Forty Bucks for five gallons of ingredients?

[lamarguy]

I don't agree..because I DON'T BUY 5 GALLON BARRELS

But, you brew 5 gallon batches.

I get your point about the end product packaging being different (bottles vs. keg), so we'll just agree to disagree about the cost comparison.

 

[cuinrearview]

I just spent $75 on a five gallon batch of extract IIPA, and loved every minute of brewing it I had a couple of co-workers over on our lay-off Friday(auto industry). We drank, smelled hops, and drank some more. I have more fun on brew/share day than on bottle opening day. The best way to beat the cost is to stop using extract, grow your own hops, wash yeast, filter your tap water, boil over an open wood fire, ferment in your basement, don't use heat to sanitize bottles, etc., etc.

This was by far my most expensive brew day. My extract hefe costs around $25 all the way up to the $75 one. The wife bought $27 worth of out-of-season blueberries over the winter to make a wheat. I've stopped brewing based on cost alone because the satisfaction I get from the hobby is worth much more than the economics. I actually like going to the local market with SWMBO now because I get so many ideas of beers I should try.

 

[pnj]

Well, I guess that's about the price I'd pay for that list of ingrediants.

I will definity check out freshhops.com or one of the other places. I live in an apt. so buying in bulk isn't going to be an option because of physical space.

Meh, it is a hobby and I don't mind spending money on things I love, so it's not a real big deal..

 

[farmbrewernw]

Yep that's probably the mindset you should have, really if your looking to save more you could go all-grain and since your in an apartment I would suggest looking at the all-grain in a bag threads. I can make my house pale ale for a little less that $20 but if I was doing extract I'm sure it would be up close to what your experiencing.

 

[sirsloop]

I'm not brewing anything special and I realize the cost of everything ('specially hops) has increased over the years but does $40.00 or so sound a bit high?

6 lbs. Pale Malt Syrup
1 lbs Organic Two-Row Pale Malt
1/2 lbs 60L Crystal Grain
1/4 lbs Dextrin Grain
2 oz. Cascade Hops
2 oz. Sterling Hops
Safale Us-05 Dry Yeast

This is from my local shop.

Lol... you think thats a lot?

Guess how much THIS (5gal) brew cost...

Amount Item Type % or IBU
16.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.17 %
1.00 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3.45 %
1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 10 days)
1.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (120 min) Hops 61.1 IBU
1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (120 min) Hops 39.9 IBU
2.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (120 min) Hops 112.8 IBU
1.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (120 min) Hops 70.5 IBU
1.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
Servomyces Yeast Nutrient (Boil 5.0min)
1.00 items Servomyces Yeast Nutrient (Primary 7.0days)
12.00 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 41.38 %
1 Pkgs Super High Gravity Ale (White Labs#WLP099) [Starter 18927 ml] Yeast-Ale
2 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale

That's not even considering the 5 gallon 1.040 starter beer I made for the WLP099 yeast...

 

[Beernip]

I can buy a case of Fat Tire for $24 at Costco. $40 - 5G vs $48-54 worth of the real Fat Tire.

 

[ruffdeezy]

$40 seems like the average i guess, but at a shop here (dan's homebrew in vancouver) this receipe seems pretty cheap. Gotta buy the yeast and honey seperate but I don't see too many kits including yeast as well.

Honey Pale Ale O.G. - 1.050 .................. $22.50
7 lb pale malt extract
1 lb or so honey
8 oz honey malt
4 oz carapils malt
1 oz Willamette: 75% boil, 25% finish
1 oz Cascade: 75% boil, 25% finish

Another thing is that we do 23 litre batches here in Canada as opposed to 19 litre batches down there.
Case in Canada = 12 beers
In BC it's about $20-23 per case (12), depending on brand, when I go to WA state, the same case is $11. That's taxes for you.
I'm heading down to that shop tomorrow to do my first extract/grain brew, these cooper's kits aren't cutting it anymore, need a bit more challenge.

 

[coyote]

Indeed, it is.

I'm guessing a high portion of the cost is tax?

 

[madcapstudios]

1. Buy a 55# bag of pale DME. Split it into 2 5-gallon buckets with tight-fitting lids for long-term storage.
2. Buy hops that you're going to use often in bulk from hopsdirect.com or freshops.com
3. Culture and save any liquid yeasts that you're going to use more than once. This works for dry, too, but doesn't save quite as much money.

This. +1

One cost saver is to give up pre-packaged kits - there's a premium charge in having the ingredients already prepared for you. Learn the recipes - there are plenty here in the forums. Just like prepared meals in the frozen food section of your grocery store vs buying ingredients and cooking a meal - the prepared stuff is more expensive per unit and you gain more control if you cook yourself.

You can make bulk purchases work out for you if you *plan* ahead. Decide on some basic styles or "families of beer" you want to make. Search the recipe forums here. You can make a pretty wide variety of beers with 2-3 styles of hops, DME and 3-5 specialty grains on hand.

When I first started, I was all over the place - trying different recipes, but eventually I settled on a handful of beers that I *like* to drink on a regular basis. That's pretty much all I brew now.

Order hop pellets by the pound and make room in your freezer. I love hopsdirect.com - good quality and they always pack a little extra in their deliveries.

Talk to your LHBS and ask what kind of bulk pricing you can get. If he isn't willing to work with you, then go online. It's important that you give him a chance though (I'm a pro-small-business-and-entrepreneurs kinda guy). I don't have a LHBS in my town anymore.

If you do purchase online, try to consolidate as many items as possible into a single order to reduce shipping costs.

Going all-grain *will* reduce your cost per unit, once you get past the equipment investment and the learning curve. I, however, am in a holding pattern and still on extract - I'm familiar with it and I like the simplicity.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I dunno. I do this hobby for enjoyment, not to save money over beer I could purchase in a store. I take a little pride over what I brew at home. There's not much pride in running down to the beer distributor to buy your brew.

 

[annasdadhockey]

There's not much pride in running down to the beer distributor to buy your brew.

Maybe if you have a real sweet ride.

 

[joety]

Beer in Canadia is too expensive.

If you are following the current budget talks, we'll be right behind Canada before long.

 

[Kronin]

well, I totally enjoy doing the home brew, but it totally is also about money for me...
after I got laid-off I could not afford to buy a 12 pack of beer for $23 every 4 - 6 days...

I have the equipment for fermenting etc from years ago so it was a simple (and necessary) decision to go buy a kit for $25 and make myself 5 or 6 12packs...

 

[Helter]

Product Details for Briess Malt Syrup, Light 33 lb

That should save some on your recipe cost... I pay $15 per 3.3 pounds at my LHBS, which works out to about $5 per pound. Bulk buying works out to just over $2 per pound.

 

[Dadums]

I am pretty new to this and have been wondering about reducing the price of my extract brewing. I was wondering on how you store the big buckets of LME. It seems that by using these you only pay about $8 for 3.3#. Thats about $5 less than a can. Once opened can you keep this @ room temp or does it need to be refridgerated? I know that it is a large amount of LME but if you have a favorite recipe that you want to keep on hand at all times it would be worth it.

 

[pnj]

So I just got back from the brew store. Another 40 bucks or so..

I can save some money by bringing in my own container and having them fill it w/ LME.

I'll have to place an order for a pound of hops one of these days.