Grain + Hops + yeast= ?

[LilManBrewing]

I am looking at purchasing a morebeer brew sculpture, the flat B3 to be exact. My question is how much money would I be looking at, roughly, for making a 20 gallon batch? I know this is a broad question but I been brewing the last couple years with pots on the stove so I'm kind of wondering what I'm getting myself into with a larger system. I'm hoping to buy in bulk to cut the cost. And I primary drink ales. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[helibrewer]

Roughly 4X the cost of a 5 gallon batch, you are certainly going to want to do all grain in that quantity if you are concerned about cost.

And you can always do smaller batches on the sculpture...

 

[LilManBrewing]

I initially assumed that a 10 gal batch would be twice the price of a 5 gal
batch, and a 20 gal batch would be twice the price as the 10 gal. But usually when things are purchased in larger quantities there's somewhat of a price break.
Either way...20 gallons is a A LOT of beeeerrr!!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

If you buy grain and hops in bulk and stretch out your yeast you can do 20 gallons for somewhere between $80-$100.

 

[LilManBrewing]

Wow, that's much cheaper than I anticipated! Do you think "stretching" the yeast will hurt/affect the beer? Or would i be better off going with fresh yeast?

 

[beerloaf]

It won't hurt anything as long as you take care of the yeast and store it well. This is what most if not all the bigger breweries out there do to keep costs down. Yeast can be reused for many generations, a lot of breweries are still using the same "house" strain they started with years ago.

beerloaf

 

[buffalobrewer]

you can probably come in around here:
1 bag 2 row bulk buy $35
specialty malts ~$7
bulk hops 1lb $16
big assed yeast starter $10 (first time, wash yeast for next batches)

do a search for washing yeast and it will save you some serious $'s

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Check out the link in my signature on freezing yeast.

 

[Yooper]

Since I buy in bulk even for 5 gallon batches, scaling up wouldn't save me $$$$. Even for small batches, paying $37 for a 50 pound sack of two-row, washing and reusing yeast, and buying hops by the pound save money.

50 pounds of grain- $37
1 pound of hops- $8-20 (depending on variety)
Yeast- $7 (and reuse at least 16 times)

A five gallon batch, depending on what I"m making, is between $12-$18 usually. A 20 gallon batch could be done for $80 easily.

 

[JohnTheBrewist]

^^This is what I do. However, to buy bulk grains, you're going to need a grain mill too. Also, do you have an LHBS nearby that sells bulk? If not, shipping can drastically increase the price of bulk grain.

 

[igotsand]

I do 15-20 gallon batches on my morebeer 2100...
I buy everything in bulk.....
I just brewed yesterday....
19 gallons blonde ale....
30 pounds 2 row about 25 dollars
6 pounds speciality grains about 8 dollars....
Hops...used 7 ounce of cascade about 4 dollars....
Reused yeast....free!!
This was on the low end....my Ipa's run me about 45 to 80(iipa 9.0abv)
I didn't include the other operational cost...propane, water, power, oxygen and home brewed beer being drank!!
I like my system, it works for me..
Igotsand

 

[LilManBrewing]

Thank you to everyone who replied, I will start playing with the concept of re-using my own yeast. That looks like it would save me a fair amount of money...which equals more beer!
-Maurice