Cost of All-Grain Vs. Extract!

[limey lou]

i got a few extracts under my belt and want to go all-grain, of course. i got everything i need except wort chiller so i'm still at least a week away yet. The question i got is how does the cost of brewing all-grain compare to brewing extract(which averages me about $40 for the kit and water)? i realize if you buy in bulk it obviously will cost less, but what's an average cost when buying just what recipe calls for? i'm certain this has been discussed before but i was unable to find such a discussion. thanks in advance for any help with this query.

 

[DeathBrewer]

it's still quite a bit cheaper. i pay about $25 per all-grain batch for the same beers i used to make when i paid $40 for extract. plus, my beer is better

of course, hops prices have gone up, too, so it's a good thing i don't like hoppy beers

 

[EinGutesBier]

To give you an idea of the savings possibilities, my last brew, a steam beer, came to about $0.30 per bottle. Not bad. I've still got room to improve.

 

[Matt Foley]

take a look at the kit price at northern brewer or austin home brew for a start. It seems that you can usually see a price difference of $7 to $10 per kit difference between extract and all grain.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Before hop and grain prices went insane, it wasn't incredibly difficult to brew a 5g AG batch for $10.

It's pretty easy to see the cost savings though... If you know your average efficiency, it's pretty easy to figure out the price difference between a pound of DME and the amount of grain it takes to get an equivalent amount of fermentables.

For example, at my LHBS, grain is $1/lb and DME is about $3.50/lb. Assuming 75% efficiency, 1lb of DME is roughly equal to 1.33lb of grain. Taking that all into account, using extract in a recipe costs 3.50/1.33 = 2.6 times more than grain.

 

[EdWort]

I'm still able to brew 5 gallons of BCB Haus Pale ale for $7.85 thanks to bulk buying last year.

 

[livewir]

14.7 cents a 12ounce bottle!?!?!?! I really need to get on the All-Grain Wagon.

 

[the_bird]

To be fair, you really need to factor in the costs of the AG equipment you might need to invest in (propane burners, wort chillers, etc). I think *most* people would agree that they don't go AG with saving money as their primary motivation.

I do love not having to pay $15 for three pounds of DME at the HBS!

 

[blacklab]

You're going to have to brew a lot of AG beers to make up for the 250 or so you'll need to spend to get on the AG wagon. Although it sounds like you are pretty much invested except for the IC.

Let's say your AG setup costs you $300(cheap), and you save $10 per batch(probably less), you'll need to brew 30 batches to recover the cost.

So, maybe a year of brewing? A couple months for Biermuncher?

However, the beer is 10x better, as well!

 

[cheezydemon]

Indeed, equipment costs more, and AG is easier to screw up. I have gone back to PM from AG because I have 3 kids and other things to do. Also I was doing AG on the cheap, and one crapping out thermometer led to a nearly NA batch.

With extract in there, you are guaranteed that much in fermentables.

 

[limey lou]

thanks everybody!!

My concern was once i was all set up for all grain, is it still going to cost me $35-$40 to brew an average batch o brews. the equipment to brew all grain ain't terribly expensive(could be worse). I feel a man HAS to have some kind of hobby and this is definately cheaper than my old cars i used to work on where i'd save for a month just to buy an intake manifold, or dual-point distributer, holley carburator, or things like that. this hobby requires little savings and it cures both my cravings of building things and drinking beer. win win!!!

the things i've learned here in a short time is amazing and the more i learn the more fanatical(?) i become. always craving more info! i think this is a gathering place of the most knowledgabe minds in the homebrewing craft. that being said...MY NAME IS LOU, AND I'M A HOMEBREW-AHOLIC! And....






...you are all enablers of my new adiction!!!

 

[cheezydemon]

Limey, does that mean you are British? I'm kinda behind on my pirate movies.

 

[limey lou]

no, i'm just one of them midwestern CORNHUSKER types living in the land where family, football and beer are still King!


Bo Big Red!!! :rockin:

 

[EdWort]

To be fair, you really need to factor in the costs of the AG equipment you might need to invest in (propane burners, wort chillers, etc).

Ok, depending on how I amortizes my investment (now they I just bought a Blichmann Boilermaker), my revised price per 5 gallon batch comes to.....

Nahh, I don't want to know.

 

[cd2448]

it's going to be back to hourly labor rates in a few posts...

remember - the more you brew, the more you save. so brew! and save!

 

[TexLaw]

I do not actually add a lot of my equipment cost to AG brewing. Really, the only thing I added for AG brewing was a mash tun. I still use the ol' 5 gallon pot as my HLT, and I already had a larger kettle and burner for doing full wort, extract boils. I had a wort chiller from back when I was doing partial boils, even. I can hardly count the burner, anyhow, as I use it for other things.

So, see, it's all even cheaper than it looks. Just keep saying that, over and over, and over.


TL

 

[Bobby_M]

I actually envy the brewers who stick with the first set of gear that works for them. No upgrade bug. No bling obsessions. Function before form. It's not me, but I wish it were.

 

[EdWort]

I actually envy the brewers who stick with the first set of gear that works for them. No upgrade bug. No bling obsessions. Function before form. It's not me, but I wish it were.

yeah, me too.

BTW, the Brew Hut breaks ground officially on April 25th. Whoo Hoo!

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Can you really put a price on elitism?

 

[TexLaw]

I actually envy the brewers who stick with the first set of gear that works for them. No upgrade bug. No bling obsessions. Function before form. It's not me, but I wish it were.

Well, I actually got a new mash tun about six months ago and upgraded to a Bazooka tube.

The old cooler wore out (after about 12 years or so).


TL

 

[BierMuncher]

Here's a retail summary for a 20 gallon batch of a basic Pale Ale.

Delivered to your doorstep. (well...my doorstep...)

Works out to about $26 per 5-gallon batch or 47 cents per bottle.
I buy in bulk now so my cost is about half this...

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Here's a retail summary for a 20 gallon batch of a basic Pale Ale.

Delivered to your doorstep. (well...my doorstep...)

Works out to about $26 per 5-gallon batch or 47 cents per bottle.
I buy in bulk now so my cost is about half this...

So y'all don't have to look so hard, that's also $12+ for shipping. So the actual ingredients are only about $40 for 10 gallons, if you picked up at a LHBS or whatnot...

 

[EdWort]

Can you really put a price on elitism?

Being an EAC is priceless!

 

[BeerSmith]

Here's an interesting article on the subject which claims that the price delta is pretty small:
All Grain Brewing vs Extract Brewing: Really Cheaper?

Cheers,
Brad

 

[cd2448]

I'm just going to go AG for the hell of it. I'm producing some fairly drinkable Extracts and PMs but with SWMBO complaining that it's cheating to use LME or DME, the challenge is definitely on, even if I don't save any cash.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

but with SWMBO complaining that it's cheating to use LME or DME,

OOO I like her

 

[cd2448]

aye - at first she is telling everyone i'm making beer "from scratch" - well in all fairness I had to admit I was getting a leg-up from the extracts... should have just kept my big mouth shut. so the pressure is now on to step up to doing it "properly", likes.

 

[BierMuncher]

Here's an interesting article on the subject which claims that the price delta is pretty small:
All Grain Brewing vs Extract Brewing: Really Cheaper?

Cheers,
Brad

That article factors in equipment investment and then compares “kit” prices between all grain and extract. That might be a fair comparison for the hobbyist who is dabbling in a few brews a year.

I think the key is what do you like to brew and how much? I’ve done over 60 all-grain batches in the last 13 months, 55+ of which were 10-gallon batches. I buy 55# sacks of Marris Otter for around $30.00 and Pils for $27.00.

I recon I can knock out an 11 gallon batch of (1.048) Pale ale for around $20.00. That’s about 18 cents a bottle…plus let’s say another 3 cents for ancillary expense (propane, water, cleaning supplies.)

So my 55, 10-gallon batches yielded 6,050 bottles of (craft) beer for $1,271.

So the question is, how many $40 (5-gallon) extract kits would it take to yield 6,050 bottles?

Assuming 55 full bottles per batch, you’d need 110 extract batches at around $4,400.

$4,400 compared to $1,271 means I’ve saved $3,129 in one year. I’d suggest that more than paid for my AG gear, not to mention my kegerators and all my other ugly junk.

The one remaining question…WTF am I doing brewing 6,000 bottles of beer...?

 

[mot]

i got into AG very cheap, I found two round rubber maid mashtuns for 40 bucks only need one so I am selling the other. Got my turkey fryer set up as a gift. So my initial cost to get into AG was about negative 10 bucks depending on what I sell the other mash tun for.

As for prices it is way cheaper than extract. I brewed extract kits and recipes for almost two years and it ran from 25 to over 60 depending on what was brewing and buying water and yeast and anything else. I brewed my first few AG few weeks back, my first one was a kit from Midwest and it was 14 bucks for an AG Amarillo pale ale. Versus almost 40 for the extract version. My other recipe was 18 bucks, and once I start buying in bulk it will get cheaper


granted also I live about 20 minutes from northern brewer and about 20 minutes from midwest to so I never pay for shipping costs either

 

[EdWort]

$4,400 compared to $1,271 means I’ve saved $3,129 in one year. I’d suggest that more than paid for my AG gear, not to mention my kegerators and all my other ugly junk.

The one remaining question…WTF am I doing brewing 6,000 bottles of beer...?

I know exactly what you are doing brewing 6K bottles of beer a year. You are working towards 7K bottles.

Being a finance guy, you should be able to some how justfiy a new Blichmann Boilermaker. Keep O'l jagged edge for sentimental reasons.