expensive ag ?

[Golddiggie]

My 'normal' batches (6.75-7.25 gallons into primary) run in the $20-$30 range. Depends on which base malt I use more than anything (Pale Ale is less per pound that Maris Otter). I see the cost savings as a benefit of all grain brewing, on top of the product control. I always use liquid yeast (Wyeast most of the time) but buy my hops at a better per pound rate. I'm looking at freezing yeast, for use later, too. IF it works as well as I hope, I might only buy a few packs a year (to get the strain) and then just use reserved/frozen yeast for the rest.

There are ways to trim costs on batches, you just need to figure out what makes sense for you. BUT, you shouldn't pay too much for your grains.

 

[Denny]

Yes, it is on my list of future improvements... Ideally I would like to grow and harvest my own hops

Do that for 10 years and you'll be happy to go back to paying for them. I was.

 

[bottlebomber]

Do that for 10 years and you'll be happy to go back to paying for them. I was.

Really? It only took me 2 I grow Centennial now, that's it.

 

[Hopper5000]

$47 for 12 pounds of grain and a few ounces of hops is way too much and I have no idea why that would have been so much (unless you ordered online and had to pay a bunch in shipping). Boiling for over 60min doesn't really impact hop utilization at all.

There are always kinks to work out in your venturing into new territory so I wouldn't worry too much about that part...

(has this person even responded to any of the comments?)

 

[acidrain]

OP never came back... I think you've all been trolled.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Originally Posted by bredstein

Yes, it is on my list of future improvements... Ideally I would like to grow and harvest my own hops

Do that for 10 years and you'll be happy to go back to paying for them. I was.

.

Haha yes, when I can buy a pound of CTZ for around 10 bucks shipped how can I grow hops? The labor involved in growing and drying and packaging a pound of hops is substantial! Only makes sense if it's a labor of love IMHO!

Back on topic...buying malt and hops in bulk and reusing yeast the cost of the beer is nearly "too cheap to meter". 2-3 bucks a gallon for a basic 5% pale ale I'd guess. When I go out, pints are $4 - $7 dollars, so for me the beer at home is almost free.

 

[bovineblitz]

You got totally raped on that one man.. For 47 dollars I could brew a 10 gallon batch of barleywine. Try Brewmasters Warehouse if you don't have a LHBS, the prices are good, AFAIK he still does flat shipping unlike some of the others are doing now, and his crush is great so you shouldn't have to over sparge to get fair efficiency.

Plus you can have ounces or even half ounces of grains in your grain bill, you don't need to buy entire pounds of specialty malts

 

[kombat]

Plus you can have ounces or even half ounces of grains in your grain bill, you don't need to buy entire pounds of specialty malts

Maybe it's just me, but when I have to buy specialty grains, I deliberately buy at least twice as much as I need for the recipe I'm working on. I figure I'm at the store already anyway, and if I like the beer I may want to make it again, or I'll likely use it in another beer at some point and I don't want to have to wait to order it online or make another trip to the LHBS, and it's only a couple bucks anyway ... so I just buy a couple pounds' worth.

Granted, I have my own grain mill at home, so the grain might not get used for a few months, but still, I figure for the extra couple of bucks, it might come in handy down the road.

Anyone else do this too?

 

[Golddiggie]

Depending on where I'm getting the non-base malt from I typically get at least a few pounds. I then seal it up either via a ziplock bag, or vacuum pack it (in 8-16oz bags) for use later. I'll weigh out what I need for the recipe I'll be brewing and make sure to order/get more before I run out (completely).

Having your own grain mill/crusher makes things vastly easier on brew day. Have a good scale and you no longer need to worry about the store weighing the grain wrong.

 

[MarcusKillion]

WOW! Holy effing crap . I been taken for a wild ride . I bought the grain at my local brew store . 7.50 for 5 pounds of 2 row and 2.50 a pound for the others , so there is 25 bucks for thew grain and I still have some left over but ... forgot what the hops and yeast cost but I guess about 16 bucks since all I also bought was a 2.30 bottle of wyeast yeast energizer. guess I better check prices online next time .

hey one more thing . I made a wort chiller out of soft copper . I forgot to wash that thing off before putting it in my wort . I put it in while still boiling to sanitize it but I am wondering if any bad tastes or chemicals may come from the unwashed off copper ?

 

[MarcusKillion]

$47 for 12 pounds of grain and a few ounces of hops is way too much and I have no idea why that would have been so much (unless you ordered online and had to pay a bunch in shipping). Boiling for over 60min doesn't really impact hop utilization at all.

There are always kinks to work out in your venturing into new territory so I wouldn't worry too much about that part...

(has this person even responded to any of the comments?)

yes . Just now . I just now got the email stating there was a response .

Appreciate the help also.

bought from local brew store , no shipping . Their kits seem to be quite reasonable priced . I usually brew some muntons nut brown and add in some specialty grains , chocolate and black maybe some honey and sometimes a hop and a different yeast and it tastes quite good . Always different as I just add some of this and that and no measurement usually . some extra DME to kick up the ABV

 

[MarcusKillion]

Plus you can have ounces or even half ounces of grains in your grain bill, you don't need to buy entire pounds of specialty malts

cool . I will check that one out for sure.

 

[Jayhem]

I harvest my own yeast and make 11 gallon batches. I am making 11 gallons of my session ales (Cream ale and Pale ale ~ 5% abv) for about $25 for 11 gallons. Yes, that is only about $12.50 for 5.5 gallons! You are doing it wrong! I order my pale malt in bulk and it ends up being about $1.20/lb shipped. I order my hops every 2 years in bulk and freeze them and they average only 80 cents per ounce.

 

[Devin]

Some of the grain prices that I am seeing reported in this post are REALLY low. Where are all of you that are claiming close to $1/lb for grain getting your grain from? My LHBS rides at around $1.80/lb, and the discount for bulk isn't that great. I just ordered the ingredients for my first all-grain brew coming up, and it was a bit more expensive than I was hoping. So, where are some good online sources for cheaper grain?

 

[45_70sharps]

I presume you don't have an LHBS available? I realize that rounding up is a fact with ordering ala-carte online, but my LHBS will take a recipe and mix/grind all the right amounts. Still $47 sounds really high. Shop around for better grain prices.

Yep, my "local" store ( 2 hours away ) weighs, crushes and puts it all into one package for me.

Soon I'll have my barley crusher and with a little luck I'll save even more by buying grain in bulk.

Either way it's way cheaper to do all grain unless maybe if you are ordering online and the extra weight is getting you in shipping.

 

[Jayhem]

Some of the grain prices that I am seeing reported in this post are REALLY low. Where are all of you that are claiming close to $1/lb for grain getting your grain from? My LHBS rides at around $1.80/lb, and the discount for bulk isn't that great. I just ordered the ingredients for my first all-grain brew coming up, and it was a bit more expensive than I was hoping. So, where are some good online sources for cheaper grain?

I order most of my grain from farmhousebrewingsupply. they have 10 lb base grain specials that run about $1/lb + shipping. if you order about 45 lbs worth of grain shipping is only $18 or so. I can usually order enough grain to make about 33 gallons of session ales or 22 gallons of IPA/stout for about $60 shipped. Hops are cheap unless you are making an IPA. Learn to wash and reuse yeast and you can save another $3-$7 per batch!

 

[Golddiggie]

Some of the grain prices that I am seeing reported in this post are REALLY low. Where are all of you that are claiming close to $1/lb for grain getting your grain from? My LHBS rides at around $1.80/lb, and the discount for bulk isn't that great. I just ordered the ingredients for my first all-grain brew coming up, and it was a bit more expensive than I was hoping. So, where are some good online sources for cheaper grain?

Three words for you "group grain buy"... I've gone in on two from HBT members and another from the HBC I'm a member of. IME, most [decent] HBC's will have at least two group grain buys a year. That's when you get sacks of grain to carry you through to the next one. I'm looking at joining a new HBC (one I'm a member of is just too far away now) at the start of the year. I'll be ordering at least two, or three, sacks of base malt at that time and maybe split another sack (or two) of other malts I use often enough to make it worth it. That's where you can get to under $1/pound pricing. :rockin:

For reference, last sacks I got of Bairds MO were maybe $40 each, with everything included. That's 55# sack sizes. :rockin:

 

[Hopper5000]

Ya also you for sure did not need to pitch 2 packs of nottingham in there. Maybe if your making a beer that's over like 7% but not for something like this. Those grain proces are pretty resonable.

There are also multiple online retailers where you can buy hops in bulk. You usually have to buy about a pound but it breaks down with shipping to be less than a dollar an ounce.

If you like a couple types it's a very worthwhile buy. I have used hopsdirect.com with success.

I got you at about $40 bucks for this batch which isn't too unresonable. I think usually kits are about 30 for liquid extract, right?

If you buy in bulk and be aware of how much yeast you need to pitch (good calc online to see pitching rates is yeastcalc.com or mrmalty.com) then you could shave some dollars off your cost.

If you get good efficiency on your all grain that will equal less grains you have to buy as well.

 

[neko]

WOW! Holy effing crap . I been taken for a wild ride . I bought the grain at my local brew store . 7.50 for 5 pounds of 2 row and 2.50 a pound for the others , so there is 25 bucks for thew grain and I still have some left over but ... forgot what the hops and yeast cost but I guess about 16 bucks since all I also bought was a 2.30 bottle of wyeast yeast energizer. guess I better check prices online next time .

$25
9 pds pale malt
1 pound caramel malt
1 pound oats
.50 victory malt
.25 chocolate malt

$2.30
Yeast Energizer

Almost $20
1 oz fuggles
1 oz goldings kent
2 packs nottingham

The grains are expensive, but the real problem is spending $20 for 2oz of hops and two packets of nottingham.

 

[Golddiggie]

WOW! Holy effing crap . I been taken for a wild ride . I bought the grain at my local brew store . 7.50 for 5 pounds of 2 row and 2.50 a pound for the others , so there is 25 bucks for thew grain and I still have some left over but ... forgot what the hops and yeast cost but I guess about 16 bucks since all I also bought was a 2.30 bottle of wyeast yeast energizer. guess I better check prices online next time .

~$16 for two ounces of hops and two packets of yeast?? I hope they used some lube on you there. Even at the old LHBS I was using while in MA (before I started shopping smarter) was only $3/ounce of hops and the dry yeast was in the $2-$3 per pack range.

If I was paying those prices, I wouldn't be able to brew nearly as often as I like to. I would advise finding a group grain buy in your area as well as purchase hops in bulk, or semi-bulk moving forward. I've been using only a handful of hops for all my brews. Just make sure you select a hop that's flexible enough to work well in such a case. Or get a few varieties that will pretty much cover everything. If you vacuum pack them, after opening the bag, they'll last a good amount of time in the freezer.

 

[Antler]

Wow you got raped...

I order all my grains (individual recipes) from brewmasters hardware, and each individual batch costs me $40 or less including shipping. I don't harvest yeast either. That may be a little much, but it's only ~$10 more than buying grains at the LHBS. I know I'm gettin the best grains for that recipe (not substitutes for the common grains they have on hand) and I can buy just the amount of grains/hops for that recipe. So the extra $10 it costs me to get my grains is worth it to me.

 

[Hopper5000]

I don't think he got shafted. Those prices seem pretty close to what I get at my LHBS. The grains are about right. If the Nottingham packs were 5 dollars each and he had to buy his hops in 2 oz packs (maybe $2 and ounce) then it makes sense... hops do seems a little suspect price wise though.

 

[bottlebomber]

I don't think he got shafted. Those prices seem pretty close to what I get at my LHBS.

That only means that you also are getting shafted my friend

 

[Obliviousbrew]

$40 it seems like too much for me. I live in Spain and somethings are more expensive here. I pay about 25 USD for a 6 gallon batch... Buy in bulk, harvest yeast you guys are paying too much.

 

[Golddiggie]

IME, $47 for an all grain batch is way too much. Then again, I guess I'm spoiled by buying my grain smart (group grain buys) as well as my hops (1#, or large amounts when on sale). The LHBS I now live not even 10 minutes away from has good prices on liquid yeast ($6/packet) and dry yeast too. I was paying $8 for each liquid pack at the old LHBS, plus the cost of fuel to get there.

Some of the best ways to save on ingredients is to buy in bulk. Often times, though, it's only through group grain buys that you can really get good pricing. When a pallet, or three, is being ordered, pricing gets really good. Hell, it's even good with just one pallet being ordered.

 

[Hopper5000]

1.5 an pound for base malt is pretty standard for me, about 2 bucks for anything specialty. Yeast is somewhere between 5 and 8 depending on the type, and hope are somwhere between 1 and 3 dollars an ounce.

Average batch about 12 lb:

10 base - $15
2 Special - $4
Yeast - $8
Hops - $12 (not buying in bulk and abuot 6oz)

That's just about 40 bucks for a regular pale ale.

(You also have the misc costs of propane, brewing salts, sanitizer, percarb, etc)

I don't have the luxury of buying in bulk grain wise and I don't really want to buy a mill. I make a lotta different types of beers so harvesting yeast doesn't make a lotta sense for me at the moment.

My total cost is usually between 1 to 2 bucks a beer.

I guess I am curious too how most folks harvest their yeast...?

 

[Golddiggie]

Batch I'm brewing next weekend includes
12# base malt, about 2.5# additional malts, 4.5oz of hops and a packet of yeast (making a starter as always).
Cost comes to a hair over $20 for the batch. That's for getting 6 gallons into keg. That breaks down to under $0.50 per pint. Even if I factor in the DME used to make the starter, it comes out to under $0.50 per pint glass of brew.

I enjoy having my mill since it allows me to crush the grain on brew day. Usually less than an hour from when the mash starts. With the savings had by buying bulk grain, I'm pretty sure I've already recovered the cost of the mill. Especially if you're paying that much per pound of base malt.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

I pay 1.2 USD for a kilo of base malt that´s with shipping included, I´ve also got it for around 1.5 USD kilo. Doesn´t cost me more than 2 USD a kilo of special grains.

 

[Hopper5000]

so you guys are buying 50lb bags?

 

[Hopper5000]

Oblivious, where do you get it for that cheap?