3 Batches for $50 including shipping???

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MVKTR2

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The skinny: Times are tough and I'm looking for the most bang for my buck. The goal is to purchase ingredients for three 5 gallon batches with $50 including shipping.

What should I plan to brew?

My thoughts in general are that it will need to be less than 5% abv, lower hop profile brews, and brewable with dry yeast.

What I come up with is:
1) Blonde Rye ale(simple recipe with 2row, rye, Crystal 10)
2) Scottish 80 (I just brewed up 5 gal. of this & have most of the spec. grains)
3) Who knows???

Oh yea remember the $50 needs to include shipping which should be around $12. Meaning I'll have about $38 to work with.

Thanks for the input...

Schlante,
Phillip
 
My first question Phillip, is why jump to the conclusion that it must be less than 5% ABV??
Adjuncts do have their place in this world, perhaps nowhere more so than in just such a situation. I think you can pull this off, but as many brewing cultures have in the past, embrace some adjuncts: sugar(cane, dark, and light brown), honey, agave nectar, fruit... anything fermentable that you can get your hands on cheap!!!!! Broaden the horizons man!!!!! Carpe Diem!!!!
 
I don't know if you could hit $50 but you could get 3 batches for around $60 with MoreBeer.com's low priced session brew kits. Nothing fancy with these but sure to be easy on the pocket book, and will most likely be enjoyed by nonbeer snobs....lol

5 Beers Under $.50 a Beer

There is no tax on the items I buy (I live in Texas and they are out of California) plus if you order over $59 bucks it's free shipping. Only draw back is they are "SLOOOOOOW" to get you your order on free shipping. Don't plan on seeing this for about 2 weeks.

Hope this helps.......:mug:
 
PS...

Rye?


Rye??

REALLY?

Because I'm a fan of Sunhook Rye (redhook brewery), and want to make something similar... Spring is almost sprung here in Dixie and it's time for lighter biers!

Also I realize a wheat is an option, 50/50 split of wheat & 2-row, no specialty grains, and an opportunity to try out the new dry wheat yeast. I'm trying to avoid this, as it'd be cheaper to recycle some yeast from another batch.

As for adjuncts, I've got no problem with em, but where's their place in any bier I might want to brew. That's the question... Obviously they're a big part of Belgian bier that uses sugars, etc. but that would have to include pricey liquid yeast. FWIW I'm a big fan of molasses and/or honey in certain brews. My Scottish 80 has molasses in it.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
There place is where you want them to be Phillip, and as Ben Franklin said, beggars can't be choosers. It seems to me you're coming at the problem backwards, as in, you want to brew a CHEAP beer. No problem, but if that's your starting point, then think what brews you can craft around that idea. I know the brewers of Great Britain have long embraced brown sugar as an adjunct, in bitters, browns, and other session beers. Think outside the bottle!!!!!!

Teddi
 
if you can get cheap wheat that's probably a good way to go. 50/50 wheat beer with any ole neutral ale yeast should make a tasty CHEAP brew. plus it doesn't require much bittering, or really any hop flavor, which would save money on hops.

i think what teddi is saying is that you could probably brew something up a little stronger than a 5% beer with JUDICIOUS use of some adjuncts. people run into trouble when they replace a lot of the malt of a given recipe with plain sugar, but a nice flavorful 5% beer can often be boosted a point or two with a little extra sugar and still taste great.

that being said, with these tight times i don't blame you if you're not in the mood to experiment with adjuncts this time.

single malt, single hop (SMaSH) beers are usually pretty economical and often come out great. this site is full of them.
 
Also, I have tried a few "rye" beers and found it to be a mere novelty ingredient which really doesn't come through in the flavor.

+1
I had a Rogue Rye IPA they were talking up breathlessly at a tasting. Tasted like an IPA.
 
Absolutely, John from DC, I mean JUDICIOUS. Don't go hog wild on the adjuncts but ya know what, I've thrown some flaked maize into some recipes, and I love a little touch of dry corn flavor in a beer, JUST a touch, but man, I"ll tell you what.
 
I totally disagree on the rye as Hop Rod Rye is one of my favorite biers, probably top 5. Also it's a good match to porters and pale ales, and is obviously important in the flavor profile for Sunrye,though not predominant. There are many that would disagree on this point.

I'm not simply looking to make "cheap" biers. I fully recognize the option that I have to make smaller batches say 4 gals, the use of up too 20% adjunct fermentables, etc. There are lots of options. I'm simply asking what else could I look at brewing with the stated objective in mind. Fwiw I'm into my 3rd week of being unemployed so this is not just an academic exercise. I'm looking to stock the closet and make my dime stretch the farthest. To that end, I'm not sure honey is a good candidate as it aint cheap! I suppose properly put, I'm looking to brew "Frugal Bier".

I'm kicking around doing a mild or S. English Brown, maybe duplicating the "Tender & Mild" brew from a couple months back.... Heck even a traditional stout is within reason.

Thanks,
Phillip
 
Make a rye beer and put 2 lbs of rye and you'll notice the flavor, i assure you that you will notice the flavor.
 
Ya know, I've tried Hop Rod too, and all I tasted was a damn good IPA! I think it could be done without the rye. And I think I appreciate your objective here, as I ALWAYS place cost as my #2 priority in brewing (#1 being drinkability). That having been said, I would bet heavily that NO brewer/drinker on this site could detect the difference between two identical recipes, when one was brewed with and extra pound of corn/cane/brown sugar, within reason. My 2 cents.
 
well the first thing to do to save money on this is..
brew 15 gal of beer not 3, 5 gal batches
find something you want to try
and scale it up to 15 gal
then buy all the stuff in bulk at the hbs
dont use a kit
 
well the first thing to do to save money on this is..
brew 15 gal of beer not 3, 5 gal batches
find something you want to try
and scale it up to 15 gal
then buy all the stuff in bulk at the hbs
dont use a kit

That's a pretty good idea... now if I can figure out how to get 15 gallons into my 10 gal. pot!!! ;) Seriously I see your point, and may decide to do a 10 gal. batch and a 5 gal. batch. 15 gals. of 1 bier... that's a bit much for me. One of the thing's I'm sure I'll be doing, is using one package of yeast for all fermentations.

Clayton this is a pretty good idea, I believe I'll start putting together the #'s to do a parti gyle scotch/scottish ale 5&5, brew a 5 gal. rye blonde first to build up the yeast!

I'm off to midwestsupplies to see what I can put together!

Schlante,
Phillip
 
I think there are a couple ways to accomplish what you're trying to do:

(1) Simple grist with a minimum of speciality grains in odd amounts
(2) Grainbills that have several ingredients in common so you can buy in bulk
(3) Reuse your yeast for several consecutive brews (i.e 60/- to 70/- to 80/- or ordinary bitter to best bitter to strong bitter)
 
I know this can be done, I just put together a recipe for 6gals of English Pale Ale for $16.58 on Brewmasterswarehouse.com. I thought that $24.xx the other day for 5gals of oatmeal stout was a steal.

EPA
6lbs Maris Otter
1lb Caramel Vienna
1 oz Phoenix Pellet hops
1 Munton's Dry Ale Yeast pack
--------------------------
$15.03


4lbs Rahr White Wheat
4lbs Rahr Pilsner Malt
1oz Liberty Pellets
1 Pack SafBrew WB06 Wheat Beer yeast
------------------------------------
$15.43

more to come
 
hefeweizen.
low hops, cheap grains...

hrm, except maybe no dry yeast options...
 
buy your grains in bulk for cheaness. It'll be the up front cost but you'll be able to get more brews for your buck over time.
I understand now having the money though.
But, IMO, I'd rather make 1 GOOD beer to sip on while being poor than to have 3 "meh" beers to get wasted off to depress me even more.
But for the question at hand, build your own recipes with similar grain bills as noted above, and spice them up with grocery items. Then pitch them on the same yeast cake one after the other. Don't split one pack between 3 brews as I tihnk you mentioned before. You will have Severely under-pitched beers not turn out good.

I a putting off ingredients do to rough times too, but keep in mind, as crazy as it sounds on this ofurm, in all realism, beer is a novelt/luxury that we can do with out. If you absolutely cannot do with out it then you have other problems.
 
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