Economical Brewing

[HB_ATL73]

I have been focused more and more on calculating costs of brewing as well as feeling the pain of buying 6-packs at the store for 10-15$. It just feels bad now to buy craft. Its been rough these days with the economy.
Years ago I would spend upwards of 60 dollars on a batch for a big IPA with loads of hops just as an example. Today I try to do what I can to cut costs while still producing something with good quality. Here is a breakdown of a poor mans pale ale that I make.

9# 2 row- I buy sacks from LHBS for 50$- total cost for batch $9
0.5# C60- $1.50
0.5# Vienna- $1.50
3 oz Cascade (60,20,0 Min) sometimes ill add a dry hop as well- I buy bulk from Yakima Valley hops- I can usually get a previous year 1# for anywhere from 10-15$- total cost for batch $1.88
Safale US-05- $5.. cost for yeast varies but if I use the same yeast slurry over say 5 generations the cost becomes minimal

Total cost for batch ranges from 14.88 to 18.88 depending on reusing yeast

That equates to $0.30-$0.38 cents a beer, $1.80-$2.28 a 6 pack

Just thought I would share and curious if anyone else is brewing in an economical way

Cheers

 

[WesBrew]

I tend to do things for better value but don't really calculate it out. I think i've got $55 in a 10 gallon batch of Pils. I will definitely brew another beer and pour on top of that yeast. Aside from buying bulk, that is where I save some money.
Craft prices are getting nuts.

 

[MaxStout]

I find ways to be frugal. Hops by the pound, dry yeast, grain in bulk. Sometimes I brew complex beers that cost a lot--no avoiding it. But many times I just like to make a brew with not so many moving parts, like a pale ale, best bitter, Kolsch, etc. Sometimes, the simple, quaffable beers are the most fun. No reason a carefully-crafted beer can't be made for >$20.

 

[mac_1103]

I figure that I'm brewing pretty good beer for what it would cost me to buy pretty bad beer at the grocery store, and I'm OK with that.

 

[HB_ATL73]

pale ale, best bitter, Kolsch, etc. Sometimes, the simple, quaffable beers are the most fun. No reason a carefully-crafted beer can't be made for >$20.

I agree those are the styles that I can get under 20$. Often will brew a Hefeweizen as well inexpensively

 

[MaxStout]

I agree those are the styles that I can get under 20$. Often will brew a Hefeweizen as well inexpensively

SMASH beers are another option to brew on the cheap.

 

[Lampy]

@Miraculix has a nice recipe "Hazy Cheapskate" that uses wheat flour and relatively low hops. Combined w/ reused yeast, it is my most economical brew and quite tasty too.

 

[Agent]

I definitely brew with an eye on economy.

With $45 base malt, <$10/lb hops, $1.20/lb specialties, and $3 yeast that usually makes 40-50 gallons, I think most of my batches are <$30/10 gallons.

I'll have to pull up my ingredient usage when I get home to verify.

It certainly made it easy to justify adding a Nitro tap for $175.

 

[redrocker652002]

I must admit that I have not really tried to figure out the cost. Most of my recipe order are in the 30 to 40 dollar range. That includes the yeast, hops and grains. I don't account for the water used nor my time. I have not yet tried to reuse yeast, but that is on my list of things to try. I do agree craft beer prices are getting pretty rough.

 

[z-bob]

I have been focused more and more on calculating costs of brewing as well as feeling the pain of buying 6-packs at the store for 10-15$. It just feels bad now to buy craft. Its been rough these days with the economy.
Years ago I would spend upwards of 60 dollars on a batch for a big IPA with loads of hops just as an example. Today I try to do what I can to cut costs while still producing something with good quality. Here is a breakdown of a poor mans pale ale that I make.

9# 2 row- I buy sacks from LHBS for 50$- total cost for batch $9
0.5# C60- $1.50
0.5# Vienna- $1.50
3 oz Cascade (60,20,0 Min) sometimes ill add a dry hop as well- I buy bulk from Yakima Valley hops- I can usually get a previous year 1# for anywhere from 10-15$- total cost for batch $1.88
Safale US-05- $5.. cost for yeast varies but if I use the same yeast slurry over say 5 generations the cost becomes minimal

Total cost for batch ranges from 14.88 to 18.88 depending on reusing yeast

That equates to $0.30-$0.38 cents a beer, $1.80-$2.28 a 6 pack

Just thought I would share and curious if anyone else is brewing in an economical way

Cheers

I buy most of my base malts in 50 and 55 pound bags, and stored in white plastic buckets in the basement they stay good for years. I think the last bag I bought was a year ago; 50 pounds of Vienna for $45 and another $10 for shipping. I buy 1 pound bags of crystal malts and black malt but I use so little of those they hardly count. I mostly buy hops in 1 pound bags from Hops Direct, but that might be a false economy because most of the beers I brew don't use much hops. I store the hops in the deep freezer but some of the ones I bought years ago, I know they've lost some bittering but I don't know how much to compensate. I should do a dry-hopped pale ale or IPA and use up a bunch of old hops as longs as they still smell fresh...

The cheapest beers that I've brewed have been wheat beers using a high percentage of unbleached all-purpose flour. I think the highest I've gone is 50%. And it was a good beer! But I'm not sure it was worth all the trouble. I also did a smash beer a few years ago using cheap pilsner malt and K1V-1116 yeast ($1 a packet) and just bittering hops. I've used that yeast several times and the beers are very good when fresh but they don't age well -- even styles that usually get better with age.

 

[Agent]

Alright, I've attached a spreadsheet of this year's ingredients usage with a total average of $0.31/12 oz serving.
My nominal batches this year were as follows:
5 gal - Cold Extract Amber
10 gal - Summer Citrus Wheat
5 gal - Dopplebock
10 gal - Kentucky Common
10 gal - Mexican Lager
10 gal - Dark Mild
5 gal - Spruce Tip Saison
5 gal - Pliney but with Strisselspalt
10 gal - Copper IPA
10 gal - Bourbon Barrel Barleywine
5 gal - Imperial Milk Stout
10 gal - Summer Ale Clone
5 gal - Altbier
10 gal - Munich Helles
5 gal - Cold Extract Porter
10 gal - Red Rice Lager
10 gal - Nitro Milk Stout
10 gal - Bourbon Barrel Imperial Honey Blonde

This year, my most expensive batch was the Imperial Milk Stout at $28/5 gal (including price of new yeast) and my most frugal was the Red Rice Lager (with free rice and reused yeast) was $15/10 gal.

 

[DuncB]

Factoring in the other consumables such as CO2, yeast nutrients, salts, finings bottle tops, electricity and cleaning fluids is very easy to do in brewfather. Surprisingly they all add up but tend to be a fixed amount per batch, however once the numbers are in the program the data is just churned out.
Certainly a parti gyle beer after a high gravity ale is a " cheap " beer.

I do not factor in my time otherwise I might find the beer suddenly is very expensive!

 

[Beekeeper]

@Miraculix has a nice recipe "Hazy Cheapskate" that uses wheat flour and relatively low hops. Combined w/ reused yeast, it is my most economical brew and quite tasty too.

I recall a helluva-lot of arm wrestling that mash-in, so although it was inexpensive, I cost a good bit of effort to brew. The wheat flour really wanted to dough-ball. It did turn out good though.

 

[Airborneguy]

We used to have battles here over the “time is money” aspect. I never consider time spent on hobbies as a cost because doing so makes life seem a hell of a lot more terrible than it already can be without even making fun time out to be valueless work.

 

[Lampy]

I recall a helluva-lot of arm wrestling that mash-in, so although it was inexpensive, I cost a good bit of effort to brew. The wheat flour really wanted to dough-ball. It did turn out good though.

I only make 1.5 gal batches, so the effort is much less on my part.

 

[lumpher]

We used to have battles here over the “time is money” aspect. I never consider time spent on hobbies as a cost because doing so makes life seem a hell of a lot more terrible than it already can be without even making fun time out to be valueless work.

This is exactly how I think about it. I don't factor in "time cost" because I'm enjoying it. Since I enjoy it, should I "negative factor" the cost... as in pay myself to do it instead of carrying it as a negative?

 

[wepeeler]

I have been focused more and more on calculating costs of brewing as well as feeling the pain of buying 6-packs at the store for 10-15$. It just feels bad now to buy craft. Its been rough these days with the economy.
Years ago I would spend upwards of 60 dollars on a batch for a big IPA with loads of hops just as an example. Today I try to do what I can to cut costs while still producing something with good quality. Here is a breakdown of a poor mans pale ale that I make.

9# 2 row- I buy sacks from LHBS for 50$- total cost for batch $9
0.5# C60- $1.50
0.5# Vienna- $1.50
3 oz Cascade (60,20,0 Min) sometimes ill add a dry hop as well- I buy bulk from Yakima Valley hops- I can usually get a previous year 1# for anywhere from 10-15$- total cost for batch $1.88
Safale US-05- $5.. cost for yeast varies but if I use the same yeast slurry over say 5 generations the cost becomes minimal

Total cost for batch ranges from 14.88 to 18.88 depending on reusing yeast

That equates to $0.30-$0.38 cents a beer, $1.80-$2.28 a 6 pack

Just thought I would share and curious if anyone else is brewing in an economical way

Cheers

I brew almost the exact same beer to have on tap at all times. Cheap, effective and delicious! I skip the Crystal malt. 90% 2 Row, 10% Munich, Cascade and US05. Killer house beer!

 

[GoodTruble]

I'm trying keep a frozen yeast bank of 15-20 varieties to cut down cost, but my failure rate is about 50% in reviving the yeasts. If I could get that process perfected, it would really drive down my per-batch costs.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Alright, I've attached a spreadsheet of this year's ingredients usage with a total average of $0.31/12 oz serving.

Oh, wow. I do exactly the same thing! well... not "exact". I don't use a flat file. I generally just yell to my wife "hey! what did I brew that one time a few weeks or months, or whatever ago and I said 'This is good!' What was that beer?" And then she says something like "how am I supposed to know?!" And then I brew something different entirely. It's a pretty fool proof recordkeeping plan.

 

[kurds_2408]

$45 for a bag of base malt? I’m doing something wrong. I literally just picked up a bag of 2-row today for $79.99.

 

[z-bob]

$45 for a bag of base malt? I’m doing something wrong. I literally just picked up a bag of 2-row today for $79.99.

I just looked up the price; $46 a bag for Briess 2-row at ritebrew.com. Their Briess Vienna has gone up to $52 since I bought it.

 

[day_trippr]

Hah! ^Beat me to it^

Lives next door to a distributor? Or a malt house?

They got your $46 dollar bag, no problemo.
Then there's the shipping cost

Cheers!

 

[z-bob]

Hah! ^Beat me to it^

Lives next door to a distributor? Or a malt house?

They got your $46 dollar bag, no problemo.
Then there's the shipping cost

View attachment 836417

Cheers!

Shipping is cheap to Minnesota. They use a courier called Spee-Dee Delivery. (at least last time I placed an order)

 

[mac_1103]

Shipping is cheap to Minnesota.

Shipping to the same zip code where they're located in Wisconsin is $20.78, for a total cost of $66.78 (plus tax). Shipping to 55401 is $27.14, which takes the total price over what I'd pay at my LHBS.

 

[z-bob]

Shipping to the same zip code where they're located in Wisconsin is $20.78, for a total cost of $66.78 (plus tax). Shipping to 55401 is $27.14, which takes the total price over what I'd pay at my LHBS.

Looks like shipping has gone up since I ordered last. It's $27.14 to here now too. And I might be misremembering the $10 shipping, but I know it wasn't much. $15 maybe? I don't know.
I don't have a LHBS anymore; when I did I bought almost all my grain and pretty much everything else except hops and specialty yeasts there. When I bought that sack of Vienna malt, Ritebrew plus shipping was cheaper than having a local brewery add a sack to their big order and driving out to get it, plus Ritebrew was faster.

 

[mud1070]

Where are you guys getting your ingredients?
I literally had to check (multiple time) if this post was 2023. I live in VT, and it seems nothing is cheap here. Shipping kills all of the deals for bulk stufff.
LHBS has decent prices on bulk grain, but only carry a few at a time and its over an hr round trip.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Looks like shipping has gone up since I ordered last. It's $27.14 to here now too. And I might be misremembering the $10 shipping, but I know it wasn't much. $15 maybe? I don't know.

On my last couple of orders, Speedee has been a few cents more than UPS. Either way, the orders arrived the next day.

 

[Agent]

I just looked up the price; $46 a bag for Briess 2-row at ritebrew.com. Their Briess Vienna has gone up to $52 since I bought it.

Ope! That's it!

Though to be fair, up until this fall I was getting $36 sacks of Briess 2-row from Point Brew Supply. I don't know what deal they made with the devil for that pricing, but I whole-heartedly supported it.

And pre/early pandemic, SpeeDee was unfathomably cheap. Like, I got 80lbs delivered for less than it cost me in gas to drive the 40 miles there and back.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

Being an Englishman who was weaned on Boddington's cask bitter in the late 70s and early 80s, i brew regular ordinary pale bitters and it's clear to me that the brewers of Boddington's perfected the art of low cost/high demand, very moreish beer. Dry, light, bitter, thirst quenching, ultimate session beer. The OG was only around 1.035/6, and hops were only used for bittering, bar perhaps a handful in the cask. And they just kept repitching their own yeast, of course.

I have gradually got better at making this type of beer, whilst also giving up on trying to replicate Boddingtons. I just do variations. I brewed a variation a couple of days ago, 20 litres (5.25 gallons) using just 2.6kg (approx 5.7 pounds) of grain and 200g of golden syrup, and 25g of cheap Pilgrim hops. Pale malt 65%, pilsner 20%, golden syrup 7%, carawheat 5%, cornmeal 3%.

I pitched a dry lager yeast, never used a lager yeast in this type of beer before. Total cost approx 9.50 GBP, or $12 ish. I should get the equivalent of about 50 x your 12 ounce measures from that.

I'm sure people do similar variations of this - a bit stronger i guess, add some late hops, use different yeasts. Saison falls into the same bracket, and a lot of session lagers. I guess cost reduction is mainly about hops, and re-using yeast.

Not sure I've added to the conversation, really! Just musing on how I have returned to my roots, and how a simple template enables me to produce quite a wide variety of simple session beers. Vary the hops, vary the yeast, use specialty malts.

Cheers!

 

[Climb]

Any body track their energy usage (electricity, propane, natural gas, etc.) per batch? I have a feeling that energy cost will be about the same as the cost of supplies and yes, you can't count the cost of your time if it is a hobby.

 

[Airborneguy]

I don’t track energy costs but I’m fairly attention of my electricity because I drive an electric car. I have never noticed an uptick from brewing, even during “busy” months where I’ve banged out 4-5 batches.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

Any body track their energy usage (electricity, propane, natural gas, etc.) per batch? I have a feeling that energy cost will be about the same as the cost of supplies and yes, you can't count the cost of your time if it is a hobby.

I use natural gas (in the UK) as I do stove top and on brew day two days ago I used a total of £1.74 in gas (I have a smart meter and app), which includes cooking and shower. So must have been around a pound for the brewing gas, about $1.25. $1.50 tops.

 

[mac_1103]

I never noticed an uptick in my natural gas bill when I used to brew on my stove top. Propane is the most expensive energy you can use to brew, but the easiest to track. I'm still on my first 15 lb tank since moving outdoors four or five batches ago, so we're talking less than $4 a batch and still dropping.

 

[Agent]

Any body track their energy usage (electricity, propane, natural gas, etc.) per batch? I have a feeling that energy cost will be about the same as the cost of supplies and yes, you can't count the cost of your time if it is a hobby.

By calculation, my 5500w element running full out (which it doesn't) for two hours at $0.14/kwhr would total $1.54/10 gallon batch. Which I don't even pay since my solar covers 90% of my usage.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

If you use Beersmith and the inventory feature, you can load your cost of ingredients and it calculates what it costs to do individual brews, minus energy and equipment. It's not exact but pretty close. Kind of a clunky system, but fun to play with, more from the inventory side vs. costs.

 

[WesBrew]

Where are you guys getting your ingredients?
I literally had to check (multiple time) if this post was 2023. I live in VT, and it seems nothing is cheap here. Shipping kills all of the deals for bulk stufff.
LHBS has decent prices on bulk grain, but only carry a few at a time and its over an hr round trip.

I usually buy semi-bulk from MoreBeer and take advantage of the free shipping deal.

 

[mac_1103]

I usually buy semi-bulk from MoreBeer and take advantage of the free shipping deal.

"Semi-bulk"? It looks like size larger than 1 3 lb aren't eligible for free shipping.

 

[redrocker652002]

Having just looked at Morebeer, a 55lb sack of 2 row is 48.00 with out tax. And they note it does not qualify for free shipping. If I was to go this route, I would probably have to drive to the store and buy it there. Only good thing in that is I can look at all the shiny new stuff they have that I cannot afford. LOL.

 

[kurds_2408]

Yeah a bag from RiteBrew is $53 for shipping to my house so $99 total. The $80 I paid yesterday was from my LHBS. He is a small store that doesn’t do tons of busines. Also he mostly only carries Rahr in the main grains which I’m just now discovering seems to be 10%-15% more expensive for a sack everywhere I look.

 

[z-bob]

Yeah a bag from RiteBrew is $53 for shipping to my house so $99 total. The $80 I paid yesterday was from my LHBS. He is a small store that doesn’t do tons of busines. Also he mostly only carries Rahr in the main grains which I’m just now discovering seems to be 10%-15% more expensive for a sack everywhere I look.

See if your LHBS will add a sack of whatever malt you want to his next order and tell him you're fine with waiting for it. That's what I used to do when I wanted something that my LHBS didn't have. (not just whole sacks, but a pound or 2 of weird specialty malt too) I assume it's actually a good deal for them because they get their markup without it taking up shelf space waiting to sell.