Brewing Beer...but breaking the bank.

[BrewMasterG]

I've been brewing for nearly five months now. Over that time I have learned a lot and I have really enjoyed myself. I have pretty much mastered the technique of steeping specialty grains, adding extract and boiling hops. However, I'm not even close to making the move to all-grain yet. I'm knowledgable enough about the art of home brewing to say with 100% certainty that I am nowhere near knowledable enough to begin brewing all-grain. Plus, I am enjoying myself and I don't see the need to mess with what's making me happy.

However, I have hit a bit of a bump. So far, everything I have brewed has come from a beer kit. I've brewed an Irish Stout, Double IPA, and two Irish Reds. All of these kits have been pretty expensive, on average about 35-40 bucks. In addition to high cost, I'm not learning anything about the grains, hops, or yeast I am using. The convenience of using a kit is sort of like relying on a GPS all of the time when in the car. It's great to have the turn by turn directions, but regardless of how many times I reach the desired destination, I will never have a complete understanding of how I ended up there. Even though I might recall "how" I got there, I don't really know why I took one road as opposed to another. Did I brew a double IPA? Yup, and it has great aroma. But I don't know why I used...whatever grains I used. I want to know these things. I want to fully understand what part each and every ingredient plays in creating my home brews. So, I decided that a trip to my LHBS was in order. I went today and explained that I wanted a simple recipe, which would produce a good beer for an affordable price (no more than 20-25 bucks). This is what I walked out of the store with:

Extract Brew Ingredients--5-Gallon Batch
-3 lbs Dry Malt Extract
-3.3 lbs Pale Liquid Extract
-1 lb Crystal 40L
-3 oz Cascade Hops
-Safale US05 American Ale Yeasy
TOTAL COST: $34.00...still not impressed with the price.

...According to the salesman, this will produce a beer that tastes good and will provide me with a good "base". From here, I can begin using different grains, yeasts, hops, etc., and I will learn how they affect the "base" beer I started with.

So, if you are still reading this (thanks for not giving up), here is my question: What do you think about the ingredients? If following a standard extract recipe of steeping the grains, adding DME, 60 minute boil with hop additions at the normal intervals, and the Pale Liquid Extract with 15 mins left in the boil....does this sound like it will produce the results the salesperson suggests? Are there any less expensive recipes out there that will accomplish the same or better results? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[terrapinj]

looks like a pretty good ingredient list for a nice APA

extract is what will keep the price up - try buying in bulk online - same for hops

you can try transitioning to partial mash if you feel you aren't ready for all-grain - but all grain really isn't too difficult to handle

check out Death Brewer's easy stovetop partial mash thread - its really not too much more work than steeping grains, you just watch the temps closer and "steep"/mash a little longer - you can keep your same equipment, just need a $2 paint strainer bag found at any hardware store

it will give you way more flexibility with different grain options as well

if you want to start creating your own recipes I'd suggest getting Ray Daniel's Book - Designing Great Beers - you can also invest in some brewing software, Beersmith etc, or you can use free programs like Beer Calculus online to create recipes

 

[Teromous]

I've been brewing for nearly five months now. Over that time I have learned a lot and I have really enjoyed myself. I have pretty much mastered the technique of steeping specialty grains, adding extract and boiling hops. However, I'm not even close to making the move to all-grain yet. I'm knowledgable enough about the art of home brewing to say with 100% certainty that I am nowhere near knowledable enough to begin brewing all-grain. Plus, I am enjoying myself and I don't see the need to mess with what's making me happy.

However, I have hit a bit of a bump. So far, everything I have brewed has come from a beer kit. I've brewed an Irish Stout, Double IPA, and two Irish Reds. All of these kits have been pretty expensive, on average about 35-40 bucks. In addition to high cost, I'm not learning anything about the grains, hops, or yeast I am using. The convenience of using a kit is sort of like relying on a GPS all of the time when in the car. It's great to have the turn by turn directions, but regardless of how many times I reach the desired destination, I will never have a complete understanding of how I ended up there. Even though I might recall "how" I got there, I don't really know why I took one road as opposed to another. Did I brew a double IPA? Yup, and it has great aroma. But I don't know why I used...whatever grains I used. I want to know these things. I want to fully understand what part each and every ingredient plays in creating my home brews. So, I decided that a trip to my LHBS was in order. I went today and explained that I wanted a simple recipe, which would produce a good beer for an affordable price (no more than 20-25 bucks). This is what I walked out of the store with:

Extract Brew Ingredients--5-Gallon Batch
-3 lbs Dry Malt Extract
-3.3 lbs Pale Liquid Extract
-1 lb Crystal 40L
-3 oz Cascade Hops
-Safale US05 American Ale Yeasy
TOTAL COST: $34.00...still not impressed with the price.

...According to the salesman, this will produce a beer that tastes good and will provide me with a good "base". From here, I can begin using different grains, yeasts, hops, etc., and I will learn how they affect the "base" beer I started with.

So, if you are still reading this (thanks for not giving up), here is my question: What do you think about the ingredients? If following a standard extract recipe of steeping the grains, adding DME, 60 minute boil with hop additions at the normal intervals, and the Pale Liquid Extract with 15 mins left in the boil....does this sound like it will produce the results the salesperson suggests? Are there any less expensive recipes out there that will accomplish the same or better results? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

That's a little over sixty cents a bottle for something that will taste a hell of a lot better than a standard pils. Down the road you will save money doing all-grain, but a large portion of brewing cost comes from hops and yeast. Re-using yeast is something you can do now, to cut down on costs. Look up yeast rinsing, and yeast washing. Down the road you could try your hand at growing hops (not sure how they'd do in CT). You might also look into buying bulk hops from an online retailer.

 

[Dan]

First I want to say I am absolutely no expert. I plugged the numbers into Beer Smith II and the recipe equates to an Amber Ale, about 4.9% ABV (OG ~1.051, FG ~ 1.013) IBU's around 27 and color of a nice light-medium amber.

You could keep making the same beer with the same ingredients and adjust the hop schedule to see what difference timing makes, and stick with the same hop a few times to get to know it. Next step would be add another hop with the cascade and try to detect the flavor difference that makes.

This is advice I wish I would have followed when I first started but didn't and the result is my palate is not trained to closely distinguish the difference in the hops used. I follow recipes for the most part and they turn out very nice.

BTW, All grain beer making is not complicated and what you might save in grain prices by not paying a years worth of 30-40 dollar kits will help offset the price of the basic AG equipment. Especially if you have some DIY skills. The last ten gallon batch I made, a yummy pale ale cost me about, maybe 35 cents a 12 ounce glass.

Good luck to you in your beer making adventures!

 

[pm5k00]

When I started brewing I did so doing All Grain for this reason, Extract is too much money in my opinon. All you need is a 7gallon or bigger pot and a Mash tun, or hell just do brew in a bag, then you don't even need a MLT. It is not hard to do at all, and with washing yeast and buying hops in bulk you can do a lot batches for $20 or less.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Even at $40 per 5 gallon batch, that's $20 per case (of course that doesn't include sanitizer/utilites yada yada). But still, you can't buy good craft beer for that price anywhere. That said, like mentioned above, there are many ways to reduce your operating cost. Stretching out your yeast, buying fermentables in bulk (whether all grain or extract) and buying hops in bulk will account for the majority of your savings. Once you get more experience under your belt you can start pinching the pennies a bit more by tweaking your process and perhaps growing your own hops. Make the move to all grain as quickly as possible, that will bring your costs down a lot. It's not that hard. And always remember, whatever happens during brew day, you always end up with beer.

 

[funkstrman]

Extract = MORE MONEY

Switch now before you know too much about the process and cannot be happy with your all grain results. Many of my brews are at or below the 25 dollar mark for 5 gallons. Start washing yeast, and that price can go down significantly.

In the end it's your choice, but the easiest way to solve the problem indicated by your thread title is to switch now. All you need is one decent BIAB setup, and you won't want to go back to extract.

 

[ClayHenry]

+1 on washing yeast.

 

[Hume-ulus]

Brother most any one getting into this now started on extract and kits. No shame in that. In fact I have a friend that has brewed extract since college (nearly 20 years) and got into all grain when I started brewing. Bulk malt and bulk hops WILL SAVE YOU MONEY. You can find coolers on the side walk the night before trash day and make a CPVC manifold from lowes for under $15.00. I buy bulk grain through the local club and Hops direct.
I wash my yeast and also grow hops too. I make good beer that my family and friends enjoy. Going all grain isnt a jump, more like a lean over. Good luck and I'll stop typing and put the pint down...............

 

[jiggs_casey]

The convenience of using a kit is sort of like relying on a GPS all of the time when in the car...

First, welcome aboard! Second, great analogy. Third, except for the equipment and clean up, there really isn't anything to going all grain. I brewed kits for years before I jumped on the AG bandwagon. After a two year break from brewing altogether, I decided to put together a mash tun one day and that was it. I was hooked all over again. I found that it gave me a LOT more variables to play with. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Still, after three years of nothing but all grain, I have never brewed a batch I didn't like. I would say, jump in, both feet first and if you don't like it, you can always sell your mash tun on craigslist.

As far as the cost. Equipment excluded, all grain brewing is going to be cheaper than extract brewing. For example, one of the first recipes I tried out was 'Cream of Three Crops'. Search for it on here and you'll find it. I brew it fairly regularly and what I have found with AG brewing is that I can alter the cost of a brew session of that beer by subbing out some of the ingredients in the recipe. It all depends on what is on sale at the grocery store. Flaked maize from the lhbs? $2.00 a lb. Corn meal from the grocery store? $.79 a lb. Instead of using Minute Rice, which is what the recipe calls for, sometimes I find flaked rice is cheaper, sometimes the store brand of 'precooked' rice is cheaper. I can brew a 5 gallon batch of Cream of Three Crops, per recipe, for about $25.00. If I wash and reuse my yeast a few times and use recipe alternates? I can get this down to about $20.00.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I agree with what everybody has said about buying hops in bulk and washing yeast. It definitely reduces cost no matter if you are brewing AG or extract.

AG can seem daunting but it is really not that difficult unless you make it that difficult. You don't need to figure out how to adjust water profiles or do complex mash schedules in the beginning (if ever). If you could make a giant pot of oatmeal you can do AG. That's all the mash is. A big pot of hot water and grain held at temperature for a period of time. Then you drain off the liquid, pour more hot water on to rinse the grains, drain that out and start the boil. Once you actually go through the AG process the first time you'll realize how simple it really is. Then you can get more complex if you feel that is in the best interest of your beer.

 

[E-Mursed]

Another good way to learn about what tweaks will have what effect is by brewing SMaSH beers. Buying some bulk extract and a couple ounces of a few hops can help refine your brewing skill and open you to new ingredients. I have brewed batches like this for as little as $20.

 

[Spreadhead]

I'm not even close to making the move to all-grain yet. I'm knowledgable enough about the art of home brewing to say with 100% certainty that I am nowhere near knowledable enough to begin brewing all-grain. accomplish the same or better results.

You'll never feel fully ready and prepared to go AG, especially if you've never watched or helped anyone do it. It can be a bit intimidating at first.

You just have to jump in and brew your first batch, and then I promise you, you will be hooked. It's a lot easier than you might think. And it will start saving you money immediately after the initial equipment investment.

 

[dfess1]

I'll second/third/fourth what everyone has said regarding buying in bulk. I have yet to do the yeast wash thing, but that is on my "2012 brew goal" list.

That all said, I was an extract brewer for the past 10 years, always thinking "AG seems like a PITA and way more complicated than I want it to be." I finally jumped into the pool this past summer. When we were done with our first batch, i turned to my wife and said "what was the big fuss about. Sure the brew day is longer, but that's about it". Moral of the story, don't let it scare you. it's really not that big of a deal. Just more time needed.

 

[Yooper]

If you want to spend money to save money, you could buy some hops by the pound. I don't know what your LHBS charges for hops but I"ve seen them for $2-4 an ounce in mine.

A pound of cascade hops is $10.35 per pound at hopsdirect.com. You may have paid nearly that for three ounces.

I usually buy a pound or two of "bittering hops", often magnum or galena. Then I buy a pound of "flavor and aroma hops", usually the hops I use most like cascade. That's a bigger outlay, but much cheaper in the long run.

Reusing yeast make yeast cheap. Simply save the yeast from each batch, and follow the "yeast washing illustrated" sticky. You'll have more yeast than you'll be able to use for the cost of one package.

As far as extract, that's expensive. I can buy 3 pounds for $12. That means a typical beer that uses 5 pounds of dry extract will cost over $20 just for the extract. Grains are usually about $1.50-$2 per pound at a brew store. So, with extract, some steeping grains, and hops, you're looking at $25-$30 for each batch.

 

[Lgaddy44]

I personally started with two extract kits, did one partial mash after that, and still shared the same feelings as the OP. after that, I bought the bare minimum gear I'd need for AG, and jumped in, for the fourth brew. I have a 7.5 gallon pot, and i usually scale my recipies for 4-4.5 gallons post boil (just to avoid a mess).

The equipment will set you back a little, but as everybody stated, buying stuff in bulk, and washing yeast, allows me to make a batch as for as low as $12-$14, depending on the style.

I tend to keep it very basic, pale ales, wheats, and some IPAs, so i havent trained my palate, to the subtle flavors of adding 4 oz of a specialty grain to my recipe, although i do it anyway. I enjoy brewing, and feel more involved in the craft by doing all grains. IMO, i get a good beer everytime.

Don't be intimidated by AG. Follow some recipes at first, and then you can get as experimental as you choose. I've gotten more gratification in brewing AG as opposed to Extract and Partial Mash.

 

[RM-MN]

Do you have a 5 gallon pot? Can you bring 3 gallons of water to 161 degrees and stop it there? If so you can do a half size batch of all grain for the investment of less than $5 if you can get grains already crushed. Read about BIAB here on this forum. It's how I started and how I may keep on making beer. No mash tun, no lautering, no stuck sparge, just simple mix the grains into the water, stirring well as you add them, cover and insulate (I use a bath towel) for an hour, pull out the bag of grain and drain followed by squeezing out the rest of the wort and start your boil. Yes, that easy.

 

[KYB]

I don't understand the stigma here of AG being so difficult. It's like it takes some leap of faith to go AG. If you can brew extract you can brew AG (assuming you have the space for a burner). You don't need fancy systems, rests/steps in the mash, or anything like that. Here it is: Heat water, pour water in cooler, stir in crushed grain, close cooler, let sit for 1 hour, drain wort out, pour more hot water in cooler, let sit a few minutes, drain. Now you have your full wort volume. Boil and add hops. Cool and add yeast. Starting from there you can get more complicated if you like, but that will make great beer. As for temps and volumes, there are plenty of ways to figure that out, but I'm a big fan of Beersmith. Enter recipe, and a few other simple variable, and it calculates everything for you. All you need is a cooler (10gal is ideal), propane burner, and a couple big pots (aluminum is fine and cheaper). I, and many others, started out doing AG. It's not difficult.

As others have said, once you go AG, buy in bulk, wash yeast, price goes waay down. You can do a number of good beers for under $10 for 5 gallons.

 

[HawksBrewer]

+1 to AG. Not so much a jump as it is a sidestep. Having the benefit of my dad growing hops on his tree farm means around $15/5 gal batch. And most of that cost is specialty grains and yeast. Just imagine if I had the time or energy to wash my yeast... cheers.

 

[Transamguy77]

I don't understand the stigma here of AG being so difficult. It's like it takes some leap of faith to go AG. If you can brew extract you can brew AG (assuming you have the space for a burner). You don't need fancy systems, rests/steps in the mash, or anything like that. Here it is: Heat water, pour water in cooler, stir in crushed grain, close cooler, let sit for 1 hour, drain wort out, pour more hot water in cooler, let sit a few minutes, drain. Now you have your full wort volume. Boil and add hops. Cool and add yeast. Starting from there you can get more complicated if you like, but that will make great beer. As for temps and volumes, there are plenty of ways to figure that out, but I'm a big fan of Beersmith. Enter recipe, and a few other simple variable, and it calculates everything for you. All you need is a cooler (10gal is ideal), propane burner, and a couple big pots (aluminum is fine and cheaper). I, and many others, started out doing AG. It's not difficult.

As others have said, once you go AG, buy in bulk, wash yeast, price goes waay down. You can do a number of good beers for under $10 for 5 gallons.

I think some of the intimidation comes from all the crazy setups seen and talked about, I know i'm getting closer to going AG and plan on a BIAB this spring but as a noob i wanted nothing to do with it, it just SEEMS complicated even though in reality it is not. I too am trying to get away from the kits to save money and bulk and AG seem the way to go.

 

[ihavenoclevername]

I feel like the dude who started this thread, even though for the next few months I can't afford extract OR AG...here are some of my issues, maybe others have had as well...yeah, the way some of you describe the process makes it sound simple, but I guess I am one of those people who feel the need to follow directions very closely, which sucks because it seems like for every homebrewing book there is a different style/explanation for homebrewing (compare Palmer and papiazan, for instance, I can't imagine palmer RDWHAHB at all!), and it can be confusing! So when I see recipes that call for keeping the temp stable, I get scared (I'm using my gas stove now, so maybe a propane burner is easier, I don't know). The last time I brewed (extract with specialty grain, natch), the recipe called for steeping at like 150 for thirty minutes or so, I literally had one of those meat digital meat thermometers that beep when the correct temperature is reached to try to keep the temp constant, and the fact that the temp varied back and forth made me very afraid my beer would taste like a dirty diaper filled with cardboard (I've tried it, and it doesn't)...but the AG method has so much more of the temp control involved, and I have literally chosen extract recipes because the recipe only asks you to bring the water to a certain heat, then turn the burners off and steep (so much less stress lol)...so, yeah. I kind of went off on a tangent there...sorry.

 

[KYB]

Yea it doesn't have to be complicated. I've been brewing great beer for 3 years with the same setup from day 1. I heat the water on my stove (to save propane), have the cooler on the ground, dump water in it and stir in grain, close it, lift the cooler on the counter. Sit a bucket underneath and sit my boil pot on top of that bucket to drain into (bucket simply for elevation). Then I carry the pot outside (you can carry each running separately if it's too heavy with 6.4 gallons) and sit on the burner. After the boil I used to carry it inside and fill the tub with water and place milk jugs of ice in the water to cool the wort down. I finally built an immersion wort chiller after like a year of that and its waaaaay better.

 

[ncbrewer]

Williams Brewing and Northern Brewer both have "store brand" extracts at a good price. I've been happy with the results. I'm interested in seeing if anybody will chime in and agree or disagree.

 

[KYB]

...but the AG method has so much more of the temp control involved, and I have literally chosen extract recipes because the recipe only asks you to bring the water to a certain heat, then turn the burners off and steep (so much less stress lol)...so, yeah. I kind of went off on a tangent there...sorry.

Not with single step infusion and batch sparge. You heat up the strike/mash water, typically 160-162*F if grain and cooler are at room temp, to account for heat loss, which should settle at about 148-150*F which is where you may want your mash temp to hold for the hour (that range is on the drier side). The purpose of the cooler is to hold that temperature with it's insulation. So, when the water gets to 162 or so, dump it in the cooler, stir the grains in, close the cooler, and let that sit for an hour. Before the hour is up, start heating up your sparge water to 168 (it is fine if you go over an hour, 90min is even fine). Once the hour is up drain the wort off. Once drained, dump in the sparge water and stir. Close the cooler, then drain a few minutes later (some people drain immediately, I wait a few minutes). Then you have all your wort and you're ready to boil. It's really that easy. Many people do step infusions and HERMS/RIMS whatever, and that's fine, but the way I described still makes for great beer and is a great way to start doing AG. Once you're comfortable with that you can look into more complicated procedures and systems.

 

[Piratwolf]

What ODaniel said. If you're really nervous about going AG, start with 2.5-gal batches. It makes everything so much easier and quicker (less heating time for water, even). Also, in the unlikely event you mess up, it's less mediocre beer to consume. I started with 2-3 gallon SMaSH recipes so I could minimize and also learn hops/malts, and some of them are among my favorite beers.

Also, FWIW, the great Jamil has said several times on his show that hot side (recipe/mash/boil/etc) is really not as important as cold side when it comes to great beer. He may be biased considering his Yeast book, but as he has also pointed out, a degree or two in the mash really doesn't make a huge difference in the end.

Go for it

 

[TopherM]

I made a light lager from 5 lbs of two tow, 1 oz of Saaz, a package of Saflager W-34/70, and 3.5 lbs of white rice from WalMart.

The total cost of ingredients after my LHBS 10% brew club discount was $12.50, then $2.25 for the rice at Walmart.

So that's $14.75 for a 5 gallon batch without any bulk buys or anything like that. That's about $0.31 a beer if you don't count the equipment costs.

Not bad at all!

I maintain that if you can't afford a hobby, you shouldn't do the hobby. I can't afford to collect classic cars, but instead of insisting that I should be allowed to do whatever I want and bitchin about the cost of classic cars, I just suck it up and find hobbies I can easily afford, like home brewing!

The last time I stated this stance, I was uber-flamed, but whatever....bring it on!

 

[JonK331]

Since extract is the expensive part, trying buying some dme in bulk. The steeping grains are really cheap so just buy an assortment and experiment. The price of yeast is pretty constant so you won't save much there unless you start washing. You can save some money on hops if you look around for good prices online. Or, if you don't mind doing kits, these are cheap and good:

http://morebeer.com/search/103560/beerwinecoffee/coffeewinebeer/11_Beers_Under_50¢_A_Beer

 

[Captainfester]

hey! im from meriden. I just started as well and am doing extract with spec grains. thinking about going all grain around the beginning of summer. we should ge together

send me a pm

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Not with single step infusion and batch sparge. You heat up the strike/mash water, typically 160-162*F if grain and cooler are at room temp, to account for heat loss, which should settle at about 148-150*F which is where you may want your mash temp to hold for the hour (that range is on the drier side). The purpose of the cooler is to hold that temperature with it's insulation. So, when the water gets to 162 or so, dump it in the cooler, stir the grains in, close the cooler, and let that sit for an hour. Before the hour is up, start heating up your sparge water to 168 (it is fine if you go over an hour, 90min is even fine). Once the hour is up drain the wort off. Once drained, dump in the sparge water and stir. Close the cooler, then drain a few minutes later (some people drain immediately, I wait a few minutes). Then you have all your wort and you're ready to boil. It's really that easy. Many people do step infusions and HERMS/RIMS whatever, and that's fine, but the way I described still makes for great beer and is a great way to start doing AG. Once you're comfortable with that you can look into more complicated procedures and systems.

Yep, barley wants to be beer.

AG may be more time consuming but it's really a pretty simple venture.

I built a pid controlled HERMS stand. I've abandoned all the temp controls and use only the pump on a switch. Currently, I do a single infusion batch sparge and recirculate only at mash out for vorlof. The stand and pump make things easier. I found I didn't need the HERMS and made the day less enjoyable.

For those who are even remotely interested in AG, I'd encourage you to give it a go. It's really quite simple and you have the whole WWW as resource for questions and trouble shooting.

 

[BrewMasterG]

I am going AG. Thanks for all of the advice, it was very helpful/informative. I've spent the past 48 hours reading and researching the AG brewing process. To be honest, I became overwhelmed by the AG process back in October as a result of reading John Palmer's, "How to Brew." This is not to say that Palmer's work is written in a fashion that overwhelms the reader, but that on that particular day I should have put the book down and taken a breather. Instead, I made it as far as mash PH and residual alkalinity before standing up and yelling "Dammit John, I'm a brewer not a scientist!". I then drove to the HBS and purchased an extract brew kit. After reading all of your comments, I decided to give Palmer's chapters on AG another go. Between reading Palmer, your posts, and other information online, I've come to the realization that AG doesn't need to be complicated.

In addition to that, like other homebrewing newbies, I need to chill (anxiety wise). I'm so worried about following instructions and doing everything perfectly but the reality is as long as I keep my equipment and ingredients clean/sanitized...I will make beer and it will probably taste good. I'm not going to whine about cost anymore either. I took a look at everything that I was spending money on and honestly, until I acquire the additional equipment to go AG, $30 bucks for five gallons of beer, which I made myself, is pretty damn good. What's killing my wallet is that as a newbie I am spending an additional $26 on bottles for each brew. But until I acquire a keg, I am just going to have to suck it up and convince my wife that I do "need" to have two or three five gallon batches fermenting at once...and I will only have to buy these bottles once, as I will make sure to always wash and reuse (riiiight).

So, yeah. Thanks for the push, it's exactly what I needed. I made some calls last night and my parent's turkey fryer, with 30 quart pot, should be here within a few weeks, I built my own wort chiller for only $30 (gotta love Lowes) and when summer rolls around my father-in-law is going to realize one of his coolers is missing. Again, thanks for all of the responses guys!

 

[Captainfester]

reuse the bottles. i have a large collection going from my friedns that drink sam adams

 

[brew2enjoy]

Don't get to overwhelmed with all the water chemistry at first. Just get your process dialed in and go from there. You will have the initial investment of buying the equipment needed (looks like you are already on your way there).

And as far as cost... I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of Biermuncher's Centennial blonde and the grand total was $22 after shipping! AG rocks!!

 

[Rbeckett]

Brewmaster,
I have the same issues you have. I want/need to understand what each component contributes to the overall whole. That way when I am comfortable tweaking recipes it will not result in a batch of moose urine or worse. I just left the local shoppe and got an extract kit for a hefe for about 25.00 buck including yeast. It had a 3.3 weise unhopped malt, a kilo or so of DME and 2 OZ of hops. I think the yeast was safale 3638 (from memory). The total I spent at the local was only 44.00 and I got a brew bucket and some other yeasts and a hydrometer. So it is possible to extract brew a lot cheaper if you buy your components seperately rather than packaged from the vendor. Eventually I intend to go AG, but till I get the hang of sanitation, brewing and following directions I will slowly add to my knowledge base till I am ready. In the meantime I think I can get the cost of a good mid ABV hefe to around 15-20 bucks by buying larger quantities of bulk DME and LME's. Either way, I only have one brew under my belt so I am plundering along and learning as I go. Have fun, hope this helps your wallet too. I'm disabled so I have to watch my pennies close or not eat. That sucks!!!!
Bob

 

[thughes]

I am going AG. Thanks for all of the advice, it was very helpful/informative. I've spent the past 48 hours reading and researching the AG brewing process. To be honest, I became overwhelmed by the AG process back in October as a result of reading John Palmer's, "How to Brew." This is not to say that Palmer's work is written in a fashion that overwhelms the reader, but that on that particular day I should have put the book down and taken a breather. Instead, I made it as far as mash PH and residual alkalinity before standing up and yelling "Dammit John, I'm a brewer not a scientist!". I then drove to the HBS and purchased an extract brew kit. After reading all of your comments, I decided to give Palmer's chapters on AG another go. Between reading Palmer, your posts, and other information online, I've come to the realization that AG doesn't need to be complicated.

In addition to that, like other homebrewing newbies, I need to chill (anxiety wise). I'm so worried about following instructions and doing everything perfectly but the reality is as long as I keep my equipment and ingredients clean/sanitized...I will make beer and it will probably taste good. I'm not going to whine about cost anymore either. I took a look at everything that I was spending money on and honestly, until I acquire the additional equipment to go AG, $30 bucks for five gallons of beer, which I made myself, is pretty damn good. What's killing my wallet is that as a newbie I am spending an additional $26 on bottles for each brew. But until I acquire a keg, I am just going to have to suck it up and convince my wife that I do "need" to have two or three five gallon batches fermenting at once...and I will only have to buy these bottles once, as I will make sure to always wash and reuse (riiiight).

So, yeah. Thanks for the push, it's exactly what I needed. I made some calls last night and my parent's turkey fryer, with 30 quart pot, should be here within a few weeks, I built my own wort chiller for only $30 (gotta love Lowes) and when summer rolls around my father-in-law is going to realize one of his coolers is missing. Again, thanks for all of the responses guys!

If you can extract brew, you can do this:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/connect/episode/brewing-tv-episode-54-jakes-got-a-brand-new-bag/

Make sure you read the comments too, there is some good advice from some knowledgeable people there.

Welcome to AG.

 

[Sippin37]

+1 on Yeast Washing, Buying Grains/Extract/Hops in Bulk, reading Designing Great Beers, and purchasing brewing software like Beersmith.

I was doing the same thing, just following directions on kits for my first 3-4 brews. While they tasted great, I didn't feel like I was learning anything besides the brewing process. Once I started to read Designing Great Beers and then experimenting with different ingredients in Beersmith I learned how these ingredients affected the beer. You can take a proven great recipe from Recipes section on this site, plug it into Beersmith and then tweak a few things and make it to your own liking. And yeast washing/reusing is a great way to save $6-$7 on liquid yeast per batch. If you brewed a 5 gallon batch each month for a year then you'd save yourself an easy $75 right there.

Either way, just keep browsing this entire forum for great ideas on how to save money and learn more about brewing. Cheers!

 

[RM-MN]

What's killing my wallet is that as a newbie I am spending an additional $26 on bottles for each brew.

Got any friends that drink bottled beer? Have them save you some empties (pop off, not twist off). Most of the time they aren't hard to clean and sanitize. I had a friend grab me some clear bottles so I could see what my beer was doing. I know enough to keep them in the dark because with enough light exposure the beer will turn skunky.

 

[thughes]

I get my bottles from the bar around the corner. I flip the manager $5.00 per case....covers his deposit and puts a couple bucks in his pocket....hell of a lot cheaper than buying them at the LHBS.

 

[TopherM]

When I first started, I went up to the local recycling center on a Sunday. Someone showed up about every 5-10 minutes with a bin full of beer bottles, which I was happy to recycle for them. I left with 4+ cases of clean pop top bottles in about 45 minutes.

As a side note, if you are also a winemaker, you can snatch up 50+ wine bottles this way in less than an hour as well.

 

[paulmac]

A number of folks have mentioned bulk hop purchases. Any particular vendors specialize in this area or just check in at the usual suspects?

 

[TopherM]

Hopsdirect.com
farmhousebrewingsupply.com

These are where I buy. Both do bulk sales starting at the 4oz level at farmhouse and the 1lb level at hopsdirect.