Brewing cost

[MaxStout]

Depending on how powerful your stove is, an induction cooktop might be better. Requires an induction capable kettle of course. You could also try supplementing your stovetop with an immersion heater.

Came here to suggest the immersion heater, see that it's already covered. Like minds...

I use a 1500W bucket heater to help the elec stove top. I can get 6 gallons from room temp to mash temp in about 20 minutes, then from mashout to a vigorous boil in another 20. Once it starts boiling I can remove the bucket heater and the stove maintains the boil.

 

[IslandLizard]

I’m planning to split the water up between the kettle and a soup pot to get it up to temp and then pour the soup pot into the kettle. Hopefully that speeds it up a bit.

Yeah, 2 burners will give you twice the heating up power.
If you can find the specs plate on the burner, it should provide you with the heating capacity.

+1 to using a heat stick.
Or look into an induction plate, although most 120V models are merely 1800W (15 Amps), and you do need an induction capable pot/kettle.

For pot size, you can brew a 4 gallon batch by splitting over 2 pots and 2 burners.

For more power, a 3500W induction plate (e.g., and Avantco IC3500) is perfect. An 240V electric dryer outlet would work fine for those, either at that location or with a suitable extension cord anywhere else.

 

[Tony B]

So, I went to the local Ballast Point/ home-brew mart today. Got everything I need for a 5gallon batch of Kölsch for about $52+ tax. Not too bad considering the White labs yeast was like $13.
I’m planning to brew on Sunday morning using my 2 pot method.
Wish me luck.

 

[Dancy]

Unfortunately, I live in a condo and space is limited. No garage or outdoor space. Not sure where I would put a burner and I don’t think an electric hot plate would be any better than the stovetop.

I’ve lived in a small 1 bedroom condo for 8 years now and a smallish kitchen. I bought a portable 1800W induction cooktop for $50 ( maybe $100-ish now), placed it on the ceramic cooktop of my electric arove and brewed 5G batches in an 8G with a ball valve and built-in thermometer. I wrapped Reflectix around the kettle and had an adequate boil for 6.5G of wort. I use a Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil unit now but the other way made some good beer as well. Mashed with a 10G Igloo cooler and a BIAB inside of it.

 

[Tony B]

I’ve lived in a small 1 bedroom condo for 8 years now and a smallish kitchen. I bought a portable 1800W induction cooktop for $50 ( maybe $100-ish now), placed it on the ceramic cooktop of my electric arove and brewed 5G batches in an 8G with a ball valve and built-in thermometer. I wrapped Reflectix around the kettle and had an adequate boil for 6.5G or wort. I use a Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil unit now but the other way made some good beer as well. Mashed with a 10G Igloo cooler and a BIAB inside of it.

I appreciate input. Things to consider for The future. I definitely want to stick with extract brewing for now as I have a lot to learn. It’s been a fun journey so far.

 

[Tony B]

I bottled today with some help from my girlfriend. Looks like my “IPA” is going to be a hoppy brown ale, thanks to the aged LME that came with the equipment I bought on OfferUp.
It was pretty dark and malty. Hopefully carbonation will help.
I stopped filling the bottling bucket when I saw the bottom sludge starting to go through. I also stopped bottling when I saw bits of hops starting to flow through the wand. I ended up with 24, 22oz bottles. Do you guys do anything to filter that stuff out to get more final product?

 

[DuncB]

Unless you are using a conical fermenter that can drop the dead yeast and hops out before bottling you will have to leave that " stuff" behind. Even With a conical it is still lost to the bottling stage. I lose about a litre per 23 litre batch with the "stuff".

 

[Tony B]

Unless you are using a conical fermenter that can drop the dead yeast and hops out before bottling you will have to leave that " stuff" behind. Even With a conical it is still lost to the bottling stage. I lose about a litre per 23 litre batch with the "stuff".

Just a beginner bucket set up now. I appreciate your input and am considering moving to a conical

 

[DuncB]

One thing you can do with a bucket is to prop it up on one side by say 4cm.
This will make the stuff fall away from the propped side and then siphon off the high side. It sort of makes the base conical. But remember a tilted vessel as it empties becomes less stable.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I appreciate your input and am considering moving to a conical

Some strains of yeast will floculate well and stay on the bottom better.

---

A more complete process for bottling from a slightly tilted fermenter goes like this:

1. build a ramp to securely hold the fermenter at an angle
2. pitch the yeast, move the fermenter to the ramp, put the spigot on the high side
3. let yeast, time, and gravity do what they do
4. on bottling day, turn the fermenter so the spigot is on the low side of the ramp

 

[madscientist451]

I’m just getting started. Going to bottle my first batch this weekend. So, I am planning to stick with extract brewing to get the basics down. Also, with this first batch, it took like 2 hours to get 3 gallons of water boiling on the stovetop and my kettle is only 5 gallon, so not sure if that would work for AG. I may start another batch this weekend also, but when I do, I’m planning to split the water up between the kettle and a soup pot to get it up to temp and then pour the soup pot into the kettle. Hopefully that speeds it up a bit.

I’ve been a stovetop brewer for a long time and was happy using my old Kenmore smooth top range. You’re on the right track using two pots to get the boil going, you can get a cheap 16 qt pot at Walmart for this. You don’t have to boil your full volume, you can boil a smaller, concentrated batch and top it up with water later on. You can also boil with the lid partially on. Another option is to use an electric turkey fryer for the boil, but these can be hard to find, I believe they stopped making them because of insurance claims. I recently moved and the new stove doesn’t cut it for brewing, I’m going to buy one of those glorified coffee urns for brewing.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

That's a good price, I'd buy it and use for yeast starters, boost some all-grain recipes or make a few quick brews. Just break it up into smaller clumps.

Well, I did take advantage of the special price for “bricked” DME. A hundred pounds for $100 was just too tempting to resist. It’s not for everyone, but it can be worked.
First, I had to bust up the 50# brick. I used a dead blow hammer. I put a silicone hotmat on the bag, and struck there to try to preserve the bag as long as possible.
Once the bag did tear, I could put rocks on top of rocks and break them down further. The whole process did generate some powder and small flakes.
I found the ideal to be rocks with quarter-sized diameter. These I fed into my Corona mill and powered it with my drill motor. Presto; powdered malt extract!

 

[IslandLizard]

I thought it might be less expensive to create my own recipe and buy malt extract and hops, etc, but looking at costs to buy ingredients , it looks like it’s pretty close or cheaper to buy a recipe kit and tweak it to my vision.
Are there better options?

A brew friend of mine buys (all-grain) kits from MoreBeer or Northern Brewer when they go on sale, such as 3 for $nn, and gets their free shipping. He's been signed up for their alerts, which may include a special coupon when it's needed to get the special deal.

We've compared buying all-grain kits when on sale vs. buying loose ingredients, either from those big 2, or at a local LHBS. Cost-wise it's usually a wash, or the kits are cheaper. So he comes out ahead by just buying those on sale kits. He may tweak their kit recipes a little, adding a different malt and/or extra hops, purchased separately.

He always overbuilds (liquid) yeast starters, then ranches (fresh) yeast from them for future starters and use. That way he rarely needs to buy yeast, saving some good money there, even more so when shipping gets involved. Yeast has become a prime expense in homebrewing lately, especially the wet (liquid) yeasts, so make starters, and start banking!

I used to participate in a semi-local group grain buy, but that dried up a few years ago. So now again, I buy most ingredients from the one of my 2 fairly local LHBS'. They're well stocked and with their club (or AHA) discount the price difference with the later group buy pricing isn't that much anyway. That way I also help support the store which has many other advantages, and I can order sacks of pretty much any malt available.

I still tend to buy hops from YVH and HopsDirect...

 

[Skeeter686]

One thing that I'll add is that if you're trying to reproduce a kit by buying locally or in bulk, you may not get precisely the same results if you're substituing different brands of grains.

I've enjoyed all of the NB kits that I've made and I decided to re-brew one of them, but I sourced the ingredients locally (I think this was during that period when NB's shipping times really sucked). My LHBS didn't have the all the same brands, but I didn't think that would be a big deal, because it should've been the same types of grains.

The resulting beer was still good, but it definitely tasted slightly different. The original kit was, in my opinion, slightly better.

 

[IslandLizard]

Well, I did take advantage of the special price for “bricked” DME. A hundred pounds for $100 was just too tempting to resist.

Alright !!! That's an amazingly good deal, indeed, very hard to resist for a frugal self-respecting homebrewer.
At our last group buy, IIRC, 4 years ago, one sack of Briess DME ran $114, including the LHBS markup.

Store the powder in buckets with a screw top lid and a rubber seal/o-ring.
Or plastic (Ziplock) bags, inside a well sealing container, in a dry, cool-ish area. As long as it stays dry, should last for years. Unlike LME...

I found the ideal to be rocks with quarter-sized diameter. These I fed into my Corona mill and powered it with my drill motor. Presto; powdered malt extract!

A nifty solution running it through your mill!

 

[beren]

*when you value your time at $0.

Definitely don't go AG for savings unless you have heaps of free time. If time is at all a constraint, decide what's going to be the best fit for you in your adventures, and worry about $0.10 per beer later.

edit: not to mention ROI on a mill, mash tun, etc is not great. It could take you 15-20 brews to break even with rudimentary gear. (No, I don't count brew gear as capital assets.)
I like the control of AG, but IMO people should do it because it's fun/fulfilling, not for the economics.

If you don't have time to brew go buy a 6 pack. This is a hobby, we do it because we enjoy it. Shortcuts are shorter but lesser quality.

 

[beren]

I’ve lived in a small 1 bedroom condo for 8 years now and a smallish kitchen. I bought a portable 1800W induction cooktop for $50 ( maybe $100-ish now), placed it on the ceramic cooktop of my electric arove and brewed 5G batches in an 8G with a ball valve and built-in thermometer. I wrapped Reflectix around the kettle and had an adequate boil for 6.5G of wort. I use a Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil unit now but the other way made some good beer as well. Mashed with a 10G Igloo cooler and a BIAB inside of it.

Hmm. I have a plastic and glass monoprice induction burner. I was afraid of putting so much weight on it, but I love the burner in general.

 

[mashdar]

If you don't have time to brew go buy a 6 pack. This is a hobby, we do it because we enjoy it. Shortcuts are shorter but lesser quality.

I don't think you read past my first sentence : )

Going all-grain to save a buck is like building all your furniture to save a buck. Could it be fun? Sure? Is it a sane decision-making process? Hell no. Build furniture because you want to build furniture, not because the raw materials are 50% cheaper.

 

[beren]

I don't think you read past my first sentence : )

Going all-grain to save a buck is like building all your furniture to save a buck. Could it be fun? Sure? Is it a sane decision-making process? Hell no. Build furniture because you want to build furniture, not because the raw materials are 50% cheaper.

Have you seen the cost of hand built furniture? 10 years ago I saw a chest of drawers for sale for $8-10k. Anyway I did read your post. All grain is the way to go for the best tasting beer. Sure you can make beer from sugar and dme, but it won't have the same depth and variety of flavors that all the different roasts can give you. You are basically saying "Use canned soup broth don't make a bone stock unless you are crazy and don't value your time" and expect the same flavor from both. Time ≠ Money sometimes.

 

[Dancy]

Hmm. I have a plastic and glass monoprice induction burner. I was afraid of putting so much weight on it, but I love the burner in general.

 

[mashdar]

Have you seen the cost of hand built furniture? 10 years ago I saw a chest of drawers for sale for $8-10k. Anyway I did read your post. All grain is the way to go for the best tasting beer. Sure you can make beer from sugar and dme, but it won't have the same depth and variety of flavors that all the different roasts can give you. You are basically saying "Use canned soup broth don't make a bone stock unless you are crazy and don't value your time" and expect the same flavor from both. Time ≠ Money sometimes.

Your argument is orthogonal to the point I was making. You're not making a cost argument at all. OP is all about saving money.

TBH, it seems like you just want to disagree with somebody. I'll give you one point of disagreement: people should make whatever beer they enjoy making, and not listen to somebody on a forum yelling that their beer is inferior : )

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Home brewing: the most expensive way to get cheap beer.

 

[mac_1103]

OP is all about saving money.

So getting back to the point and keeping in mind that OP brews extract, NB has some kits on sale for $25 each if you buy three.

 

[Somesaymybeerisdrinkable]

TBH, it seems like you just want to disagree with somebody. I'll give you one point of disagreement: people should make whatever beer they enjoy making, and not listen to somebody on a forum yelling that there beer is inferior : )

If someone makes "crappy beer" but they and their friends enjoy it is it "crappy"?

 

[IslandLizard]

So getting back to the point and keeping in mind that OP brews extract, NB has some kits on sale for $25 each if you buy three.

That's a very good deal! Especially with free shipping.*
And it's not limited to 3 kits either...

* Mind, to qualify for free shipping (when total order is under $99) you'll need to use their special code: SKOL at checkout. That makes it even better.

** They'll get you on the yeast, though...
2 packs of liquid yeast run almost as much as the whole kit.
There are (better) alternatives for that.

 

[beren]

Your argument is orthogonal to the point I was making. You're not making a cost argument at all. OP is all about saving money.

TBH, it seems like you just want to disagree with somebody. I'll give you one point of disagreement: people should make whatever beer they enjoy making, and not listen to somebody on a forum yelling that there beer is inferior : )

Sorry. I was replying to a post that implied brewing all grain to save money was dumb and a waste of time. I disagree, there are benefits beyond the cost savings. I brew all grain on the cheap and it’s not difficult nor a waste of time. Just a few more things to keep track of. Cutting corners to save 1h of your time and spend more money is a personal choice but one I wouldn’t recommend.

 

[mashdar]

So getting back to the point and keeping in mind that OP brews extract, NB has some kits on sale for $25 each if you buy three.

Bummer they're all LME - for that price I was considering buying bulk DME with free hops on the side!

 

[whoaru99]

Yeah, would be nice if there was choice of DME or LME for the NB/MWS extract kits.

 

[mac_1103]

Bummer they're all LME

Yes it is.

would be nice if there was choice of DME or LME

Yes it would.

MoreBeer gives you that choice on (all, I think of) their extract kits. But they aren't on sale.