All Grain Kits.. cheaper? Just as good?

[Javaslinger]

So I'm about to finish my 5th batch and I've pretty much gone all in with all grain BIAB. I've done some pretty hoppy heavy IPA's and all a result I'm not getting by inexpensively. I'm seeing kits from as low as $20 on sale to in the neighborhood of $40. My last two batches have been $60 and $70... for 4.5 gal worth.

And they have been amazing, but I'm spending too much money on ingredients.

So I'm considering some of these much less expensive kids. Will they be just as good? Or am I giving up something?

 

[OleBrewing]

buy in bulk hops and grains. It will be the only way to keep price down. The cheaper kits likely have less ingredients ie. hops. So if you like hoppy beers the price will be higher.

 

[BigJoeBrew]

I buy my 2-row in bulk, get other specialty grains at LHBS, I get my hops from Farmhouse Brewing Supply in 4 oz packs for cheaper, and I try to harvest a variety of yeast as I use them.
I like to use recipes from on HBT or from Northern Brewer site as a baseline. Creating your own kits and buying a little bit larger amount can save money. If you like hoppy beers buy hops in bulk. My LHBS will want $3 per oz. Online you can get 4oz packs for $3 in some varieties. That savings can add up pretty quick with a 6oz IPA hop bill.

 

[Sadu]

Buy hops and malt in bulk, and repitch yeast instead of buying new each time. Huge savings right there. But also, do yourself a favour and explore some of the malty styles. My friends are going nuts over my Munich helles, which has the lightest sniff of hops. Belgian blonds, saisons and bocks all have tons of flavour but are cheap to make.

 

[tgolanos]

Look at what comes in each kit, and then price out each ingredient. That will tell you if the kit is cheaper or not.

Hops are, for me, still my most expensive ingredient in brewing ($10 per 100g for most varieties). If you like hoppy beers, it's worth shopping around and seeing where you can get discounts and which stores, online and physical, have sales.

Bulk grain is also your friend, do you have your own mill? If the IPAs you like all have the same base grains, buy those by the half-sack and store them in air-tight buckets. You can save a fair bit this way.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm brewing all-grain recipes for under $20 for a 5-gallon batch. I'm not heavily loading them with hops, but I've had great reviews on them. Brewed one today that had one ounce of Columbus and one ounce of Styrian Celeia. Smacking my lips waiting for it....

I buy grain by the sack; I can get it picked up at Ritebrew (or pick it up myself) so that 2-row costs 76 cents per pound and my favorite, Maris Otter, is only 98 cents per pound.

My grain bills typically cost about $10, maybe a bit more, if i'm using dry yeast that's another $4, then maybe 2-3 ounces of hops.....there you are. $20 for 5-gallons of beer. And it's good beer. Very good beer. Excellent beer.....better than I can get at the local watering hole.

If you're a devotee of hoppy beers, you can buy hops by the pound online. Ritebrew again may be your friend. Look at what they charge by the pound and you'll be amazed. You have to find a way to store open packages, or break them down into smaller ones that have been purged of O2, but still.....

Buying in bulk is your wallet's friend.

 

[Horseflesh]

Once you start buying bigger bags of hops, get a vacuum sealer and make sure you have freezer space.

You can reuse vacuum bags many times. Seal the opened hops bag with an extra few inches of vac bag. Cut off the sealed end, remove what you need, and reseal. I do that for cheese and many other sealed foods too.

 

[ericbw]

Kits almost always cost more than what's in them. $20 kits are usually lighter and less hoppy beers.

What are you making for $70?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

As others have pointed out, there are two keys to saving money... Having a food saver (vacuum sealer) and having a grain mill. The third is re-using yeast.

Buying hops by the pound is a HUGE savings for hoppy beers. To do that you really kinda need to be able to store the excess hops in the freezer after use, and for that a Food Saver is great. Otherwise you need to plan out recipes to make use of a LOT of hops in a short time, which is also possible. But hops by the pound will save TONS of money.

Having a grain mill means that you can buy your base 2-row cheaply. A lot of homebrew stores might charge $1.25-1.75/pound. I.e. Morebeer for simple GWM 2-row is $1.69/lb milled for a single pound down to $1.28/lb in 10# increments, or $39.99 ($0.80/lb) for a 50# sack. If you want to make beers with Belgian Pilsner, the savings tend to add up there too. I like to keep a sack of GWM 2-row pale malt and a sack of Belg. Pils on hand as my base grains for pretty much everything I brew.

The last one is yeast... The best idea I've heard for re-using yeast is to make a starter with liquid yeast, pour off a little bit of that starter into a sanitized jar to save for the next batch, and use that jar to create a new starter next time your brew. Liquid yeast is pricey, but this might get your 3-5 batches out of a single vial, which helps considerably on cost. If you're commonly using a specific strain for many beers, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Lefou]

Yeast is potentially the most expensive single item when doing a home brewed batch. Using dry yeast over liquid can be a savings, but the real cost saver can be found in using two or more saved cultures of your yeast.
I've estimated my next beer, a low ABV Belgian table beer, will cost me approximately $23.95 minus tax for grain, hops, and yeast. It won't be coming from a kit. The WLP500 liquid yeast is one-fourth of the total cost. For me, saving yeast and re-using is a 25% savings on every subsequent 5 gallon batch.
This particular five gallon home brew will cost me roughly the same amount as buying 30 twelve ounce cans of Coors Light. That's five gallons of better beer versus 2.875 gallons of store-bought at the same cost.

Damned right I'm brewing my own beer. All grain home brewing isn't only better and more fun, it can be done cheaply if you can manage it.