Cost of Beer Kits vs Buying Bulk

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dordelli

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Have been brewing for a few years and just changed to all grain. Up until now, I have only been buying the pre-made kits but am curious how much in savings could be realized thru buying the ingredients separately in bulk? Could I save on average $5 or more per batch?
 
If you're in an area to get in on a group buy (easy to find in most larger metro areas) you can get a 55 lb. bag of two-row for a ridiculously low price/lb. But you need to move to crushing/grinding your own grain. Lots of people buy base grains in 50 lb. or 55 lb sacks (depends on type of grain what the weight is). Maris Otter, Pilsen, two-row, etc.

You can get a cheapo grinder (looks like an old-fashioned meat grinder) for $35 or less. Check out the DIY section. I am NOT a Mr. handyman by any means, but some of these DIYs are easy and a lot cheaper than high end grain crushers, etc.
 
Thanks for your response and I realize this question can be complicated to answer, the more u buy the more u will save. I like the convenience of the kits, but curious if I duplicated the kit by buying in bulk, how much on average could I save?
 
If you have beer smith just plug prices into your inventory and you will have a good idea. I am making a Rogue Dead guy clone which I think would run you about 30-50 with yeast. I got my 55lb bag of 2-row rahr from more beer for ~40 and am using a small fraction of it. specialty grains are a minimal purchase so I would say with the $6.50 on pacman yeast and the hops I bought I am out about ~$20 on a 5 gallon batch. Your biggest expense is always going to be yeast and hops so getting those in bulk and reusing or making huge starters and saving half will save you big and buying in bulk when companies have hop sales is going to save a bundle. Base grain eats up space and you can easily drop $500 in base grain bags assuming you are close to a supplier like morebeer. Shipping will absolutely destroy any savings so you need to be able to pick up you bulk grain. All in all you can squeeze 55lb of 2-row into about 2 5gal buckets and it is really nice to just get what I need. Go bulk if you can. I haven't used a kit in a long time.
 
Ok here is the break down.

Rogue Dead Guy (austin home brew supply) = $31.50 all grain +$6.99 yeast= $38.49

Bulk base grain option: 2-row (bulk) =$5.72
Munich(bulk) =$1.86
Crystal 15L(per lb)=$1.65
Perle =$1.50
Saaz =$1.00
Yeast =$6.99

Total= $18.72

That answer your question?
 
Wow, yes, didn't expect it to be such a huge difference. Helps and it hurts, I don't have the room to store bulk 50lb bags of grains but at $18 vs $38 for 5 gals might make sense to pick one staple recipe I like, buy bulk for that one recipe and buy kits when I wanna try something new.
 
Even at a non bulk grain price you are still missing the point here. You will pay more for the kit. The kit is made be by what ever shop you go to. They are charging you for the time it took to formulate and package the recipe. You can clone just about any beer with time and a bit of research. You are paying for convenience in a kit. In all seriousness if you can get bulk hops and are clever with your yeast, the grain price point is really not a big deal. At the very least grab a bag of 2-row or pilsner or marris or what ever you like depending on what you brew a lot of and I am sure you can find the closet space for two 5gal lowes buckets to stash them in. I am not totally against kits, but I am a cheap@ss and would rather save that for my next beer. You will save the most money doing things your self which is often the case in just about everything. Buy bulk when you can and think of kits as processed food at the store. You can buy the ingredients to make your dinner and will likely have left overs to make several other dishes or you can buy the pre-made deal at the deli or butcher or what ever and not have extras and pay a premium for having the store or the processing company do the work. Doesn't mean it is a crappy product. The choice is yours and good luck.
 
That's exactly what I do. Find a kit I like and the buy bulk for 5 or so batches. Then I feel like I really nail it and can start tweaking it for my equipment and taste.
 
I think it depends on your LHBS, hop availability and if you need to get an order over the limit for free shipping from certain vendors. I just bought an IPA kit from Morebeer when they had a 10% discount on it, and the cost was the same as going out and buying just the grains at my LHBS, and it meant some other stuff shipped free. I don't have a set of recipes or even styles I want to regularly brew yet, so bulk buying grains isn't appropriate for me right now.
 
Thanks for the responses Rough and Ready and yes I do fully understand what I am paying for when I buy a kit. Just trying to weigh my options in cost savings for buying the ingredients vs a kit and your previous post gives me good good info to use as a baseline. I appreciate the convenience of the kits for sure and they make sense for me, but as I get more wrapped up into this hobby and the more batches I brew also realize that saving $20 per session is something I should consider, even if it means a slightly longer brew day and arranging storage.
 
Hey, FYI, Austin Homebrew has the corona-style mill on sale for $24.99 right now. I'm in the same boat as you, just switching to all-grain. Mine is currently on its way, I plan to mount it in a bucket and use a drill to mill my grain. I get a 50# sack of 2-row for $45 and a few lbs of various hop pellets on average $15/lb from a local brewery. I came up with a plan of what I want to brew in the near future and buy accordingly. I still plan to purchase specialty grains by the 1 or 3 lb bags, as I don't have any one grain that I need in bulk right now. I plan to wash my yeast and store in the fridge between batches.

While I'm not into home brewing to save money, I would like to spend as little as I need to because kids are expensive and I want to stretch my beer budget, and have more control over the process.
 
RoughandReadyRanch said:
Ok here is the break down.

Rogue Dead Guy (austin home brew supply) = $31.50 all grain +$6.99 yeast= $38.49

Bulk base grain option: 2-row (bulk) =$5.72
Munich(bulk) =$1.86
Crystal 15L(per lb)=$1.65
Perle =$1.50
Saaz =$1.00
Yeast =$6.99

Total= $18.72

That answer your question?
Click to expand...

I also knock out the $7- for yeast be washing it.
 
Grain in bulk, hops in bulk, and reusing yeast can bring the cost way down. Easily $10 / 5 gal. for a simple recipe, say 5% abv with moderate hopping.
 
Wow 10 bucks for 5 gallons would be pretty amazing! Thanks for all the input, I think a good strategy for now is to pick a recipe I like (easier said then done), by in bulk for that recipe and branch out from there. I am sure I will never get away from the kits as it seems a good way to try new things. Morebeer is about 25 mins away for me and they have 50lb bags of 2 row for $36, seems like a good place to start unless anyone has a better source here in Socal, maybe Steinfillers?
 
dordelli said:
Wow 10 bucks for 5 gallons would be pretty amazing! Thanks for all the input, I think a good strategy for now is to pick a recipe I like (easier said then done), by in bulk for that recipe and branch out from there. I am sure I will never get away from the kits as it seems a good way to try new things. Morebeer is about 25 mins away for me and they have 50lb bags of 2 row for $36, seems like a good place to start unless anyone has a better source here in Socal, maybe Steinfillers?
Click to expand...

If you can buy in bulk, and store the grain, you will really save.

I buy hops by the pound, base grain in bulk, and wash/reuse yeast.

Some examples of recent brews:

Cream ale- two-row, rice from the Dollar Store, reused yeast, and hops bought in bulk: $19.09 for 10 gallons!

House IPA- two-row, amber malt (a little, not bought in bulk), hops bought by the pound, and reused yeast: $30 (for 10 gallons), assuming 1/2 the price for yeast since I used it twice.

My "Freezer Cleaner" ale that is on tap now- two-row, homegrown hops, reused yeast, and leftover grain from other brews: $21.65 (for 10 gallons).

By growing hops, and buying them in bulk, you can save a ton of money over buying them by the ounce!
 
If you are talking about just buying base malt like 2 row, then it doesn't really matter what you are making. 2 row is the base in several of my beers, Pale, Amber, wheat and stout. I typically buy 2 row or MO and then buy specialty grains according to what I'm brewing, most of the specialty grains are around $2 a pound.

I purchased a Corona style mill and motorized it, since I have moved up to 10 gallon batches milling 20-30lbs of grain by hand would take forever.

Pick some recipes that you like and do a cost comparison and see for yourself if buying base malt is cheaper.
 
dordelli said:
I am sure I will never get away from the kits as it seems a good way to try new things. Morebeer is about 25 mins away for me and they have 50lb bags of 2 row for $36,
Click to expand...

$36 per sack is dirt cheap bro! I think you will quickly get away from the kits once you comprehend at prices like that, the homebrew becomes to cheap to meter...
 
Not to thread jack, but it's killing me how much people are spending on yeast. Buy one pack, make a big starter and freeze 10 vials. Better yet share yeast with other kids in your brew club, then it's free!!!
 
Watch out for the Costco effect. If you're brewing consistently (a few times a month), then bulk buying grain and hops is awesome. However, it can also lea to buying a lot of extras. Back to the Costco effect - of course you'll use the 5# multipack of ketchup and mustard eventually, and it'll save you a fortune. But if you go through 12 oz of each a year, your money was probably better spent elsewhere.

Bulk buying is awesome (I've helped people pick up over 10k lbs of grain so far this year). Just plan it out well, cause you don't really need that 100 pack of hotdog buns (e.g. 10# of 5 different crystal malts).

Loosely related - make sure to buy proper storage containers, especially if you buy bulk DME. That stuff will turn to cement really quickly once opened if it isn't in an airtight container.
 
dordelli said:
Wow 10 bucks for 5 gallons would be pretty amazing! Thanks for all the input, I think a good strategy for now is to pick a recipe I like (easier said then done), by in bulk for that recipe and branch out from there. I am sure I will never get away from the kits as it seems a good way to try new things. Morebeer is about 25 mins away for me and they have 50lb bags of 2 row for $36, seems like a good place to start unless anyone has a better source here in Socal, maybe Steinfillers?
Click to expand...

Not sure about socal but up here in the North, morebeer is just about impossible to beat on grain without a pro license. Trust me I have the prices for The commercial distribution in the Bay. Morebeer is pretty dang close on almost everything. Watch for deals on hops direct. I scored a ton of 2lbs for the price of one and on sale coming out to about $10/2lbs. It was crazy. Don't get hung up on the whole bulk grain. Seriously yeast washing and hops are gonna be the big ticket to save money. 2-row is going to be the next big bulk by as for 36 bucks and 50minutes round trip you are gold man. 2-row will make more beer styles then you care to even tackle and you can take that first kit savings and get on amazon and grab a copy of beersmith2 and get to work on making any beer your heart desires. Enjoy the hobby and consider yourself blessed to be so close to a more beer. I have a 4 hour round trip drive if I can talk family into picking up orders when they visit. ;)
 
I am about 40 minutes from more beer and bought two 50 pound bags of 2 row and I bought I think 3 hops I commonly used by the pound and just buy specialty grain or other hops as needed. Even with purchasing things like buckets and a corona mill it it a lot cheaper than buying kits. For example my lhbs sells hops for $2.25 an ounce. I bought a pound of Cascade from hops direct for $10. It's basically buy one ounce get 4 ounces free. I would highly recomend buying 2 row and hops in bulk. Not to mention a lot of the recipes for the kits are available on the website anyways...
 
You can grow yeast in hours, then store it in the fridge or freeze it. What most do is buy a smack pack, make a huge starter, then freeze 20 vials and pitch the rest. SO keeping score we now have 20 first generation vials that all can make starters. Now I want to have LOT's more yeast ready to go so I can brew big any time I want. I make an IPA at 8%abv, then do a small beer with the 3rd running's, I want this beer to have a OG of 1.04-1.045... What this 3rd running's beer job is to grow yeast and not stress them. I wash the trub and store the yeast in mason jars in the fridge. I trade first generation yeast with other guys in my brew club.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/
I'm not trying to be a smart-butt, but start reading the sticky's
 
Another great reason to buy and store bulk ingredients is that you can brew whatever you want whenever you want without having to plan in advance. If you want to brew a hybrid style on Sunday afternoon, like maybe a black Belgian IPA, you've got the ingredients already on hand to do it.
 
If you are looking for storage, stop by the bakery dept of your supermarket and ask if they have any buckets with lids they'll be tossing out. I'm storing all my bulk grain (pale, pils, wheat) in old icing buckets that I got for free at Wegmans. I think I've collected about 10-12 by grabbing 2 each time I go. They hold 15-20 lbs of grain.

And as other people said, bulk grain, hops by the pound, and rinsing yeast is the way to go. I estimate that I'm running about $10-$15 per 3-4 gal batch, depending on the style.
 
tagz said:
If you are looking for storage, stop by the bakery dept of your supermarket and ask if they have any buckets with lids they'll be tossing out. I'm storing all my bulk grain (pale, pils, wheat) in old icing buckets that I got for free at Wegmans. I think I've collected about 10-12 by grabbing 2 each time I go. They hold 15-20 lbs of grain.
Click to expand...

Hey!!! It's comments like this that make it hard for me to get my buckets from the store!:pWTF? Thats privileged information:D
 
18 Gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck storage bins will hold the entire bag of grains, cost about $18, seal tight, stackable. Unless you have plenty of room to store a bunch of buckets!
 
+1 on the bulk buy. I keep 2-row and sometimes pilsner or another base malt, on hand all the time. Then I supplement that with a couple of 10# bags of some common specialty grain and then grab a this and that 1# bags of roast malt, etc. So I have a good selection of the grains I use 80% of the time. I don't do much with yeast lately, due to having other things going on, but if I brewed more often I would certainly do it more, and I grow some of my own hops, so that can help too.

The bag of grain is easily transferred into a couple of smaller packages and all of my grain really doesn't take up that much space. I think a sack will fill about 2 5 gallon buckets. The rest of my grain is mostly in bags and kept in a cardboard beer box.
 
All-Grain kits to All-Grain bulk cost would be slightly less per batch and allows you to brew on a whim. It is a large up front investment as you will need to purchase air-tight containers for storing your bulk grains in a dry place as well as the large cost of buying a mill and possibly motorizing it unless you want to hand grind 10-30# of grain.

As far as hops you will need to invest in a vacuum sealer and bags, and have the freezer space to store them. IMHO the hops are the thing you would really want to concentrate on over the grains, as the cost of hops can be drastically cut w/ bulk purchasing (I got in on a group buy of Simcoe and Mosaic - $10# each, $12 for 1# CTZ, $6 1# Meridian). You really want to cut the cost of hops, grow them.
 
I have less than $50 in my milling setup, bought a generic corona mill, cheap 5 gallon bucket, a hand full of washers to help align the plates, and a bolt that threaded into the driveshaft. Already had a scrap of 1x2 to mount the mill, socket to drive the bolt, and cordless drill. I figure that the cost savings of going all grain paid for the mill in about three batches.
 
My picture made it to the HomeBrewTalk facebook page,, Woot!!! I still have two more 6.5 gallon carboys I can use; I'm not maxed out yet. The two black carboys on the left are 8% Stouts and the black ones on the right are the Parti-gyle Porters made with the 3rd runnings (5%abv). The two blonds are both IPA's also at 8% (used differnt yeast 1056 and 007 that is why they look different); I didn't do a parti-gyle on the IPA's because I needed to pressure can 20 quarts of wort for starters, but normally I'd have another 6 gallon carboy (5%abv) made from the 3rd runnings. I pay a heck of a lot less in group buys, but if I had to go buy from a LHBS, I'd run up to Northern Brewer and buy 55lb sacks of two row, for 36$ a bag. In the picture is about 70lbs of grain used. Don't forget I used one carboy worth of beer to make wort for starters. 50 bucks in grain, 14lbs of lp, yeast is free,, total cost of beer in picture,,64 bucks... making good beer Priceless....
----------------------------------------------------------
Hops total 18oz about 20 bucks, new total $84
 
RoughandReadyRanch said:
Even at a non bulk grain price you are still missing the point here. You will pay more for the kit. The kit is made be by what ever shop you go to. They are charging you for the time it took to formulate and package the recipe. You can clone just about any beer with time and a bit of research. You are paying for convenience in a kit. In all seriousness if you can get bulk hops and are clever with your yeast, the grain price point is really not a big deal. At the very least grab a bag of 2-row or pilsner or marris or what ever you like depending on what you brew a lot of and I am sure you can find the closet space for two 5gal lowes buckets to stash them in. I am not totally against kits, but I am a cheap@ss and would rather save that for my next beer. You will save the most money doing things your self which is often the case in just about everything. Buy bulk when you can and think of kits as processed food at the store. You can buy the ingredients to make your dinner and will likely have left overs to make several other dishes or you can buy the pre-made deal at the deli or butcher or what ever and not have extras and pay a premium for having the store or the processing company do the work. Doesn't mean it is a crappy product. The choice is yours and good luck.
Click to expand...

And if you're really lucky, your Homebrew Store is like mine and lists the recipe on the recipe sheet.
 
I just took my equipment + average ingredient cost + propane and came out with about a $0.86/12 ounce average. Hobby's cost money, mine doesn't...I'm saving money.

I think people who feel the need to add in the time cost need to quit brewing.
 
dordelli said:
Have been brewing for a few years and just changed to all grain. Up until now, I have only been buying the pre-made kits but am curious how much in savings could be realized thru buying the ingredients separately in bulk? Could I save on average $5 or more per batch?
Click to expand...

Check your pm's
 
jdgabbard said:
And if you're really lucky, your Homebrew Store is like mine and lists the recipe on the recipe sheet.
Click to expand...

But then I would have to live in Oklahoma. Hmmmmmm........................Tornado warning activated................move brew structure to the storm basement, wife and kids will have to seek new shelter...............house gone, wife gone, shark ate the kids, but you should taste my pale ale!.......... No thanks, I will stay here.;) All we have to worry about it constant Liberal burning down south and politicians trying to set world records for debt and fraud at the state level. Come on, say it with me "Jerry Brown 2016!!!!!" Now look what you have gone an done! I just threw up in my own mouth and Hillary has a new VP running mate! I need a drink:D
 
RoughandReadyRanch said:
But then I would have to live in Oklahoma. Hmmmmmm........................Tornado warning activated................move brew structure to the storm basement, wife and kids will have to seek new shelter...............house gone, wife gone, shark ate the kids, but you should taste my pale ale!..........
Click to expand...

And if you go for a run down some road, a bunch of bored teenagers might drive by and shoot you in the back. :mad:
 

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