Being broke and a homebrewer

[erick0619]

Is possibly one of the worst things ever. It's almost driving me mad that I can't brew and I have to take it easy on the brew I do have. Sigh...


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Where do you place your probe?

 

[beersk]

Bummer, dude. I'm broke, but I still have just enough money to brew. Buy in bulk to save money. Join a brew club to get good deals on group grain buys.

 

[erick0619]

Bummer, dude. I'm broke, but I still have just enough money to brew. Buy in bulk to save money. Join a brew club to get good deals on group grain buys.

I hadn't really considered it because I didn't have my own mill, but I guess I could always ask my LHBS if I could crush or there. I haven't done much research for homebrew clubs in my are but I should give it a go.


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Where do you place your probe?

 

[danthebugman]

I hadn't really considered it because I didn't have my own mill, but I guess I could always ask my LHBS if I could crush or there. I haven't done much research for homebrew clubs in my are but I should give it a go.

A Corona style grain mill can be had for about $30 off Amazon or Ebay. Add a couple of plastic buckets and some scrap wood and you've got a very serviceable grain mill for probably less than $40.

Another option if you're light on funds is to downside the batch size. 1 gallon batches don't get you much beer (~ 9 bottles), but you can at least brew and depending on the recipe won't cost you much.

 

[mattd2]

Is possibly one of the worst things ever. It's almost driving me mad that I can't brew and I have to take it easy on the brew I do have. Sigh...

Better than being broke and a beer snob... It would be much worse for me if I wasn't a homebrewer as it'll mean no beer for me at all

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

You should hook up with someone who has funds and split the batch with them.
Or you can get a sugar mama girlfriend.

 

[DevilNuts]

Or use your gear to give private brewing lessons to support your habit.

 

[myndflyte]

Or use your gear to give private brewing lessons to support your habit.

I was going to suggest this. Offer to teach someone to brew if they buy the ingredients and give you a case of the beer as "payment." It's worth a shot anyway. Or you could go real low brow and just buy a gallon of apple juice, add some bread yeast and rubber band some plastic wrap over the opening.

 

[bobeer]

I run into this from time to time with having just had a baby 4 months ago and working with 1 income. What I did was ask for a mill for xmas/bday and then ask everyone for gift cards for the same occasions. I then buy bulk grain/hops/yeast from morebeer because you'll get free shipping over $60. It's a lot cheaper to buy grain this way instead of at the lhbs. Also learn to wash yeast if you don't already do that. you'll save $5-9 on each batch.
You can also learn to party guile and maybe get 2 brews out of 1 grist.

 

[mkyl428]

I feel your pain

 

[guitarguy6]

Buy a 25kg bag of 2 row for $40 and a pound of hops for $20. It won't be the greatest beer but you can homebrew a 5 gallon SMaSH batch for about $10 plus the cost of yeast.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Find someone else who likes craft beer, and share the expense. They could buy the ingredients and you could provide the expertise, and then split the batch.

I'm supplementing my hobby by teaching a homebrewing class at a local community college. You could check to see if there is a similar opportunity near you. Or make a sign with pull-off phone number tabs offering private homebrewing lessons.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I've been there and money is still tight. I choose to brew rather than buy beer when money is really tight and I am at the point where I drink roughly 80% homebrew vs commercial. I am lucky that now that I have all my necessary equipment (purchased slowly over the last 6 years,) most of my 5 gallon batches now cost $30 or less from LHBS and I brew once a month. I don't buy grain or hops in bulk although I should.

FWIW, I prefer brewing session ales vs big beers for taste and cost.

 

[beernutz]

You just have to fight the urge for instant gratification. I started brewing over 20 years ago in grad school with a new baby and one income (and it wasn't mine). I saved up and bought a couple of pots, an easymasher, a corona mill, and bulk ingredients. I jerry-rigged parts of my system like using an old parka to insulate my mash tun. After very few batches I was already making beer cheaper than I could buy it including the cost of my equipment.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

I'm in the same boat buddy, I feel ya.

Your best bet to get some batches rolled out would be to see if your friends would be willing to bankroll the ingredients, bring them over, and you guys can brew together.

I think it's called a "collaboration". My Dad really likes the Belgian Golden Strong I brew with NZ Motueka hops and lots of amber candy sugar so we brew a batch together a couple times a year. I make the sugar, he buys the grain & hops, I prep the water to match a good clean water profile, and we use my gear on brew day at my place.

After the beer is fermented out we bottle together and split the batch.

It's a win-win for both of us.

 

[Texconsinite]

Yeast washing saves a bunch, and being particular about what you brew, aka simple stuff with few hops, and lower ABV, like Hefeweizen, blonde or
Make a few Sessionable SMaSH recipes to get u through the lean times.

If you REALLY want/have to be cheap, but are also like me and have to have something fermenting at all time, Making Skeeter Pee (Lemon Wine) with wine yeast slurry is THE CHEAPEST way to go, by far. It takes longer than beer to make (5 -8 wks vs 2-3 for beer), so u wont have to brew as many batches, and you can get all the fermentables from the grocery store for under $10.

Plus, after extensive research, I'm quite sure that 6 gallons of 11% abv wine takes significantly longer to drink than 6 gallons of 4% ABV beer

See Skeeter Pee thread in winemaking section for details. Delicious stuff.

 

[JMSetzler]

When I first got into homebrewing, I didn't have the funds to support the hobby either. I bought bits and pieces of the equipment I needed and it took me a couple months to get everything together. I had a couple friends who enjoyed the beer so I would usually get together with them and split the ingredients costs 2 or 3 ways and share the beer with them. This allowed me to brew more frequently and keep my costs down at the same time.

 

[erick0619]

Wow thank you guys I didn't expect it to blow up like this. You guys definitely gave me a lot to think about on how I can brew more often. Luckily I have a decent set up equipment wise. Temp control buckets, all grain equipment ect. So I just need to find someone who would be willing to split the costs with me. I will take a look at that skeeter pee, I've also been interested in making aplewein that should be cheap right?


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Where do you place your probe?

 

[feinbera]

I don't know if this is common practice, but my LHBS lets me buy a "virtual" 50-pound bag of grain – I fork over the cost for a full bag of, say, 2-row, and my name goes into a ledger, then every time I pick up grains, the 2-row gets deducted from my virtual bag rather than my wallet. I get a cost a break without having to worry about crushing or storage, and the LHBS gets money for product they won't have to immediately deliver, win-win.

 

[LandoLincoln]

If I was flat broke and wanted to brew as much as possible, I would:

* Join a brew club and find a brew partner or two to help share costs of things
* Join in on group buys
* Purchase base malts in bulk
* Wash yeast / rack onto freshly used yeast cakes in fermentor
* Spend time at the local recycle yards to find stuff for brewing

 

[NathPowe]

I don't know if this is common practice, but my LHBS lets me buy a "virtual" 50-pound bag of grain – I fork over the cost for a full bag of, say, 2-row, and my name goes into a ledger, then every time I pick up grains, the 2-row gets deducted from my virtual bag rather than my wallet. I get a cost a break without having to worry about crushing or storage, and the LHBS gets money for product they won't have to immediately deliver, win-win.

My LHBS does this and I take advantage of it as well. It's awesome. I'll often get a gift card to the LHBS for Xmas / Birthday and use that to buy grain this way (my store just calls it buying a 'grain bank'). Maybe you could work something like this out at your shop? As feinbara said, this gets you the savings without the investment in equipment/storage. Score.

After that pick a couple of hop varieties you like that are tasty and inexpensive (you can often buy Columbus for $9/lb for example) and buy a pound of each in bulk. Then get a $3 pack of US-05, or whatever you like, and scoop some slurry out of each batch into a mason jar to use for the next one. Use the above techniques to create a few simple recipes. I'm a huge fan of very simple recipes - and not just because they can often be inexpensive. I've yet to have one that didn't produce a delicious beer when brewed properly.

Anyway, I do variations on the above and my average trip to the LHBS is <$10. A few bucks for some specialty grains and a few bucks for whatever random thing you happen to need that trip (whirlfloc, keg o-rings, whatever). Sure, you've shucked out some cash for the bulk grain/hop buys but, from a cash flow standpoint, a system like this is pretty tough to beat if $ is a concern.

Good luck man and I hope you're able to get some brewing in soon.

Cheers.

 

[jekeane]

sell plasma or other bodily fluids / items.

 

[rekoob]

I run into this from time to time with having just had a baby 4 months ago and working with 1 income. What I did was ask for a mill for xmas/bday and then ask everyone for gift cards for the same occasions. I then buy bulk grain/hops/yeast from morebeer because you'll get free shipping over $60. It's a lot cheaper to buy grain this way instead of at the lhbs. Also learn to wash yeast if you don't already do that. you'll save $5-9 on each batch.
You can also learn to party guile and maybe get 2 brews out of 1 grist.

So how are you getting bulk grain with free shipping?

 

[guitarguy6]

Is pitching on top of a fresh yeast cake as easy as it sounds. For instance lets say I brew a batch and add it to my primary that I just racked beer out of would it ferment normally or would it be over pitched?

 

[rekoob]

Is pitching on top of a fresh yeast cake as easy as it sounds. For instance lets say I brew a batch and add it to my primary that I just racked beer out of would it ferment normally or would it be over pitched?

yup. It's that easy.
yes, you are over pitching and it should be a similar beer due to trub left over.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I have 2 dozen people right now that would buy an entire batch worth of ingredients if I agreed to brew it and split the batch with them. I really don't see this as such a big problem. Even at full LHBS prices...I could mow 1 lawn for enough to brew once a month.

 

[metanoia]

I hear you man, I'm almost in the same boat (still get nervous every time I tell my wife I bought something new for brewing!).

Right now I'm only buying the bare essentials when it comes to equipment, certainly no kegging, no fun purchases, using an old turkey fryer, etc. For ingredients, I do all I can to be cheap. Thankfully Adventures in Homebrewing is 5 minutes down the street and their grain prices by the pound are impossible to beat anywhere else when you factor shipping, even sometimes for bags of grain. Plus I'll usually just uses the cheapest version of a malt, typically American, instead of say the German counterpart. Hops are bulk ordered every few months, and now that the 2014 harvest is starting to go on sale I'll make a year-long purchase in the following months.

The biggest saver is yeast, though. I'm sticking to 3 main yeast strains (California, British, and Hefeweizen) and simply making a starter with the WL vial and then splitting that up into jars for future batches, and I'll use the last jar to propagate yeast again- endless supply for eventually pennies each batch (currently $1.50-$2.00 for this first generation of propagated yeast).

I'm hoping one day I can step it up, build a beautiful brew sculpture, overhaul a big keezer, and get some better fermenters than ale pails, but right now that's just a dream.

 

[SuliBrew]

Just made apfelwein recently. $12 for the case of sams choice juice and $1 for the yeast. The only brew I've done that was less was when I received 30% off at lhbs and picked up all ingredients for at hefe for about $10. Maybe volunteer at lhbs shop or up and coming brewery in exchange for grain and yeast.

 

[Rivenin]

i have a kid, so i'm broke AND also limited on time .
My schedule lately has been about every 2 weeks i brew a batch... I also have a VERY simple electric brewery, so no propane purchases! saves cash there.

I pretty much ALWAYS use dry yeast (haven't tried washing yeast yet, but with most yeasts i use are under $4, so that is fine with me)

buy in bulk unless your LHBS is cheap (the bulk bag at my LHBS is $30 bucks, which is their price if you bought 50lb of grain by the lb anyways, so no savings)

I always buy an extra thing of hops or yeast when i go for the most part... wanna brew an IIPA but, the hops are outrageous? everytime you go, spend $3-4 on a sack of hops and spread it out. helps a bit! unelss you buy by the pound.
Do the same with bittering hops too... i use herkules mostly (17% usually) and a 2oz bag is about $2... so every 2-3 trips i just get another pack.

Thats what i do, and 2 normal batches is about 1/2 my normal spending money a month, so it stretches the budget a bit
I had fun with doing low gravity brews lately, 'cuz they were super cheap and i could pound a bunch, but also with pounding a bunch... i ran through them quick, so back to moderate alcohol beers for me!

 

[JMSetzler]

Another thing I used to do to satisfy my urge to brew on the cheap was making 1 gallon all-grain batches. I think this idea is starting to catch on more these days but the ingredients cost of doing it is very low.

 

[Brettomomyces]

If I was flat broke and wanted to brew as much as possible, I would:

* Join a brew club and find a brew partner or two to help share costs of things
* Join in on group buys
* Purchase base malts in bulk
* Wash yeast / rack onto freshly used yeast cakes in fermentor
* Spend time at the local recycle yards to find stuff for brewing

These are all smart things to do even if you have some extra $$

I am eagerly awaiting hops direct to release their pellet hops for 2014, going to stock up for the whole year (hopefully)

 

[bobeer]

So how are you getting bulk grain with free shipping?

Morebeer.com offers a free shipping program for most ingredients totalling over $60. You spend that much they give you free shipping. I buy 3 10 lb bags of 2 row, MO, and Perl, then a slew of specialty grains, and hops and a couple strains of yeast. I mill at my house, wash my yeast and use filtered tap water. Its the cheapest way i can brew beer. I can plan out 5 or so brews then have enough for a kitchen sink type beer.

 

[moreb33rplz]

simple recipes are delicious and cheap

2 row
cascade

tasty beer for cheap

a 50 lb bag of 2-row is probably like 50 bucks at the LHBS. $15 worth of cascade from freshops. $5 US-05, that you can wash/recycle.

Assuming you have the equipment, that's like $70 for several batches of beer. this is the math that made me start brewing, though pretty much immediately started buying more **** than I needed and now I've spent a million dollars.

 

[Hemidoc]

simple recipes are delicious and cheap

2 row
cascade

tasty beer for cheap

This...
Good beer does not have to be complex moose slopper or hop bomb ale.
I didn't see your local but if you are within driving distance of a LHBS ya can get #50 of two row for about $45
A good grain mill like the Cereal Killer can be had for <$100
If ya split your yeast(make a starter and make starters from that)
Ya can get five gal batch costs to less than $20
Also I bought some bulk grain at the LHBS and they let me grind as much as I wanted while there before I had my grain mill.

 

[jtratcliff]

Corona mill and a Homer bucket were the best $27 I spent. I'm no longer dependent in the LHBS for grinding grain.

$60 at Morebeer buys considerably more grain than at my lhbs. Same with hops buying 1lb at time online even with shipping I just bought some on sale 2013 hops from farmhouse, some for less than $10/lb.

Reusing yeast also saves me a ton.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

If you live in Portland you can get a bag of 2-row for 29.95! Main street brewing in Hillsboro!

 

[Tutsbrew]

I've been there and money is still tight. I choose to brew rather than buy beer when money is really tight and I am at the point where I drink roughly 80% homebrew vs commercial. I am lucky that now that I have all my necessary equipment (purchased slowly over the last 6 years,) most of my 5 gallon batches now cost $30 or less from LHBS and I brew once a month. I don't buy grain or hops in bulk although I should.

FWIW, I prefer brewing session ales vs big beers for taste and cost.

+1 Also allows for having one (or 3) and staying awake till bedtime...

 

[nitz146]

When I was in collage I hardly had any funds to brew or let alone build up my brewing system. So I ended up selling anything of my stuff that I could on Ebay or craigslist for some extra money. Wow, almost sounds like something a crack head would do. Anyway, it did clear out a lot of clutter and It did help to get me to brew more often.