Are You Saving Money?

[TXCrash]

Hell no I'm not saving money!

Sure, the ingredients are cheap but with what I spend (time and money) on equipment...

Then again, I enjoy brewing and can blow a day for $30 or less in ingredients and propane...

 

[rycov]

yeah. as far as hobbies go, it can (stress can) be relativly cheap. but i don't know that its saving you money. unless your saving money by combining beer drinking and having a weekend hobby. (so your paying for both a hobby and your beer at the same time)

 

[malkore]

Here in nebraska there is no bottle deposit. But I've spent $11 for a 4-pack of Tank 7...and that's far from spendy.

I don't brew to save...but its a nice benefit when my brew comes out cheaper than a commercial craft beer alternative.

 

[Revvy]

*Laughs uproarioulsy* Ah, the naieviity of the new brewer...

I probably spend MORE on commercial micros of an expensive nature since I started homebrewing....it's called research.

Especially hanging out on here, you read about so many interesting beers that you just have to try. You want to brew a new style, so you have to try a bunch of different versions. You want to make a clone of something so you have to keep buying to try to nail it. You have a full pipeling, with 3-4 beers drinkable, but you just happen to be in the mood for a double chocolate bourbon jalapeno porter, so you drop 12 bucls for a bomber of it.

When you start brewing your beery horizons broaden so much, you really can't escape buying beer.

(Heck, I'm getting a feel for the bock style of beer, and looking at brewing one, in one weeks I bought 3 different sixers of it, one of them was 14.00 for the six- Bell's Celebrator Dopplebock.)

Not too mention new shiny brewing toys, ingredients, yeasts, books, magazines, and whatever else I can do it.

You can't escape it.

 

[mikemoss]

I think I have to replace my hydrometer about every 3 batches on average...

Why? Do they go bad?

I still haven't bought one yet. I think that I will buy one on my next purchase from Northern Brewer though.

The reason I got into home brewing was to save money. I am fairly confident that I save quite a bit of money. For me to buy the same amount of beer in six packs as I make in one batch would cost close to 90 dollars. And if I just buy one kit, and have to pay shipping, I get that much beer for around $30. If I buy multiple kits at once it gets even cheaper. Also soon I plan on moving to all grain using BIAB in order to save even more money.

Also you can get brewing equipment for cheap if you are trying to save money. I just found a second fermenter for free. You just have to look around and re-purpose stuff. The one big investment I had to make in my brewery was the burner and I got that using a gift card.

 

[Revvy]

Why? Do they go bad?

I still haven't bought one yet. Maybe you could sell me one you dont use anymore on the cheap.

They don't go bad...they get broken...

I don't think you want to buy his used ones.

 

[GeoGirl]

(Heck, I'm getting a feel for the bock style of beer, and looking at brewing one, in one weeks I bought 3 different sixers of it, one of them was 14.00 for the six- Bell's Celebrator Dopplebock.)

Not only is it research you are performing but you are also gathering your bottles - double duty there

 

[brewit2it]

I haven't actually brewed yet since I am waiting on my new equipment to arrive. However, going by the set up I am buying, I figured that I'm looking at about 6 - 7 dollars a bottle on my very first brew (That's including all of the equipment and ingredients). Comparable beers in this area are around 4 to 5 dollars a bottle except at Wolf Hills Brewery, where I can get a growler of great beer filled for 10 - 15 dollars.

Any beer after this initial brew will run me somewhere in the vicinity of 1 dollar a bottle so I consider that to be saving money over time since I only have to buy the equipment once. A 5 gallon set up will be perfectly fine for me indefinitely so I won't be making any huge upgrades until I go all grain and even then I have made purchases early on to facilitate that so that I will need fewer new pieces of equipment in the future.

I'm sure I have lovingly flawed my logic in there somewhere, but it makes me feel better for dropping so much cash on a brewing set up.

I thought this was the funniest reply so far. Ahh..grasshopper, to think you are done buying equipment before making your first batch.

Just today during this thread it has become painfully obvious to me I NEED a 3 gallon Carboy, a 3 gallon keg, another perlick faucet, tubing, upgraded regulator, and then I really should have a larger CO2 tank with the extra keg. I could use a new scale, actually I need it, and I've been wanting some new pilsner glasses.....

Trust me, the sooner you accept that it never ends the sooner you will find inner peace

 

[rycov]

i need: more corny's and more faucets. one of those diy deals where you have the pvc hoop with the paint bag attatched and the four rods comeing out so you can throw hops in the boil and take them out at the end. a ferm chamber (this will be next). a larger mashtun and boil kettle. more fermenters. and probably a ton of other stuff i can't think of. not to mention the excuse "i just need to try this because i want to brew it" i don't think i'm saving any money

 

[certaut]

doing something you enjoy, with all you can drink ,,, is priceless

 

[ENS]

Six packs and single bottles of beer! [shakes head] Here in Pennsylvania we're forced to buy cases, or head to a bar with decent six-pack offerings.

actually, here in York, there are a couple sandwhich shops called "Quick Six" that have awesome and I mean, awesome beer selections. The one off of the Mt. Rose Exit on 83 is probably les than 20 minutes from Columbia. Never the less, our beer laws in PA are amongst the most antiquated in the US.

 

[asidrane]

Trust me, the sooner you accept that it never ends the sooner you will find inner peace

only being a month or so into this obsession, i can already say this is the truth. I accepted this on week one

 

[IanC]

My friends are the ones saving money. The other day a buddy came by to borrow my trailer and I gave him four 22oz beers. He borrows my trailer and I give him beer? How screwed up is that?

Best quote in this thread so far

 

[mhenry41h]

I definitely save money. Big Belgians own my heart...to think of the $$$ it would cost to drink a nightly Belgian!

Coming soon...to a fridge near you.

 

[lou2row]

No one has mentioned an enormous savings potential:

-you brew at home
-your beer is at your home
-you drink your beer at home
-you stay home a lot more

What are the total costs for a DUI going for these days??

 

[IanC]

No one has mentioned an enormous savings potential:

-you brew at home
-your beer is at your home
-you drink your beer at home
-you stay home a lot more

What are the total costs for a DUI going for these days??

Or how about the cost of 1 beer at the pub, plus another $12.00 for the crappy reheated burger and microwave side of fries?

 

[mhenry41h]

I suppose you wouldn't save much money if your intent is to brew monkey butt light clones. It's all in the style I suppose...

Coming soon...to a fridge near you.

 

[Whut]

I probably spend MORE on commercial micros of an expensive nature since I started homebrewing....it's called research.

Well said young man, well said!

 

[Veinman]

For fun I added up the total cost of my equipment remembering everything I could think of and got:
Item cost
starter kit 60
small pots (2) 40
burner & pot 100
carboys 40
scale 10
hop bags 5
refrac 20
carboy brush 10
stoppers 15
funnels 5
tubing 15
mash tun 60
mill 140
bottles 60
mason jars 10
chiller 40
spray bottles 5
starsan 30
capper 40
misc 50
books 40
hbt 20
food saver 20
Total $840

The misc. is to cover anything I've forgotten and a few other odds and ends. So equipment totals $840. Now I'm not going to fall to the "I don't need to buy any more equipment" newb myth. Over the last 14 months I've made 30 batches of Allgrain beer at an average batch cost of $29/batch with ingredients, propane and bottle caps. Add to that $840/30 = $28/batch + $29/batch = $57 batch for all costs. That usually runs me around 50 bottles so $1.14 a bottle. Now in Canada I can't buy Molson Canadian or Bud for that, barely drinkable beer is around $2/bottle and good stuff is $4+ per bottle. So yes I'm saving money but I don't think I would stop if I wasn't as like most I enjoy the process, the brewing the tinkering etc. etc.

 

[ongreystreet]

I thought this was the funniest reply so far. Ahh..grasshopper, to think you are done buying equipment before making your first batch.

Just today during this thread it has become painfully obvious to me I NEED a 3 gallon Carboy, a 3 gallon keg, another perlick faucet, tubing, upgraded regulator, and then I really should have a larger CO2 tank with the extra keg. I could use a new scale, actually I need it, and I've been wanting some new pilsner glasses.....

Trust me, the sooner you accept that it never ends the sooner you will find inner peace

Minimalist brewing is not something found often on this board.

 

[Seanwallner]

Man you guys are making me feel real lucky to live in PNW. A really good sixer like ranger or pitch black can run 7 or 8 bucks max I have 5 or 6 micros within 10 miles that will fill a growler for about 8 bucks. That being said I started HB for the fun and the love of beer. I attend probably 4 or 5 beer fests here in town a year and belong to the WABL. It's a passion not a cost savings. Though buying new bombers of special releases like the double Jack IPA from firestone walker I picked up today helps justify by re using the bottles HaHaHa. At least that's what I tell the wife

 

[LakewoodBrew]

Minimalist brewing is not something found often on this board.

I prefer abstract imprressionist brewing myself.

 

[Flomaster]

I don't think it's fair to add in the cost to equipment into your brew cost that is basically "start up" / "maintenance" cost.

when starting a business if one were to start one lets say using CNC machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars they don't factor that into the cost of making small parts. you wouldn't pay $1500 for a small machines piece of work that was $10 in material would you?

but since this is a hobby not a business we don't count our blood sweat and tears into the mix.


so apple to apples home brew on average is cheaper per bottle than BMC swill. because it runs me $24 for a 30 pack of bud light, $20.99 for keystone light chit.

where as i can brew hefe for $20 at 5 gallons. my time is not a factor because its not work and it's some thing I enjoy doing.

-=jason=-

 

[FifteenTen]

I am by no means an expert on the whole hb thing yet (give me time), and the "cheaper in the long run" argument did cross my mind, but I started doing this because I love beer. For Beer's sake. Days spent brewing or the miriad of other things that go into brewing are days that I'm not out blowing 60 to 100 bucks on some other amusement that does not result in beer.

Also, we have not discussed the incorporial aspects. Exactly how much is that amazed look in your friend or family member's eye after they take a good long pull on a beer your particularly proud of.

I bet when the guy brings the trailer back he goes home with a few more bombers. And the giver will be just a pleased as the receiver. Dare I say... "Priceless."

 

[Flomaster]

Home brewing has made me step outside my box of BMC and discover there are beers far better than BMC swill to which I had previously thought of as the "cream of the crop" when you only buy and drink swill you know not of the nectar of the gods that can be had on the other side of the fence.

I shall now try my damnedest not to buy BMC if I can help it. I have eaten the forbidden fruit and I enjoyed it.

-= Jason =-

 

[two_hearted]

Who cares, I'm having a blast!!

 

[muse435]

After my dad bought his speed boat he spent around 15K getting it ready to go salmon fishing. The first day out he caught an average size salmon, held it up and said "this is what a fifteen thousand dollar salmon looks like, the next one is free to me." It will always be cheaper to go to the store and get a nice filet of salmon, but where is the fun in that. Plus you can't beat fresh.

I took this approach to brewing. When I first got all of my equipment and finally had that first bottle cooled after bottle conditioning for three weeks it was a $200 dollar bottle. the rest of the batch were free.

I know that this is silly logic but if you try and constantly compare cost per beer you'll get upset. I am willing to spend the money because it is fun, and tastes damn good.

 

[Atvar]

I have roughly $1200 total spent in 1 year of brewing along with some winemaking going back a bit further.

Of that $1200...
-$100 on equipment and ingredients mostly used with the wine.
-$100 on hops rhizomes and trellis costs.
-$350-450 on corker/capper, keggle build, IC, fermenter and bottling buckets, mill, and other misc. equipment.
-$50 on books.
-The rest is basically ingredients, chemicals, and other stuff that doesnt last long.

I figure I recoup $50 dollars per batch, at about $1 per bottle. So 13 brews x $50 = $650 saved so far. Still in the hole, but I've got 94lb of base grain on hand, a full propane tank, enough hops for a few SMaSH brews, and a ton more on the way if all 8 of my rhizomes survive and produce this year.

 

[PanzerBanana]

I'd totally be saving money if I'd stop supporting my favorite breweries between batches. lol

 

[Randar]

OK, as a resident cheapskate, I have tried to go bulk. I've picked up the fifty lb bag of malt and such. No kits, etc. A twelve pack of bottles around these parts puts each bottle at a bit over a buck. My ingredient costs are probably less than a third of that. But equipment has to be factored in too. Not sure, how much I'm saving, but I'm having a good time.

Yes, on ingredients I do very well for material cost by brewing 15 gallon batches, buying in bulk, crushing my own grain, freezing yeast stocks, etc etc etc... My costs are $30-50 per batch depending on grail and hop bill and any potential specialty ingredients, so at 15 gallons a pop, that's a pretty sweet cost of $7-9 per 24 beers or about 14-18 bucks per 5 gal keg.


On equipment? Let's just pretend that doesn't count.