cheapest beer that still tasted good

[jonp9576]

i've been thinking. most of my brews cost between $30 and $50. my first extracts were around $20. i'm not saying i want to make real cheep beer, but what was the lowest amount of money you spent on a batch, and what was your recipie, and how did it taste?

 

[Evan!]

considering you're (presumably) not all-grain, this probably won't help you much, but I brew a wicked blonde ale that costs all of $12 per 5 gallons.

 

[Displaced MassHole]

As far as the price:taste ratio it has to be Ed's Haus Pale Ale hands down! Cost me $17.50 and tastes great, really drinkable, not to heavy, and SWMBO loves it.

 

[Parker36]

I'm curious to know how long ago you made this $20 extract recipe. The only prices that have stayed consistant over the last year or so is yeast, everything else has gone up - and in the case of hops fairly steeply

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

You guys posting those costs must wash your yeast. Right...?

 

[BigKahuna]

I didn't think that I was that fond of BM's cream of 3 crops, but I'll be damned if I can keep it around.
And really...if you convert that Blond that Evan! does, or the Cream to extract, order the ingredients instead of getting kits...you're almost ALWAYS going to come out more affordable.

 

[sammo]

i've done a pale ale just using maris otter and fuggles and dried yeast which was ace. only cost a couple of quid (if you bulk buy ingredients)

 

[sammo]

if you're not english couple of quid is about $6 at the moment.

 

[Parker36]

You guys posting those costs must wash your yeast. Right...?

Or just using glorious dry yeast.

if you're not english couple of quid is about $6 at the moment.

You limey, son of a bitch. (when does Top Gear come back on)

 

[jonp9576]

it was only a couple months ago for the $20 one. but i forgot to add the dme that i had to get too, so it was more than $20. also, the can came with dry yeast.

no i am not al all grain . i am doing extract with grains and pellet hops. its really interesting. i cant wait to make my first partial mash. i dont know if i'm ready yet

 

[jonp9576]

Ed's Haus Pale Ale

where would i find this? i am looking for a beer that my girlfriend would like. she has not been a fan of any of my brews yet

 

[sammo]

Or just using glorious dry yeast.



You limey, son of a bitch. (when does Top Gear come back on)

go to BBC - Homepage and click on iplayer, you can watch it all online. we've just had a new series

 

[Parker36]

Ed's Haus Pale Ale

where would i find this? i am looking for a beer that my girlfriend would like. she has not been a fan of any of my brews yet

It's all grain, but should be easy to convert to an extract + specialties

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale-31793/

 

[Ryan]

Here you go...


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/bee-cave-brewery-haus-pale-ale-31793/

 

[Tenchiro]

Pabst Blue Ribbon

What can I say, I like the taste. (for a cheap beer)

EDIT - hah I misread the thread.

 

[jonp9576]

wow, this is the fastest respong thread i've ever read. thanks for the info everyone.

has anyone ever made one under $10.

 

[Anbrew]

I don't know how much it costs, but the cheapest extract batch I ever made was:

3# light DME
2# corn sugar
1oz hallertau at 60
1oz hallertau at 5
some dry american ale yeast

No cidery flavors from the sugar, just made a very light, quaffable beer. BMC drinkers loved it. I made it as a joke, but everyone seemed to really like it, go figure.

 

[Professor Frink]

wow, this is the fastest respong thread i've ever read. thanks for the info everyone.

has anyone ever made one under $10.

My Mild probably came close to that:

8 lbs. of grain - about $10
0.6 oz. EKG - about $2
Pitched on a yeast cake made from swapping yeast slants

 

[FishinDave07]

Blondes are cheap (Especially the session ones)

Extract:

5 lbs. extra light dme
.5 lb carapils
.5 lb crystal 10L (optional)
.5 oz Any "pleasant" hop @ 60
.5 oz " " " @ 15
Notty or US-05

All grain would be exactly the same, subbing the extract with 2-row.

 

[mmb]

I brew a $14 Maris Otter Blond SMaSH with US-05 that goes very quick. If I used 2row and toasted a pound I could get the price under $12 per 5 gallons.

 

[Brew-Happy]

Your question had me curious so I had some time to kill on it.

I looked over a few popular sites listed here on HBT and found that I could produce an extract beer that is simple at ~$21 for 5gals.

Recipe:

5lbs Amber LME
1lb brown sugar light
1/2 oz high AA hop(Chinook): 60mins
1/2oz high AA hop(Chinook): 15mins
1oz low aroma hop(Williamette): 5mins
1 pack Nottingham yeast

QBrew stats:
ABV: 4.4%
IBU's: 34
Color: 11
All stats are nearly indicative of a special bitter/pale ale.


These items were priced as bulk or wholesale from different distributors listed below. The final price included shipping.

Austin Homebrew Supply: 8 packs Nottingham, Bulk LME: $97 + $7 shipping
Freshops: 1lb High AA hops and 1lb aroma hops: ~$36 + $6.75 shipping
Grocery store: 2lb bag of brown sugar: ~$2

With the bulk items at the above recipe, you should get 8 batches. The downside is coming up with the upfront funds to purchase all of items. Now I have noticed a discouragement from using simple sugars(cane or brown sugar) as they tend to give a cidery flavor, but we are talking a simple, inexpensive (NOT CHEAP) beer that could be good.

40gals of beer for <$150 not including tax is not bad. Now this assumes kegging. Carb sugar would be your choice but it couldn't add too much to the final cost.


This has been an enlightening exercise for me. $2-3 could be added to each batch for specialty grains or just enjoy it as it is. Also, the imported pelleted hops are little more expensive but could turn this into an extract English Pale Ale.

Thanks for the idea jonp.

 

[Chriso]

I bet I came close to $10. Let's see. I bought 55# of 2-row for $25... so that's $0.45 per lb. My Centennial SMaSH was 9lb 2-Row, and 1.25oz Centennial, which I bought in bulk... $2 per oz = $2.50 ... yeast was harvested Cry Havoc... $6 originally for the tube, divided by 6 batches = $1 yeast.

Grain - $4.05
Hops - $2.50
Yeast - $1
$7.55 for 5 gallons of 1.044 beer.
What do I win?


@Brew-Happy, I like your approach, and I'm not one of those "sugar-hatin'" folks.... But to be honest, I've had terrible luck with brown sugar. I feel that it imparts an extremely cidery off flavor, even in small quantities, from the experimentation I have done so far.

I think that if you switched the recipe to 1# Dextrose instead of brown sugar, it'd likely be a winner!

 

[jonp9576]

impressive work everyone. i thought i might get flamed for asking how inexpensive it could be made. i might try out that one from anbrew for my BMC drinkers who just come by and drink my homebrew so they dont have to go buy beer

 

[Saccharomyces]

All this talk of cheap beer is making me thirsty.

I haven't done one really cheap yet, but I'm betting I can get the cost of a batch of DeathWeed's Texas Summer Ale down to around $10 if I cook my own rice and buy 2-row in 55# bags.

I can't seem to find the recipe to link but it is:

6# 2-row
3# rice
1/2# munich
1/2# flaked wheat
1oz pick-your-favorite-hop 60

 

[Malticulous]

I think just getting a 6 pound jug of wheat LME one once of hops and dry yeast would be less than $20. That is about as cheap as an extract brew gets. I hear that makes a fairly good wheat beer.

 

[vtchuck]

I make a variation of Edwort's Haus Ale

9 lbs 2-row ~ $5.40
2 lbs Vienna 1.20
.5 20 L Crystal .75
.25 Carapils .40

1 oz Nuggett .00
1 oz Cascades .00

Irish moss .10
Geletin .30
Notty yeast 1.50

Propane ~ 3.50
StarSan & Oxy-clean .50


Comes in at less than $14.00