This thread inspired my geek side to do a quick excel breakdown of what my all-in brew costs are, including equipment.
So what I did was list all of the equipment I have bought and the price I paid.
I organized it by the total life expectancy I think it will have in years (pots, burners, taps, kegs = 10 years, testing equipment, MLT cooler = 5 years, and tubing, gaskets, fermenters = 1 year).
I then calculated the average number of 5-gallon batches I brew per year (25)
Then I added the total expense of equipment by years, divided each sum by the number of years of life and then by the number of brews per year
This resulted in a dollar amount of the equipment per brew session, based upon the expected life of each item (lazy-man's depreciation).
The result was $5.65 per brew.
The ingredient/consumables breakdown was much easier. (per batch)
Grains (not bulk yet) ~ $32
Hops (bulk) ~ $1.70
Other addititves (honey, lactose, etc) ~ $3
Water ~ $.05
Yeast ~ $6 (need to start harvesting)
Propane ~ $2
Sanitizer ~ $.50
For a batch total of $45.25
This means that an average batch of 5 gallons of top-quality beer costs me $50.90, which is roughly $1.06 per "bottle" (kegging makes this a bit more difficult but it's close)
My local beer mart charges an average of $8.99 per sixer of local craft
That's equivalent to $1.50 a bottle.
I'm saving $.44 per beer by brewing it myself, and I think my stuff is WAY better
Of course, I don't calculate in my brewtime, which I'd actually pay for come to think of it...