Where can I get a cheap beer?

In the USA

A 500ml beer in the US comes to $1.80, $1.28 for 12 oz, or 5 gallons for $34.

While they say that the cost is largely driven by BMC and friends, I've brewed below $34. I don't do all-grain.

If you're even close to $34 for a batch of homebrew, you're making craft beer at fantastic price!

 

That's pretty much a given for all grain. I buy malt in bulk from brewpubs, hops by the pound, stretch a yeast vial using a starter and brew 10 gallon batches for $30-35 easily.

 

how much do you get your malt for

 

I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of wit (grain from local brewery, hops by the pound, reused/washed yeast) for a total cost, propane use included, of about $25.

 

That's cool and all that; my last brew cost around $20. Can of malt on sale, 500g DME for $8, homegrown hops, a pound of corn sugar. But if I was in it for the cheepnis, I would be buying 36 cans of Milwaukee for $18. Last time I was in Wisconsin a sixer of Stevens Point could be had for $1.50. My brews mostly cost more than $40 but they are worth way more than that. Where I live a pint of Guiness in a pub will run you $8.

But I rave.....

 

Sounds thin.

 

I pay $25-30 per sack of Weyermanns Pilsner and Munich, wheat and 2 row. Maris Otter is usually around $35 per sack.

 

I can brew skeezers zombie dust clone(a batch I make frequently) for

12.60 grain
10.40 hops(8 oz citra)
~1.00 yeast(its actually less I make 8-12 batches on one vial)

24.00

 

I forgot to mention the 750 grams of various crystal malts I had on hand and since this was a sunk cost I didn't include it. Pretty much just made up a mixture of leftovers. The result was actually a decent dark ale.

 

Wow. My next PM recipe is setting me back about $65 for 5 gallons.

It's a Goose Island Bourbon Stout clone though. And when you factor in the fifth of bourbon, it starts to add up... ;-)

However I also brew a haus Hefeweizen with 7lbs of grain and a yeast cake that normally gets reused May through September. And that beer runs me about $2.40 per gallon or roughly $0.30 per half liter.
I have a few other session beer recipes as well.

 

Two words: beer thirty. That's about as cheap as I've ever seen, 14.99 for a 36 pack. A buddy of mine said it was the worst beer I've ever seen. Worst than Pabst light (ew. But times are tough)

 

When you guys are talking about your costs to brew you're not really covering it all. Sure you have your grain costs, hops, and probably wash yeast to reuse it, but there's a lot more to it.

Propane (or electricity for heat elements) to heat water, boil wort, etc.
DME for yeast starters, and bottling day for people who don't keg.
CO2 for people who do keg.
Cleaning/sanitizing solution (for bottles, kegs, bottle caps, fermenters, carboys, etc).


Don't get me wrong, you can easily craft a 6pack of brew for less than the $8.99 or whatever you'd pay in the store for a similar type, but I doubt it's truly as cheap as some people say. I calculated the cost of a batch once out of curiosity...I truly don't care what it costs because it's awesome and I love beer...and the 5 gallon batch of IPA was just under $30. This factored in anything that was consumed (propane, water, vodka, iodophor, DME, grains, hops, yeast) and definitely didn't include a cost for time.

 

+1. Yeah.. I figure $5 per batch for propane... Grains are about $1.20/lb for 2 row, $2.50 for various other grains.
I throw in $2 per batch for electricity... not even sure what it really is, but I gotta store the hops, keep the fermentation temps correct. We reuse yeast, but I throw in a $1 for that...

Hops... Citra for $1.30? not from a LHBS, perhaps online, plus shipping. So a pound of the most expensive hop is around $1.72 per ounce, so for the Zombie dust it would cost me at least $40.00 for 5 gallons...

So 14.5 lbs of grains for $12.60?? You must buy in bulk then... Thats what we are trying to do...

So shoot... Last weekend we did 20 gallons...

Galactic Black
Green Flash West Coast IPA

total cost was around $144.00 and thats the cheapest we can brew those big boys...

about $36.00 per 5 gallons...
90 cents per pints

and once we start buying bulk grains... we can get it down just a little bit... and dont get me started on equipment.

 

How much are you willing to pay to sit in a health spa steam room with hops aroma therapy? You must subtract that value from the cost of supplies when calculating the cost of homebrew.

Enjoyment of the hobby makes calculating costs a non-starter.

 

Keystone light runs around the same price and quantity around here.
I used to sell these in an antique pepsi machine in college for $0.50 each and could make a slight profit. On occasion I can get it on sale for $8 for a 24 pack case. Now that is cheap for probably the best light beer out there (not really saying much).

 

Priced out 5.5 gallons of Centennial Blonde at $13.25

 

In canada beer is a lot more expensive then in the states. The average 12 pack of cheap beer is $21 and craft beer is $26. The prices are regulated by the government and all beer and wine stores buy from the same warehouse and all they can control is their markup. Everything is taxed heavily.
My local u brew place sells me malt extract for $8 a liter, glucose for $4. Hops are .08 per gram and yeast is $.50/gram. A 5 gal batch generally equates to about $25 - $35 not jncluding propane or whatever. This works out to about 1/4 of the price of buying beer from the store. And about 1/2 the price of u brew. Plus its fun.

 

I get most of my brewgredients from http://www.midwestsupplies.com . My most recent 15 gallon batch of 4.8% ABV witbier works out about as follows pricewise. Most beers of comparable gravity cost me about the same.

 

Even if I add all my utility, water, propane and cleaner costs that doesn't add more than 1 dollar per gallon of beer. I bought a 5 gallon bucket of PBW from a brewpub 6 years ago, I still have over half of it. I can brew 30 gallons on one $15 bottle of propane, and I built my 3 tiered system for under $300, including burners and hoses, about 200 batches ago so that cost is pretty much near zero per batch now.
I don't brew to save money, but given the quantity of beer I drink, I could not afford to buy commercial craft beer all the time. Homebrewing savings allows me to buy a few choice bottles when I want to.
As for my brewing time, it is free and I pretty much brew only when I have nothing else to do so I have no opportunity cost associated with brewing. Brewing is also mental therapy for me, a time to shut out the pressures of my job, and be creative for a while. I would have to pay big bucks at a spa or therapist so that's a double savings for me, and when I leave the spa I don't have 10 gallons of new beer to take home.

 

I just brewed 25 gallons of Kolsch, my system is electric and NG so it's cheaper then propane and I reuse my yeast 4 times so I divide that cost. Here's the breakdown of the cost...

50lbs Pilsener malt............. $28.00

7oz hops.......................... $10.50

Yeast.............................. $1.50

Fuel................................ $8.00

That comes to $48 for 25 gallons or about $2.00 per gallon or 25 cents per 16oz bottle

 

Depends what I´m brewing but I buy my ingridients in bulk and it cost me around 18 dollars a batch (electricity and water included).

 

I make a Centennial Blonde (ABV 4.8) for $9.30 plus maybe a $1 in Natural Gas, $.10 in sanitizer, $.25 in DME, $.25 in yeast, .10 in Oxy and a $1 for ice. Grand total of $12.00. Average beer would be more like $18.00 to $21.00 though.