte' price to compare apples to apples. With a kit, I would get exact.

I don't know how your LHBS can sell the kits at lower than a la carte, as it takes time for an employee to assemble the kits, there is packaging involved, etc. Unless they use their bulk unit price to come up with cost of kits. So if kit has 1 oz of cascade, they would only add $.50, vs. $2 or whatever for a single 1 oz package of those hops. Same with grain, their bulk sack unit price is a fraction, probably 30-40% less, of their unit price sold in bins. 15 pounds at bulk is $15 or less, but out of bins, probably $25.

That is the only way they could kit something less than a la carte.

My LHBS has a cool deal where you pay for a bag of grain, say $50 for a 50 lb of 2 row, but you don't take the sack, you just have 50lbs worth of credit for 2 row in their system, and every time you go and get 2 row, they update what you have left. However many trips it takes you, doesn't matter. So you get fresh grains, but at bulk pricing.

 

[metaltim]

This argument between laredo and rotten reminds me of a friend who I introduced to homebrewing back in 2010-2011.. At the time, I was in the hobby for 2-3 years, full grain, had a DIY keezer with 6 kegs inside, 4 taps, fridge in garage solely for beer and hops, another chest freezer solely for fermentation chamber, etc.
2 years later, I went on hiatus and parted out/sold my keezer and a few other things because we moved to denver, then shortly after had 2 kids in 15 months.
Now I'm texting him the other night, he has 100 lbs of hops in a chest freezer in the garage, 30+ corny kegs, not all of them in working condition, he uses for parts basically, Tupperware bins full of grains around the house.

Meanwhile I'm sitting here trying to justify spending $3 on a full ounce of hops for a recipe that only calls for 1/4 ounce, and contemplating removing that hop altogether! I question how often I'll get to brew with two kids under 2 in the house.

Come on guys, every body's situation is different, this is not rocket surgery. RDWHAHB

 

[christyle]

Meanwhile I'm sitting here trying to justify spending $3 on a full ounce of hops for a recipe that only calls for 1/4 ounce, and contemplating removing that hop altogether! I question how often I'll get to brew with two kids under 2 in the house.

I know the feeling haha. I see like 6 partial 2oz bags in the freezer and try to figure out how to use those up via compromise hahaha

 

[PADave]

Come on guys, every body's situation is different, this is not rocket surgery. RDWHAHB

I've said this many times about home brewing. If it works for YOU and YOU are happy with the results, who is anyone to say it's wrong? That is what makes home brewing great, you can do what you want.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

FWIW I'm not in an argument in the least.
Without disrespect to Laredo it sounds like he hasn't tried to buy anything but kits yet dumps on the entire process. The reason being hes Dumping on a grain mill many here use for years milling 100's of pounds of grain and still cranking it out for a $100.The fact that he mentions hand milling that everyone under the sun uses a drill. Storing grains in a corner of your house attracts rodents.If that were the case nobody would store grains in there house and most people do. You don't need 8 pounds of hops to buy in bulk,you need one or two that take up nearly no space. Grinding grains with said mill over a 5 gallon bucket produces no dust at all.You don't save $50 a year.Just the one kit listed saves $40 on a single batch.
If he wants to buy kits by all means have at it...sounds like lack of effort excuses over legitimate reasoning

 

[BrewerBrad82]

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

...Thank You for this....So perfect...I give..wet willy...Say Uncle..Do as you will

 

[christyle]

FWIW I'm not in an argument in the least.
Without disrespect to Laredo it sounds like he hasn't tried to buy anything but kits yet dumps on the entire process...........You don't need 8 pounds of hops to buy in bulk,you need one or two that take up nearly no space........You don't save $50 a year.Just the one kit listed saves $40 on a single batch.
If he wants to buy kits by all means have at it...sounds like lack of effort excuses over legitimate reasoning

You aren't understanding. The people who disagree with the buying in bulk ideas aren't buying these $80 kits you're talking about, we are getting our ingredients from a LHBS piecemeal though, which is between the extremes: Cheaper than a kit like that, more expensive than building from a bulk stock on hand.

I don't use any single hop enough to just keep a stock of only 2 lbs of bulk hops, it would be more like the 8 mentioned, but I don't brew IPAs often enough to need any bulk hops. The kits I believe we are both referring to that we brew cost maybe $30-40 from the LHBS, and the only savings available in the kits are the base grain of 2 row and maybe a hop that we are getting 2-4oz of, when we brew 5-10 times a year. Therefor, the savings opportunity there is maybe $5-10 a batch, and I will need to go to the homebrew store anyway for specialty grains/hops, so i'm not saving time...

Call it a lack of effort if you want, but It doesn't make sense to me to buy and store more equipment and ingredients to save maybe $50-75 a year....

 

[Allenk]

The problem that I have with kits is that I typically brew 6 gallons. This allows for loss from transfer & dry hopping. I have bought a few kits and added 2lbs of base malt but then you are not really getting what is intended. Kits are a great way to get ideas about grains to use for a style you you would not typically brew.

 

[GonZolaB]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but the convenience of the pre-packaged kit was that certain companies would guarantee the kit (no questions asked), so if you messed up on ferm temp and complained, they would send you a new kit.

 

[laredo7mm]

FWIW I'm not in an argument in the least.
Without disrespect to Laredo it sounds like he hasn't tried to buy anything but kits yet dumps on the entire process. The reason being hes Dumping on a grain mill many here use for years milling 100's of pounds of grain and still cranking it out for a $100.The fact that he mentions hand milling that everyone under the sun uses a drill. Storing grains in a corner of your house attracts rodents.If that were the case nobody would store grains in there house and most people do. You don't need 8 pounds of hops to buy in bulk,you need one or two that take up nearly no space. Grinding grains with said mill over a 5 gallon bucket produces no dust at all.You don't save $50 a year.Just the one kit listed saves $40 on a single batch.
If he wants to buy kits by all means have at it...sounds like lack of effort excuses over legitimate reasoning

Damn dude, you need to learn how to read. You even quoted me saying that I don't use kits in your reply on post #15. Here it is again since you can't seem to get it in your head that I don't use kits.

...But then again, I don't buy kits either.

You have completely missed every single point I have tried to make.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Damn dude, you need to learn how to read. You even quoted me saying that I don't use kits in your reply on post #15. Here it is again since you can't seem to get it in your head that I don't use kits.



You have completely missed every single point I have tried to make.

Stand corrected on you buying kits

 

[kh54s10]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but the convenience of the pre-packaged kit was that certain companies would guarantee the kit (no questions asked), so if you messed up on ferm temp and complained, they would send you a new kit.

I suppose some would ask for a replacement when it was THEIR fault a kit came out bad.

I have a conscience and could not possibly to that!!!!!

I also feel that it is despicable for anyone to do that!!!!!

I know that it is often done......