Brewing Cheap

[rhern053]

Brewed my cheapest batch ever today.

American Wheat (5 gallon all grain)

5 lb. 2-Row (@ $1.75/lb.) .............. $8.75
5 lb. Wheat Malt (@ $1.75/lb.) ........ $8.75
1 oz. Columbus Hops (@ $2/oz.) ..... $2.00 <--- half @ 60, half @ 0 (30 IBU)
1 pack US-05 ............................... $3.50
0.07% Sales Tax .......................... $1.61
Total .......................................... $24.61

I know I cut corners on quality (i.e. dry yeast) and did not include the cost of water, gas, Co2 for kegging, etc., but this was basically an experiment to see how little I could spend at the LHBS.

Assuming about 50 pints for a 5 gallon keg, that's only $0.49 a pint.

This ended up being a 1.049 wort. Obviously, only some beer styles can be this cheap to brew. An IPA, for example, considering the higher malt and hop quantities, could probably never be this cheap.

Anybody else out there have awesomely cheap recipes?


[PS: if I reuse the yeast cake 5 times, that's really only $0.70 on yeast for each batch, making the entire batch worth $21.81 (or $21.61 if you count tax, but whatever), and each pint only $0.44.]

 

[rcbishop]

My last couple 5 gallon batches were both in the range of $14 - 16.. one a copper ale and one an Irish red. Neither one has much hops in it and I used dry yeast, or it would have been a little pricier. My LHBS also has good prices on grain, which helps greatly.

Brewing something like a dubbel or an IPA can still cost over 30 bucks a batch though, even with cheap ingredients.

 

[Surly]

I reuse yeast, purchase hops by the lb, buy 50lb sacks with brew club group buys and my ten gallon batches are around 25 - 29 bucks a brew. That does not include fuel and water.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Excluding heat, water, time, bottle caps, etc. I run around $2.50-4.00 per gallon depending on how high the ABV. I don't make a lot of hoppy beers, I buy hops in bulk and wash my yeast. I use a handful of strains for most of my beer and whenever I need a new strain I'm more prone to bottle harvest than purchase.

I could get a lot lower if I bought grain in bulk but I don't brew enough to go through the grain. Fifty pounds is more grain than I typically go through in an entire year of brewing.

 

[scottland]

Your malt and hop prices are killing you. I pay $1/lb for base malt in bulk. That's not a great price either. Hops I get in bulk as well, usually around 80 cents to $1/oz. even if I pitch dry yeast, I can make a 1.055 OG pale ale with 4oz of hops for $19 in ingredients. A 1.050 Blonde ale is $15. $11 if I repitch yeast.

 

[barrooze]

Next time you need hops, try Farmhouse Brewing Supply. They've got a ton of hop varieties, sell them in 4oz packs, and are a great deal. The grain and equipment are a great deal as well. Nico brew also seems to have great deals on hops. You can also look on the Classified section here, people are selling hops for a great deal every now and then.

 

[lumpher]

i just brewed a seriously cheap IPA SmaSh. i bought a 50 lb bag of 2-row for $25. i bought the columbus hops for $.80 an oz, and pitched on a yeast cake. 14 lbs grain, 3.25 oz hops, and the yeast, plus gas to cook a 5g, about $12.

 

[rhern053]

Nice! I want to start buying in bulk but need to get a mill first. As for hops, I could start getting those already.

 

[ajwillys]

Nice! I want to start buying in bulk but need to get a mill first. As for hops, I could start getting those already.

If you want to buy hops in bulk, you'll want to store them well. Depending on how long you plan to store, I would say at least the freezer and some quality freezer ziplock bags. If you're storing more than a couple months, a foodsaver becomes a necessity.

 

[Rbeckett]

A seal a meal is a great thing if you have a bulk buy of hops. If you seal them well and double bag them they should last indefinately, or at least as long as most folks would like. Being a miser at heart I am on the look out for cheap and easy bulk stuff whenever I look for ingredients. I cant have too much, but I have to be carefull storing it to avoid waste.
Bob

 

[Psych]

My cheapest has been $7 for a 5.5g batch. That's bulk grain from the malting house (0.40c per lb), bulk whole hops from a local grower than I got for $10/lb, re-used Nottingham dry yeast and no specialty grains, it was a SMaSH.

Tasted delicious, suuuuppper cheap. Add in maybe $1 for electricity costs to cook it up, and maybe $1 in gas to carb it...

 

[baulz]

It gets even cheaper when you grow your own hops.