Cost of Home Brewing

[Fatcougar]

Some of the prices mentioned seem really high for an extract kit. There are some really good suppliers online that ship free if you spend over a certain amount and have many kits to choose from in the 30 dollar range. I have ordered form morebeer.com a few times and have been very happy with their service, and I am sure there are many others out there. You have to wait a few days for the goodies to come , but it works out quite well!

 

[CrookedTail]

2.5) Just use dry yeast, it's cheap. Unless you're brewing an incredibly complex and yeast-centric beer, you can usually substitute Safale US05 (Pale Ales, IPAs, American Barleywines), S04 (english style ales, stouts), or Safbrew (belgians). Dry yeast is cheaper than vials or packets and you don't need to mess with a starter.

Are you talking about T-58? How is that yeast? I've never used it.

 

[nutty_gnome]

First I do all grain.
I buy hops in semi-bulk from Farmhouse Brewing Supply about once per year. I buy the larger sizes of the brewing chemicals I need because it is cheaper per use. You have to account for those costs if you want to really get a handle on the cost of brewing.

So when I order a recipe online, I just get the crushed malt bill and sometimes yeast. In april I got a 1.070 IPA grain bill with a WLP yeast for under 20 bucks. Because shipping cost is a constant, I buy at least two recipes every time I order. The other was an american brown malt bill with dry yeast for under 16. With shipping it would be ~$23 and ~$19 respectively ($7 shipping split for the two malt bills).

If you piece it out and figure in about a $1.00 per ounce for hops, $1 for WLP yeast nutrient capsule, $0.10 for finings, $0.25 for pH control in the mash, $0.35 for starsan, $1.50 for the starter and priming solution, and $1.00 for caps. Lets say this adds between 6 and 10 bucks per recipe depending on the amount of hops used.

Thats still 2 cases (5 gallons) of beer for ~30 for the big IPA and ~25 for an american brown. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

I dont consider the cost of equipment in these calculations because I yard-saled and craiglisted almost all my stuff. My water cooler mash tun, 10 gallon SS kettle, and 7 gallon pot and turkey fryer set up cost under 60 bucks and took 15 months to accumulate. Temp control for the free mini-fridge was around 40 bucks installed.

I never tell people that it is cheaper to brew rather than buy what you like. I agree that on a per recipe basis, the ingredients needed to brew a beer you might like will be cheaper than buying bottles from the store.

 

[seabass07]

If your goal is to make beer cheaper than you can buy it, then it can be done very easily. The equipment will pay for itself after the third batch if you are thrifty. If I drank corona, then I would still be saving money. I prefer to buy good beer though, so I'll be saving a crapload of money once I have several different beers on hand. You can make 5 gallons of a 7 or 8%ABV beer for $30. You can't buy beer that cheap!

But as others have said, it will not end up being cheaper unless you keep the cheap PITA equipment. Once you get into the hobby, you will want more and more until there are no savings.

 

[Acoma]

Saving money is all relative. Being that drinking beer is not necessarily a necessity, all of it could technically be saved, whether you buy it from the store or make it yourself.

This arguement happened often with my other hobby, motorcycling. The initial cost of equipment, and getting started make it seem like you can't save money and some guys would argue you wouldnt. Well let me tell you, I've done the math and my bike has more than paid itself off including equipment, tires, insurance, etc when you figure the gas it would have cost to drive my truck over the past 3 years.

You can look at brewing much the same. It may cost a bit up front (equipment, extract, yeast) but once you go AG, slant yeast, grow hops, etc it will definitely pay itself off over time. If you think about it some of the six packs we buy at the store cost over 10 bucks. Even at the worst case scenario youve given $70 that should make about 50-60 beers. That would cost you about 100 bucks at the store if you bought it retail. So you are already breaking even at worst. However, one could also argue the time you put into it you could out weigh the dollars you save. After all, what price would you put on your lifetime? The argument could go on and on.

Personally, I try not to think about the savings/cost and just enjoy it for what it is. Fun times and great brews I can call my own.

 

[Beezy]

I don't know where you guys get extract but its like 5 bucks a pound most places I have seen. My lhbs has basic kits for like 50 bucks. Yeah you can get them online for 30 but you can't forget about the shipping!

I just switched to grain because ultimately I want to make big beer. Try pricing out an imperial IPA in DME. Forget about it.

 

[Firebat138]

ouch, yeah its a little cheaper here in Delaware...

 

[Beezy]

Well 5 bucks is dry. Liquid is a little cheaper but my store doesn't get the bulk and divide it up like some do except for the canadian stuff that is reasonable but screw it I want to make big boy all grain beer.

 

[PoorBoy]

i save a ton of money homebrewing, and i do liquid extracts and liquid yeasts. i think the most i've paid for a homebrew is $2 a bottle (12oz), and that was a Delirium Tremens clone. Still way, way cheaper than what i'd pay for something that i can almost gaurantee would be substandard from World Market (I've never had a good "big beer" import from there, and until very recently they were the only game in town). i'm usually around $0.80 a bottle, and i plan on starting to re-use my yeast here very soon, which will save me an additional $3 a batch.

Not sure what the rules are here, but the folk over at AHS have taken good care of me

 

[johnmcc]

You can get DME from Rebel Brewer for 3.10 per lb, just checked.

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/categories/Brewing-Ingredients/Malt-Extracts/

 

[sonex]

I don't know where you guys get extract but its like 5 bucks a pound most places I have seen. My lhbs has basic kits for like 50 bucks. Yeah you can get them online for 30 but you can't forget about the shipping!

I just switched to grain because ultimately I want to make big beer. Try pricing out an imperial IPA in DME. Forget about it.

it all depends on the lhbs, we are in the same state but my lhbs charges 2 bucks a pound for lme. Funny I think the lme prices are better than their grain prices which is why I buy 55# sacks. You can save a lot by reusing yeast, I can get 7-8 generations from one purchase.

 

[CrookedTail]

drinking beer is not necessarily a necessity

Speak for yourself!

 

[gclay]

my lhbs charges a flat $2 for grains, yeast and hops, but he also doesn't measure the yeast or charge tax.

 

[BrewThruYou]

As for all grain being cheaper, it only is if you buy your grain in bulk. If you buy your grain per batch, you aren't saving anything.

Disagree. Ruination Clone

DME: 8 lbs x $3.10 (Rebel Brewer - cheapest I've seen) = $24.80
AG: 14 lbs 2-Row x $1.16 (Rebel Brewer) = $16.25

There's no doubt that AG is more time-consuming, but it's also cheaper.

 

[Beezy]

Just for fun at my store those prices are

8# DME =43.48
14# 2row=20.76

lul

 

[nutty_gnome]

Disagree. Ruination Clone

DME: 8 lbs x $3.10 (Rebel Brewer - cheapest I've seen) = $24.80
AG: 14 lbs 2-Row x $1.16 (Rebel Brewer) = $16.25

There's no doubt that AG is more time-consuming, but it's also cheaper.

I agree with this. The day is longer but for the smart buyer, all grain is cheaper per recipe. Just go to Brewmasters wareshouse.com and use their brewbuilder to demonstrate this fact.

 

[norsk]

The better and bigger the beer that you make....the more you will save.

That being said...I'm always building or adding something on to my brewery so this isn't about saving money for me (Although that isn't what I told SWMBO)...it's fun, I like drinking my own beer and being self suffcient.

 

[Zixxer10R]

Disagree. Ruination Clone

DME: 8 lbs x $3.10 (Rebel Brewer - cheapest I've seen) = $24.80
AG: 14 lbs 2-Row x $1.16 (Rebel Brewer) = $16.25

There's no doubt that AG is more time-consuming, but it's also cheaper.

It's probably worth noting that the time you spend on an AG brew day could be accounted for in dollar amounts making both just about equal.

Some of you are lucky enough to have the time to spend on an AG brew day (i certainly envy you). I would venture most of us have way too many hobbies as it is and extract is our only option unless we were to abandon other hobbies. For me, my other time consuming hobby is Worship service production. That's a time killer in it's own right! Still love it though.

 

[seabass07]

If you have the time to do it, then the labor is free. I have the benefit of not having to cut myself a paycheck for my own time. If you have to cut out other things, then it is probably not worth it. Extract will still be cheaper than buying good beer.

 

[BrewThruYou]

It's probably worth noting that the time you spend on an AG brew day could be accounted for in dollar amounts making both just about equal.

This has been done ad nauseum regarding homebrewing vs. buying commercial. For most people, homebrewing is a hobby, not an alternative to a paying job. I come home from a 9-5 job and brew some nights. Can I really dollarize that time? Is brewing really interfering with me making money during that time? My answer to both is no.

Plus, a lot of the extra AG time is waiting for the sacch rest (be it 60 or 90 minutes)...I sometimes go for a run, work out, cook, do whatever during that time period...it's not like I'm busting my butt.

 

[Zixxer10R]

I tell you what, if it's so nauseating then maybe you shouldn't talk about it. I wouldn't want you feeling sick or anything. For those of us that still think personal opinions can be shared on a forum based around opinions, we'll keep giving them.

 

[ryclo]

The equipment you buy will also most likely work for your lifetime and still have value should you decide to stop brewing and want to sell it. I think the problem is you keep wanting to upgrade to better and better equipment to make better faster beer.

 

[PoorBoy]

That sounded like an opinion to me? And even the implied opinion that people who do this, do it because they love it, not to save money (perk!). He just said that he wasn't personally chained to his pot while brewing all grain, making calculating a dollar amount for his time negligible.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

If you use DME instead of liquid extract. i believe you can buy in bulk, store it longer, and it will not go bad. Buying ingredients individually instead of getting an ingreedients kit is cheaper, once you go to recipies. I just made the switch. If you list out the ingredients in the kit you buy, you can make it yourself next time (the kits I bought don't list the specific hops or yeast strain included). Also, your beer will improve because the grains haven't been sitting, crushed, in a plastic bag for who knows how long.

 

[logan3825]

Thanks everyone! I definitely love brewing and will continue to brew for brewing's sake. I buy my kits from a home brew stores in CT. I just had heard time and time again that home brewing was cheaper than purchasing beer already made. When I started brewing I did the math and found it to be about the same price so I thought I must have been doing something wrong. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I hope to go all grain someday but I don't think I'm ready for it yet.

If you are spending $0-70 a kit you are doing it wrong. I typically spend about $25-40 per batch depending on the beer. I can make a good American Wheat for about $25. The higher priced beers I make are when I use liquid yeast and usually are higher gravity.

Check out kits online from Midwest Supplies, Northern Brewer and Austin Homebrew Supply. They all have good kits and are reasonably priced.

 

[geneb]

When I started in this hobby my curiosity (and anal retentiveness) made me keep track of every penny I have spent on it and everything that I have physically gotten out of it.

I started my first brew on March 17, 2011. Since then I have received 412 12 ounce bottles of drinkable results. I have spent $774.13 on everything, including all of my equipment, chemicals, ingredients, experiments (infected ), shipping, tax, etc. This comes out to $1.88 per bottle. (Also consider that I don't use the entirety of everything I buy.. I still have lots of hops, extract, StarSan, cleaners, etc. on hand, so technically the cost per bottle would be slightly less. I don't consider cost of electricity so we'll call it even.)

To get comparable beer in town usually costs somewhere in the vicinity of $2 - $6 per bottle. Much, much more for higher gravity beers. The way I see it, I am saving money and the savings will only get better the more I brew. Not only that, but I enjoy it.

 

[Acoma]

The equipment you buy will also most likely work for your lifetime and still have value should you decide to stop brewing and want to sell it. I think the problem is you keep wanting to upgrade to better and better equipment to make better faster beer.

Except of course your hydrometer. Just broke my first one last week

 

[TotemWolf]

I'm brewing a Northern Brown Ale this weekend. Total cost if I walked to my LHBS and purchased everything of the shelf. $16.52. Because I buy in bulk, and haverst my yeast, total cost when all factors including DME for yeast starter and water treatment is figured in, $9.90. That's less than $1.50 a 6 pack with packaging included.


(Of course I turned around and spent $45 on a new stir plate.)