Some people here spend a lot more money than it is necessary to make great beer.
I am poor.
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vfinch
Well-Known Member
Speaking of cheap I was in one of my LHBSs and chatting with the owner and he was telling me about one of his customers. The guy would buy a sack of grain, a sack of sugar and just enough hops to still call it beer. Supposedly he had it down to about 6cents a bottle.
Unless you live in Canada, especially BC, where an 18 pack of Canadian (BMC) costs you over $30.
That said, getting into it at first to save some money is one thing, but many get more involved in the hobby, often in an attempt to make better beers and try new interesting (an hard to find) styles.
In these wacko financial times, there are ways you can accomplish the great beer making goal on a budget. You don't need a PID controlled rims/herms system to do that. Some of us just like too!
I just bought a march pump (impatiently awaiting it's arrival) and upgraded my 3 tier. Thought I'd spend that money before the crappy economy kills my income, cause at least that way it's all ready for beer making and all I have to do is have money for grains and propane. I am growing hops (2nd year - woot!) and have almost 15 lbs of pellets in the freezer.
OP, get into AG, find a source for grains that can get you near wholesale prices. Buying 25lbs of base malt really helps.
If not AG then find a source for extract that will sell you extract by the liter. Hops used to be cheap; no longer. But if there is a micro or brewpub or ubrew, see if they will sell you some. Should be cheaper.
The original poster asked about starting homebrewing on a budget. This doesn't necessarily mean that he wants cheap beer. It could mean that he is interested in the hobby, but doesn't (or can't) spend a lot of money to get started. If someone only likes cheap beer, then I'd say stay away from homebrew. Just drink American light beer instead. However, if someone is interested in learning the process of how beer is made and likes craft and microbrews, then homebrewing is a great hobby. Can you get started learning the process for less. Yes, but the trade off is a higher per bottle price. All grain batches can be made for a pretty low per bottle cost (less then 40 cents), but there is more initial equipment to buy making the start-up cost greater. Mr. beer kits run about 80 cents per bottle, but only requiring a $40 startup cost.
oswiu
Well-Known Member
I'm really thrifty (a nice way of saying cheap ) myself, and recently moved to New Zealand and had to build my brewing setup from scratch.
Thus, I can offer a few suggestions on how to get started and make beer inexpensively. These apply especially well to NZ where suppliers are limited and equipment is generally more expensive, but I'm sure they'll help in North America too:
1. Look for second hand equipment. I got a beautiful 32L stainless steel pot for NZ$60 (about US$35) on the NZ ebay equivalent.
2. Try Brew-in-a-bag. It lets you get into the cost savings of all-grain quickly and easily. Some curtain material and sewing is cheaper than a cooler mash tun and fittings.
3. Try to get fermenters for free from restaurants or bulk food stores. I've got a 25L and three 20L HDPE containers for free from my local organic food shop.
4. Buy goods in bulk. It gives you economies of scale and saves on shipping.
5. Use yeast, especially liquid yeast, more than once. Plan your brewing to allow this. Arrange two or three brews to go from low to medium to high gravity, all using the same yeast.
6. Don't buy new bottles. Bottle in re-used plastic or glass bottles. I get all my 1.5L brown PET bottles out of other people's bins on recycling day.
7. If you're planning on using an immersion chiller, try to find the copper from a scrap metal recycler. I got the 23' of 1/2" tubing that's in my chiller for the equivalent of $US12 from a scrap dealer.
Using these tips I've built a setup that lets me do three or four simultaneous 20L all-grain batches for an initial outlay of <US$120.
This includes kettle, bag, digital thermometer, hydrometer, fermenters, airlocks, bottles, chiller, bottling and racking equipment and a digital scale (I do boils on my BBQ, though North American style BBQs probably wouldn't work so well for this.)
Ordering base malt in 25kg bags means that I can use this setup to make (say) a 20L batch of a nice Hefe for <US$12 (plus the cost of gas) or a big 7.2%, 90IBU IPA for <$US20.
While it may just be possible to buy beer for less than this (especially in the US) it's certainly not cheaper to buy GOOD beer for less.
) myself, and recently moved to New Zealand and had to build my brewing setup from scratch.Thus, I can offer a few suggestions on how to get started and make beer inexpensively. These apply especially well to NZ where suppliers are limited and equipment is generally more expensive, but I'm sure they'll help in North America too:
1. Look for second hand equipment. I got a beautiful 32L stainless steel pot for NZ$60 (about US$35) on the NZ ebay equivalent.
2. Try Brew-in-a-bag. It lets you get into the cost savings of all-grain quickly and easily. Some curtain material and sewing is cheaper than a cooler mash tun and fittings.
3. Try to get fermenters for free from restaurants or bulk food stores. I've got a 25L and three 20L HDPE containers for free from my local organic food shop.
4. Buy goods in bulk. It gives you economies of scale and saves on shipping.
5. Use yeast, especially liquid yeast, more than once. Plan your brewing to allow this. Arrange two or three brews to go from low to medium to high gravity, all using the same yeast.
6. Don't buy new bottles. Bottle in re-used plastic or glass bottles. I get all my 1.5L brown PET bottles out of other people's bins on recycling day.
7. If you're planning on using an immersion chiller, try to find the copper from a scrap metal recycler. I got the 23' of 1/2" tubing that's in my chiller for the equivalent of $US12 from a scrap dealer.
Using these tips I've built a setup that lets me do three or four simultaneous 20L all-grain batches for an initial outlay of <US$120.
This includes kettle, bag, digital thermometer, hydrometer, fermenters, airlocks, bottles, chiller, bottling and racking equipment and a digital scale (I do boils on my BBQ, though North American style BBQs probably wouldn't work so well for this.)
Ordering base malt in 25kg bags means that I can use this setup to make (say) a 20L batch of a nice Hefe for <US$12 (plus the cost of gas) or a big 7.2%, 90IBU IPA for <$US20.
While it may just be possible to buy beer for less than this (especially in the US) it's certainly not cheaper to buy GOOD beer for less.
rico567
Well-Known Member
The OP isn't very specific- except that the beer be cheap. I think -whatever I may be doing now, or whatever my personal opinions on what constitutes homebrew- that I'll stick with that.
Once upon a time, in the Dark Ages before the current homebrew revolution....it was 1970. My uncle gave me my maternal grandpa's old Prohibition-era bottle capper and a hydrometer, proof meter & some other items, and suggested I homebrew some beer. Since I was just starting work as a public school teacher, this seemed attractive.
To what I was given, I added a big green plastic wastebasket, a couple of empty cases of PBR bottles, some surgical tubing and hops from the drugstore, caps from the hardware store, and Blue Ribbon malt syrup, 5 pound bags of sugar & Budweiser yeast (from the bakery) at the grocery store.
I couldn't tell you the recipe, except that I boiled the extract, sugar & hops on the stove (don't remember how long), cooled the pot in the sink, pitched into the plastic wastebasket and threw a wet towel over the top. When fermentation appeared to stop I'd float the hydrometer in there to check, then bottle. I used a tiny spoon to put sugar right into the bottle necks. I doubt that the fermentation was ever very complete, since there was plenty of carbonation from only about 1/4 t. of sugar. Everything was cleaned, but there was NO sanitizing whatever from our contemporary good homebrewing practice. The amazing thing was that I don't recall ever having an "off" batch.
The result? I could drink it, after I became accustomed to it. No other family member would touch it. Pretty malty, with an edge. Given the quality of the product, though, and the lack of good information or supplies, I quit after about a year and only started homebrewing again in Fall '07.....and I've still got that old Prohibition-era capper, use it on every batch.
The moral? You can brew very, very cheaply. The question is: what do you want?
Once upon a time, in the Dark Ages before the current homebrew revolution....it was 1970. My uncle gave me my maternal grandpa's old Prohibition-era bottle capper and a hydrometer, proof meter & some other items, and suggested I homebrew some beer. Since I was just starting work as a public school teacher, this seemed attractive.
To what I was given, I added a big green plastic wastebasket, a couple of empty cases of PBR bottles, some surgical tubing and hops from the drugstore, caps from the hardware store, and Blue Ribbon malt syrup, 5 pound bags of sugar & Budweiser yeast (from the bakery) at the grocery store.
I couldn't tell you the recipe, except that I boiled the extract, sugar & hops on the stove (don't remember how long), cooled the pot in the sink, pitched into the plastic wastebasket and threw a wet towel over the top. When fermentation appeared to stop I'd float the hydrometer in there to check, then bottle. I used a tiny spoon to put sugar right into the bottle necks. I doubt that the fermentation was ever very complete, since there was plenty of carbonation from only about 1/4 t. of sugar. Everything was cleaned, but there was NO sanitizing whatever from our contemporary good homebrewing practice. The amazing thing was that I don't recall ever having an "off" batch.
The result? I could drink it, after I became accustomed to it. No other family member would touch it. Pretty malty, with an edge. Given the quality of the product, though, and the lack of good information or supplies, I quit after about a year and only started homebrewing again in Fall '07.....and I've still got that old Prohibition-era capper, use it on every batch.
The moral? You can brew very, very cheaply. The question is: what do you want?
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
There can be all manner of reasons to begin homebrewing or a combination of things and price may be one of them;
The UK government including Scotland, Wales and NI are proposing to introduce a minimum cost for alcohol to try to stem the schenes we see on TV of young people on street corners swigging Diamond White.
I for one am expanding my operation in light of this.
The UK government including Scotland, Wales and NI are proposing to introduce a minimum cost for alcohol to try to stem the schenes we see on TV of young people on street corners swigging Diamond White.
I for one am expanding my operation in light of this.
bsruther
Well-Known Member
I'm not on a tight budget but, I always try to cut costs with personal obsessions. I'd planned on going all grain from the start but, I don't have all of my equipment yet. Besides the cost of my equipment ($120) My first three partial extract brews cost me about $26 each. That's cheaper than two cases of Bud. I don't have expensive tastes in beer, nor am I out to impress anyone. I just want to brew decent beer and save money...and I will. My plan is to get two or three all grain recipes that I like and stick with them.
I just planted my first Hops Rhizome this past weekend so If I can get them to grow, that will be one major expense out of the way.
I just planted my first Hops Rhizome this past weekend so If I can get them to grow, that will be one major expense out of the way.
lordbeermestrength
Well-Known Member
You guys are NERDS!!
The OP asked such a newb question that was so vauge, any other self respecting forum would have sent him home packing. You guys answered all of his questions and kept on answering them 'til they were beaten black and blue!
Thats why I love this forum, people are here for the love of beer You'll go on dissecting the finer points of price comparisons of bottle cappers and sanitizers even when no one is listening. You all are the best
The OP asked such a newb question that was so vauge, any other self respecting forum would have sent him home packing. You guys answered all of his questions and kept on answering them 'til they were beaten black and blue!
Thats why I love this forum, people are here for the love of beer
You'll go on dissecting the finer points of price comparisons of bottle cappers and sanitizers even when no one is listening. You all are the best
Gosassin
Well-Known Member
You can get lids for the orange buckets they sell; they're usually in the paint section and they keep them on a seperate shelf from the buckets. Just ask and HD employee, if you can find one. I have 2 or 3 of those buckets w/matching lids serving as bright tanks in my garage. They work like a charm, and could easily be converted into primaries or bottling buckets.
SeamusMac
Well-Known Member
Here here! In Quebec where a 24 goes for about $20 CDN I may have never started making my own beer, but in Nova Scotia we pay $40+ for the same product!
I don't like the taste of most popular macrobrews and my favorite local microbrew craft ale is pretty damned expensive at $13 CDN for 6! University is expensive and time consuming so I started using Brew House and Festa Brew kits, which are priced at around $30-$35 and take very little time and effort to complete. For a brewer on a budget I'd suggest using kits like these because it allows for more time to be spent at work
BeerArchitect54
Well-Known Member
Hit the local supermarket and ask the bakery for a few 5 Gal. buckets that there frosting comes in.. They are big enough for a 5 Gal. batch with a proper blow off.. I brewed my first 5 Gal. batch this weekend and its blowing off as we speak. I had the same budget issue.. I got a few things from northern brewer like a spigot, air lock, and blow off, etc... I drilled the bucket myself for the spigot and airlock.
Weezknight
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I always see these posts about not homebrewing for price, but I can't see how it won't save you money. The beer I was purchasing was running me about $45-$50 per case. With homebrewing I'm hoping to be able to do 2 cases of a beer that I create and can mold to my liking for $25-$35. Yes if you add in a lot of equipment the savings aren't that great, but it IS possible to homebrew and save money on beer.
madewithchicken
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if you are just looking to get drunk Apfelwien is about as cheap as it gets really. But it costs almost the same as a cheap miller high life.
But if you really want to make your own i would go with the home depot bucket with a stopper and an air lock.
Here is the recipe for apfelwien:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/
from there you can get a hose and siphon into 2 liter bottles.
in the end you may save money if you are drinking nice beer already. If you are drinking crap beer then just keep drinking crap beer.
But if you really want to make your own i would go with the home depot bucket with a stopper and an air lock.
Here is the recipe for apfelwien:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/
from there you can get a hose and siphon into 2 liter bottles.
in the end you may save money if you are drinking nice beer already. If you are drinking crap beer then just keep drinking crap beer.
BeerArchitect54
Well-Known Member
No home depot buckets!!! They are not food grade and should not be used.. Like I said hit the supermarket and ask at the bakery for there 5 Gal. Frosting bucket... Star san it and your ready to go...
Gosassin
Well-Known Member
They are #2 HDPE, which is safe for use as a food container: CHEC Lists: Plastics: What Do Those Numbers Mean? The icing buckets I have gotten from my local Kroger are also #2, so it's six of one, half dozen of the other. Plus the HD buckets will hold 5 gallons, whereas the icing buckets I got are only 2.5 gallons.
llazy_llama
Well-Known Member
The Home Depot Homer buckets work fine. Relax.
Yep they're fine to use...except they are too small for true 5 gallon batches.
There's a few threads on this topic already, with some good tips.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/how-would-you-go-cheap-54603/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/buying-brewing-equipment-non-hb-store-55302/#post560350
Most everything we use in brewing, except ingredients and a few dedicated tools (hydrometers, etc.) can be found in at the hardware, discount and dollar stores, much cheaper...If its used to prepare the wort, then it can be found in the kitchen supply section for a lot less... My strainer was 4.95 at the grocery store as opposed to 15 bucks at my LHBS...My big spoons came from the dollar store, my big funnel was a 1.50 at the hardware store...
My 5 gallon stainless pot for extract or stovetop brewing I got a dollar general for 9.99
I found six gallon buckets for $7 at a food storage place. They come with excellent lids too. 90% of my brews don't even need a blowoff with them but I only do five gallon batches not 5.5.
I have one like that. It's OLD. Cast Iron, painted red. I really need to take a good lok at it and see if there is a name/date on it. I keg so I haven;t used it in a while.
No, I think the correct term is ENLIGHTENED.
Besides, this gives the next guy who searches this out a bunch of ready made answers.
Besides, this gives the next guy who searches this out a bunch of ready made answers.
I am going to start my first brew in 4 days, and i very much enjoyed this thread, lots of good insight. I really like this website, lots of helpful people, and i love nuances.
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