Beginning Brewing on a budget

[MotorcycleMatt]

Whats that?

An insulated bag that you can put frozen bottles of water in to keep the beer cooler during fermentation.

They would work, but again, its a lot more expensive than the average swamp cooler.

 

[loki993]

An insulated bag that you can put frozen bottles of water in to keep the beer cooler during fermentation.

They would work, but again, its a lot more expensive than the average swamp cooler.

Ahhh, yeah I think I've seen those.

I guess when I first looked at swamp coolers I must have stumbled on to someones elaborate rig, because it seemed like a hassle and kind of expensive. More like what someone would think an "actual" swamp cooler was, the evaporative air thing. Now I look though and its basically just a bucket you put the primary in with some ice bottle and a t shirt. Maybe some people use a fan?

That's basically what I'm going to do in my laundry tub, sans fan probably, just because there isn't really room.

I need to out my people out to see if they can scare me up a fridge, free ones pop up from time to time with my family.

 

[CBXBob]

loki993, check out nybrewsupply.com, cheap wort chillers. If I had known about them I wouldn't have bothered to make my own.
I went through Holly a couple years ago to visit the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, a very nice area.

 

[iskuse]

Save Money!! Ha! I have probably spent close to 2,000 grand in a year. (800 was a beermeister set up for homebrew with 2 kegs). I've also noticed I actually buy more craft beer and drink more craft beer and visit more breweries. Basically all I do is drink beer. I haven't been able to brew anything lately because I am broke, Still have 3 on tap though.

Anyway, as long as the bills are paid, who cares. Enjoy it for what it is, and it is pretty damn awesome!

 

[boiseburb]

I know I'm Jumping in here late, but I started doing 2 gallon batches with equipment for around $40. The beer is good and I get many compliments. I like Loki's approach: How can I test the waters before I dump tons of money into this (which is very plausible when your beer rocks).

I recommend a 2 gallon set up for beginners like myself for many reasons:

- Easy storage. It takes up very little space
- If you do screw up, the hit to the pocket is less
- Less sanitizing and clean up. This made me stop messing with 5 gallon batches way back when.

Here's my equipment list:

- 2 gallon food grade bucket with lid (with hole for the airlock) - Around $7
- Bottling Spigot - $3
- Airlock - $2
- Hydrometer - $6
- 12 16oz. Flip top bottles - $20.00
- 4 oz. bottle of Idaphor - $4

And that's it. An outlay of roughly $42. You could go cheaper and reuse plastic pop bottles. I have done this and as long as you avoid root beer bottles the beer tastes fine.

As per recipes, there is an easy formula to creating inexpensive SMASH (Single Malt And Single Hop) recipes.

- Get 3 lbs. of Extract. Save 1/2 cup out for carbonating. At my store that costs $9.
- Get a 2 oz. bag of Hops and use 1/4 oz. for each phase: Bittering, Flavoring, and Aroma. Recommendations are Saaz, Simcoe, Cascade, and Fuggles $3. Can make 3 batches.
- Use 4 grams of Dry Yeast. It's the cheapest and most foolproof way to go. $3 for a pack that is good for 2-3 batches.

COST - $11 for roughly 3/4 case of beer.

This is a great way to test the waters. This is what I still do, and I am happy with it.

Here's a sample Recipe:

2 gallon Batch Amber Ale

3 lbs. Bulk Amber Extract
.75 oz. Saaz (Use .25 oz for each stage: Bittering, Flavor, and Aroma)
1/2 pkg. Mutton's Gold Yeast (3 gms)

Here's a link to how I brew. I made this up for a friend jumping in blind
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HNruZ8CsdAVeMcMUM-SDO9L7fBilLQVizrTssXnVWo0/edit

 

[jsmit209]

I've actually started a blog addressing this exact topic. I'm covering everything from getting started to cost saving tips for experienced brewers. Cheers.

www.brewonabudget.wordpress.com