Cost Comparison

[Ronald C Gregory]

Also don't forget when pricing how much you are spending on ingredients don't compare to large commercial breweries. Compare to craft beer pricing because you are not trying to make cheap massconsumer beer but a beer crafted to your tastes

 

[ncbrewer]

I've been brewing with extract lately, and my 5 - 6% ABV beer has been costing about 70 cents per 12 oz bottle, including ingredients, caps, electricity, sanitizer, etc. Fresh, dry yeast for each batch. Equipment paid for itself in less than a year, based on buying craft beer as the alternative. You can brew cheaper with all-grain, but it would take a while to pay back the equipment cost. I still recommend all-grain, because the mash is magic.

 

[Lefou]

Buying in bulk can be a money saver, but be careful about freshness. LME doesn't store well - I try to buy only what I will use in 3 - 4 months. Hops can be stored for a while, but they need to be protected from oxygen and kept cold, preferably in the freezer.

Speaking of extract, I've had a sealed 3lb container of wheat LME for about two years now. It's been well-hidden in the refrigerator the whole time.
You Know Who ... well, she recently found it and asked what it was. Caramel malt is one of her favorite Asian cooking ingredients.
I don't do extract or partial mash much anymore, so I guess she can have it.

 

[Qhrumphf]

The easiest ways are (as said) bulk purchasing (hops especially go WAY down bought by the pound than the ounce), and repitching yeast, especially with liquid yeast. I've made many beers at home costing less than $10 for 5 gallons.

Beyond that, some regions do regular "group buys" where a group of homebrewers will coordinate buying and splitting up commercial quantities and piggyback on with a commercial brewery in one of their orders. That's the absolute cheapest way, but needs enough people, a willing brewery, and a fair bit of coordination. There's long running organized group buys on here.

 

[Pkrd]

My wife

.....

how to minimize cost?

Yes, if you run the numbers you'll find that hiring a maid, cook, etc for a few hours a week to clean works out cheaper but some of the things your wife does have benefits that are hard to put a dollar figure on.

RDWHAHB

 

[Calder]

Here's an article on the subject. In it, the author (me ) suggests that you'll need to brew with grain (i.e., do a mash) in order to really save money.

I agree grain is cheaper than extract, but you can find LME for $2/lb, and DME for $2.50/lb. Buying extract in bulk can save a lot of money too.

7 lbs of LME ($14) in 5 gallons will give you a 1.050 wort, or ~5% beer. Re-use yeast, add a little crystal, and bulk buy hops, and you can have a 5%+ Pale Ale for less than 40 cents a bottle.

 

[RM-MN]

I've been brewing with extract lately, and my 5 - 6% ABV beer has been costing about 70 cents per 12 oz bottle, including ingredients, caps, electricity, sanitizer, etc. Fresh, dry yeast for each batch. Equipment paid for itself in less than a year, based on buying craft beer as the alternative. You can brew cheaper with all-grain, but it would take a while to pay back the equipment cost. I still recommend all-grain, because the mash is magic.

Not long at all if you can restrain yourself from buying more equipment than needed. Using the pot I already had and adding just a Corona mill and a paint strainer bag I brew 2 1/2 gallon batches. While that is half the size of batches that most will make that allows me to brew more often and have more variety to drink.

 

[ncbrewer]

I agree grain is cheaper than extract, but you can find LME for $2/lb, and DME for $2.50/lb. Buying extract in bulk can save a lot of money too.

That's a really good price for extract. Is $2/lb a bulk price? If not, what is your source?

 

[Calder]

That's a really good price for extract. Is $2/lb a bulk price? If not, what is your source?

I used to buy 33 lb packs of Briess LME from my LHBS for something like $60. Plus tax, that is worked out at about $2 per lb.

But I have found it easier to buy extract on-line when some of the stores have sales (and it is fresher). I recently bought 4 kits from Northern Brewer of $60 (shipped) during one of their sales.

I think each kit had something like:
- 6 bs LME (Pilsner)
- 1 lb DME (Pilsner)
- 1 lb crushed grain (Crystal C40)
- 3 ozs Chinook hops.

So for $60 I got 24 lbs LME, 4 lbs of DME ..... that is roughly $2 for LME (a little more for DME since it has more sugars). And if I use the $2 for LME as the basis, I got 4 lbs of grain and 12 ozs of hops free.

And they have a huge turnaround, so it is probably very fresh.

I partial mash, and use between 1 to 2 lbs of LME per brew, so it will last a long time. I also use it for starters.