Homebrewing as a way to save money

[dyqik]

If you ever want to feel really good about cost savings relative to buying beer, pick up some more free/cheap carboys and use them for sour beers. More Beer's Tart of Darkness kit comes in at $25+$6-8 for the yeast, and makes 30 750ml bottles that sell for $23 each around here. Even if you only get something half as good, you're way way ahead

 

[troglodytes]

For me and my friends, we have gotten to the point where we value quality over quantity when it comes to beer. So instead of cases of PBR, we tend to go out and get a couple six packs of something in the $10-$12 price range. cost comes out the same, we consume fewer calories and enjoy it more.

With that drinking mentality, for us homebrewing in itself has saved money over the years. I have no capacity for bulk grain yet, but I do buy bulk hops and yeast ranch. Each 5 gallon batch cost about $40 all said and done, and produces the equivalent of about 7 six packs. That's a $30 savings over the course of about a month and half, plus the alternative to a brew night with the guys would be going out to the local tap room, so we're saving money there as well.

We also have a group of 5 of us who brew regularly so we make our own AG setups and split some costs among us. I think with igloo mash tun, immersion chiller, extra carboys, fermentation chamber, stir plate, etc. I've probably spent about $200 over the past two years. That comes out to be about $12 per batch thus far with that number decreasing each time I brew.

At the end of the day, I would still homebrew even if it were more expensive because I love it. The fact that you can produce high quality craft beer for about 40% off the local package store price is a perk.

 

[broadbill]

If you ever want to feel really good about cost savings relative to buying beer, pick up some more free/cheap carboys and use them for sour beers. More Beer's Tart of Darkness kit comes in at $25+$6-8 for the yeast, and makes 30 750ml bottles that sell for $23 each around here. Even if you only get something half as good, you're way way ahead

and if you ever want to get depressed about your how much you lose brewing beer, then account for your labor to produce said batch of beer (even if you value your time as minimum wage,this adds at least $50-60 right there!), as well as any equipment depreciation, carrying/stocking costs, opportunity costs associated with the process.

After all, commercial breweries need to account for this and that is this is part of the cost they pass onto you as a consumer. I think is only fair that do same accounting if want to go down the road of an "apples to apples" comparison, right?.

Or, you can pass it off as a hobby and continue to delude yourself that you are saving money by doing this

 

[kaconga]

and if you ever want to get depressed about your how much you lose brewing beer, then account for your labor to produce said batch of beer (even if you value your time as minimum wage,this adds at least $50-60 right there!), as well as any equipment depreciation, carrying/stocking costs, opportunity costs associated with the process.

After all, commercial breweries need to account for this and that is this is part of the cost they pass onto you as a consumer. I think is only fair that do same accounting if want to go down the road of an "apples to apples" comparison, right?.

Or, you can pass it off as a hobby and continue to delude yourself that you are saving money by doing this

Sleeping is the most costly thing I do then! 8 hours of minimum wage time for nothing (sarcasm).

I really don't understand why people think adding the time makes it an apples to apples comparison. That is over complicating a very simple equation. If I SPEND x dollars per bottle on homebrew and it is less then what I SPEND on a commercial bottle of the same quality then I have saved the money as difference. It is the same as cooking your own food. If you factor in the cost of electricity and the stove and your time then it is cheaper to go out to a restaurant every night. However we don't factor in our time with other activities, like cooking, so why should we with brewing.

In the end there are very few people who are wasting time they could be working on brewing. Some people do have the ability to continuously make money with their time but I am not one of them. So I choose to spend my free time making useful things so that I can spend less money. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Homebrewing as a way to save money is like getting married as a way to always have sex.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Homebrewing as a way to save money is like getting married as a way to always have sex.

Epic. Pretty much sums it up.

 

[Minbari]

Homebrewing as a way to save money is like getting married as a way to always have sex.

pretty much where I was going too. for the setup costs of a brew station and ingredient costs of a batch. I could buy good beer by the case for years.

its a hobby, not about saving money.

 

[evrose]

Homebrewing as a way to save money is like getting married as a way to always have sex.

Well actually... research has consistently shown that married people have more sex than singles.

 

[kaconga]

I think there is a line in the sand here between those who have dropped some serious cash into the hobby and those who haven't. If you are spending three to four thousand on your brewing set up then you definitely won't recoup those costs any time soon. But for those who have spent maybe five hundred on their equipment the possibility to recoup your costs is definitely an option. If you save 20 dollars each month (a typical batch) then you can recoup your 500 in just over two years. But it will take eight or more years to see you come out ahead on that 4,000 dollar basement brewery you built. Sadly, there is a lot of judgement coming from those who want to justify their expenses by saying you CAN'T save money by brewing your own.

 

[troglodytes]

and if you ever want to get depressed about your how much you lose brewing beer, then account for your labor to produce said batch of beer (even if you value your time as minimum wage,this adds at least $50-60 right there!), as well as any equipment depreciation, carrying/stocking costs, opportunity costs associated with the process.

Technically, if we are going to calculate time expenditure, then the equation would be time spent home brewing - time spent standing in the beer aisle deciding on what I want to get. I think the time differential for me would be just about even

 

[captianoats]

The best way to save money on beer is to drink less beer.

However telling SWMBO that homebrewing saves money, there's nothing with that.


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[Hamaki]

I've had a few hobbies, some of which had a remote chance to be argued that they saved more money than they cost. I've never caught and kept enough fish to be able to say that my costs were completely covered by what I saved at the grocer. I never produced the volume in my home darkroom to be able to say that I'd saved money over what I would've spent on photo processing (dating myself a bit on that one).

I think that a better argument can be made for homebrewing, however. Looking at costs of ingredients and other supplies, energy cost, equipment cost, travel costs to purchase equipment and supplies, factoring in losses due to the occasional bad batch, etc., I can compare to what equal volumes of comparable style and quality would cost if store bought. I do not apply a dollar value to my time because I would not be earning money by doing something else nor am I spending money for others to do something for me so that I have time to brew. Call me deluded, but running those numbers I am money ahead homebrewing vs buying the same volume of similar products.

Before I took up brewing I never used to buy as much beer compared to the rate at which I now brew. Also, I have not stopped buying commercial product, so am I really saving money vs before the hobby? No. But this hobby is no more of a money pit than others I've had and probably much less so.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I have $5grand in welding and cutting power supply's. That doesn't count the other various fabrication tools that add up to thousands and thousands. All that stuff is another hobby for me... Kinda makes my $7k or whatever I spent on brewing look cheap. At the end of the day I don't think you should be figuring out how a hobby saves you $$$. It doesn't need to and probably shouldn't. If you can't afford to do something then don't do it. If you need to use the $$ argument with your significant other then clearly they don't respect your interests and that is a whole different issue to tackle.

Hobbies should be fun. They should tickle your brain and occupy your free time in a productive way while being something to do or accomplish outside of work.

 

[kaconga]

I have $5grand in welding and cutting power supply's. That doesn't count the other various fabrication tools that add up to thousands and thousands. All that stuff is another hobby for me... Kinda makes my $7k or whatever I spent on brewing look cheap. At the end of the day I don't think you should be figuring out how a hobby saves you $$$. It doesn't need to and probably shouldn't. If you can't afford to do something then don't do it. If you need to use the $$ argument with your significant other then clearly they don't respect your interests and that is a whole different issue to tackle.

Hobbies should be fun. They should tickle your brain and occupy your free time in a productive way while being something to do or accomplish outside of work.

But for some people the challenge of brewing is to find a way to save the most money. I do well enough to spend a couple grand on brewing every year if I wanted to. However that is not where my joy in brewing lies. For me the ultimate goal is delicious cheap brews that I enjoy. I try to keep all my beers under a buck a bottle not out of necessity but because I feel that it enhances my enjoyment of the hobby. Some people have made saving money into a hobby all its own.

 

[kmckiou]

... So I choose to spend my free time making useful things so that I can spend less money. After all, a penny saved is a penny earned.

Well, actually it is quite a bit better than that. I expect after you consider all the earnings-oriented taxes, that most people are in the 25 - 40% tax marginal tax bracket . Taking a 33% average, a penny saved is really about 1.5 pennies earned. That is, you have to earn 1.5 pennies to actually have 1 penny to spend after taxes.

So, your savings are actually amplified by taxes. I'll have to remember that the next time I have a conversation with my wife justifying that new fermentor... or whatever I "need".

 

[MrMeans]

I made the OP but never got to follow up with anything on here. I already have the equipment so those costs are already gone along with my sanity. Kids will destroy you.

The whole point of this was to see if anyone pays attention to the cost of what they produce vs the cost of what they could buy. I am not putting my family into the poor house because of my drinking problem...err hobby. We do just fine but being the sole earner of the family if I can save a few bucks by doing it myself, then I do it myself. I am not making beers that are 8 lbs of 2 row and an ounce of hops and calling it done. I value quality above all other factors.

It comes down to I spend between $17 and $22 dollars per batch of beer. I would add an extra 10% on for when I need something additional such as star san or minerals to add. These are items that I have to purchase every few batches. My costs per pint run between $0.40 and $0.60. I just saw High Life on sale for $7 for a 12 pack. Even at that price I am still saving money by making it on my own.

And stop with this accounting for my time bull ****. If that was how it worked I would bill my wife for talking too much, my kids for making me wipe their asses, and people in front of me on the freeway. I view my time as being able to do something that I enjoy doing and being left alone to indulge in my nerdy little passions for 5 hours once a month. My wife have shark week every month, and I get a brew day. I still get the short end of the stick but I at least get something.

 

[Jsamp]

And stop with this accounting for my time bull ****. If that was how it worked I would bill my wife for talking too much, my kids for making me wipe their asses, and people in front of me on the freeway. I view my time as being able to do something that I enjoy doing and being left alone to indulge in my nerdy little passions for 5 hours once a month. My wife have shark week every month, and I get a brew day. I still get the short end of the stick but I at least get something.

That sir is funny. I literally lol'd and got a what's so funny. Nothing hunny haha.

 

[mikescooling]

Your doing group buys with a brew club? That is where you save big bucks. Then when I stopped using LP, that dropped $15 off the total cost each brew day.

 

[broadbill]

And stop with this accounting for my time bull ****. If that was how it worked I would bill my wife for talking too much, my kids for making me wipe their asses, and people in front of me on the freeway.

This is exactly how it works, you just choose to ignore it because you consider brewing a hobby. I do the same thing, and that is OK.

What I'm arguing is that we should all have an appreciation of the value of our time and other intangibles. After all, time is limited and we have to fit everything in, even with brewing. I also think it changes the dynamics of some of the decisions we think are easy.

Example: The hops shack is selling Simcoe 1 oz bag for 2.00. Or, you can buy one pound for 19 bucks or 1.18 per oz. Easy decision right?....buy the pound and save $0.82 /oz....then brag to your internet buddies about how cheap you make your beer

Well, there is some hidden costs on that 1 lb bag: you need to get split up that bag into usable portions (added time to do that, added expense for packaging material), it takes up space in your freezer (there is a cost there, and its not only having to listen to your spouse complain about all the crap in the fridge), but most importantly it may limit you on what beers you can/want to make (wow, I'd really love to make this IPA will CTZ, but I'm already "invested" into Simcoe and have a crap-ton of it in my fridge...I guess I'll just use that).

So given all that, is it really worth it to save $0.82/oz or a couple of bucks a batch? Maybe, maybe not. As a brewer who likes making different beers styles all the time, I can tell you it's probably not (and I have the 3 year old stocks of magnum, centennial and perle in my freezer to prove it).

 

[beernutz]

Meh...so many threads over the years on "costs" and time, etc.

The wife and I work and make a pretty decent income. We have no credit card debt, a decent savings, stock, etc. We are not upper income people but have some wiggle room. We don't really set a budget so brewing for me is the hobby in itself. I like brewing. The amazing side effect is drinkable beer. But 4-5 hours of me brewing is like meditation. I don't breakdown the costs/value. I love this hobby, I don't go overboard with spending on it. No one complains.

The wife and I love craft beer. She really likes some expensive beer, so I look at it from a different perspective. The total costs of my batch is usually less than any trip to the store we make.

Well said. While I may have started brewing over 20 years ago in grad school both to save money and as a release from the grind I have evolved to where I consider brewing a hobby which has the fortunate benefit of producing a tasty byproduct.

I buy bulk but don't reuse yeast any more and can still produce good beer pretty cheaply but I'll never amortize all my accumulated equipment costs (e.g. Keezer, kegs, brew structure, fermentation freezer, various vessels, pumps, and many other goodies) unless I start brewing every week or brew another 20 years. And I could not care less because brewing is a hobby and will always be just one of many hobbies I fritter away my discretionary income on.

 

[fartinmartin]

It's life, there is always the them and us divide, all my hobbies have been done on the lowest budgets, there has always been something else that the cash should be spent on, all my hobby spends have had to be justified in my own head and then after I have bought the goods I feel guilty, that's life . Now at near 60 things are a bit easier , but the principle remains, I seldom make a purchase without feeling the guilt. But the beer is great , and the guilt , well get used to it. In the them and us debate it's something "they" will never have, "they" will never afford it! Now that's rich !

 

[jsun]

I had some time to kill today and did a little cost analysis. The upfront cost of all my equipment I could think of is about $170. I do partial mashes, so my cost of grain + extract is a little higher, but my equipment cost is probably lower than all-grain. I am considering this a one-time cost as if nothing will ever need to be replaced or upgraded, which we know isn't actually true.

The cost of a 5 gallon batch of my pale ale recipe came out to around $25 (I included the cost of bottle caps and priming sugar but not water and energy). I assumed 4.5 gallons, or 48 bottles, would actually packaged, so the cost of each 12 oz bottle of beer is 52 cents. A 24-pack of Sierra Nevada, a solid pale ale, is $24 at my Costco, so $1 per bottle.

Accounting for the cost of equipment, I would begin to save money with the 8th batch, which isn't too terribly high of a number in the grand scheme of things. Savings would be achieved with the 5th batch if I use the $8 price for a 6-pack instead of the Costco price.

But pale ale recipes are pretty simple, and I doubt many of us would exclusively brew the same pale ale over and over again. I imagine other recipes can get pricier pretty quickly, but I haven't done those calculations. Higher gravity, more hops, more expensive hop varieties, starters, adjuncts, specialty ingredients, etc. can add up pretty quickly. Due to economies of scale, I would think that a homebrewer's savings wouldn't be as great for the more complex, expensive beers. Buying 6-packs of different commercial beers also offers more variety.

I don't really know the point I'm trying to make and I have no idea why I wasted so much time doing this :-/ procrastination is fun! I guess my point is that you'll probably save money eventually, but brewing 5+ batches is a pretty big commitment if the primary goal is to save money. Brew because you like it, and the cheaper beer is icing on the cake!

 

[Jsamp]

The wife and I love craft beer. She really likes some expensive beer, so I look at it from a different perspective. The total costs of my batch is usually less than any trip to the store we make.

This is what got me into looking at home brewing. One day I googled how to make beer after buying a $10 4 pack of imperial chocolate stout. Fast forward years later the same beer or close to can be made for less than a $1 a bottle. I didn't really start doing it to save money but it did intrigue me that it was possible. Personally I've broke even a while ago on equipment. Of course I'm not so loaded that I have a diamond and platinum 3 tier brewstand with a self automatic brewbot and the ability to build a separate house in my backyard I call my brew castle. I guess those folks have a lot of brewing to catch up costs lol.

 

[magpiebrew]

My wife have shark week every month, and I get a brew day. I still get the short end of the stick but I at least get something.

Geez, grow some balls and brew more if you want to. Besides, brewing is way more fun than "shark week". Although who am I to say, just brewed yesterday and I'm on the rag. Guess I got the whole stick...

 

[chainlife]

I think one thing you can't really put a price on is home brewing allows you to brew beers you wouldn't be able to get otherwise. If I bottle 5 gals of Zombie Dust, it costs about $30 in material (bulk grain/hops, yeast farming, etc.) I figure I spend about 3 hours of real work per batch grain to bottle, as I usually work on something else while I brew, to buy 5 gals, we're looking at $100+ so if I'm paying myself, I make 23.33/hr, so I think it's worth it.


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[JustLooking]

I figure I spend about 3 hours of real work per batch grain to bottle, as I usually work on something else while I brew

So, when your surfing HBT while at work your boss doesn't have to pay you? :cross:

 

[RmikeVT]

I look at it like this: I have a somewhat expensive hobby just like anyone else who has a hobby (golf, cars, boats, sporting events etc), but my hobby has the added benefit of producing great beer at a fraction of the cost as retail micros.

 

[Peruvian802]

Oh and don't forget that equipment still has resale value so reduce that when trying to determine your "net" costs.

My Denny/Don Osbourne cooler MLT can go back to being a regular cooler by pulling out one tube, any DIY project probably has more resale value than the parts I put into it, and much of my equipment was given to me.

I know I'm ahead of the game on cost to brew vs retail purchase of beer.

 

[rekoob]

Okay, nothing I can say that hasn't been said already.
Might be saving some by homebrewing if we are only talking beer to beer or glass to glass between a homebrewed beer and store beer.
Account for all the money spent on equipment alone and it would be cheaper to just buy beer. But not near as fun.

 

[Jsamp]

Account for all the money spent on equipment alone and it would be cheaper to just buy beer.

I'm going to disagree with you here. Though I'm sure it depends on what equipment people have. I dont have all the fancy bling a lot of folks here have and I havent made it to kegging yet. I've probably got around $400 invested into fermentation chamber, burner, brewpot, wort chiller, mash tun, buckets, etc,etc. For a 5ish% ABV I can brew with my setup for ~$0.50/bottle. I got 50 beers last batch. I've been buying Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 12 packs recently at Kroger for $15. Four 12 packs would be $60. I brewed and equal amount last batch for half that. So $30 savings x 10 batches = $300. I've brewed well over 10 batches and have easily broke even on my equipment. Brewing good beer is of course my primary objective but costs do play an important part of my decision making. At the moment I'm quite content with the equipment I have.