Homebrewing Cost analysis.

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Sea

Sea

Green Flash IPA on tap
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So I ran a VERY crude cost analysis of brewing versus buying at both the store and the bar. Let me stress that money is not why I brew, but was just curious what my time is worth. I'm sure this has been done a hundred times, here's my take:

Assumed:

-Realistically, 8 hours time over 4-5 weeks.
-My AG batches have been running around $30 (I don't buy in bulk or reuse yeast yet)
-Sixer in store, ave. $7.80 (with deposit here in OR)
-Pint at bar $3.50

5 Gal at store $69
5 Gal at bar $140

So, my time's worth $4.87/hr (store) or $13.75/hr (Bar). The bar number is a little disingenuous, since you don't really get to drink the beer you buy at the bar at home.

Conclusion:

Ask yourself the question: Would you take a job doing something you loved that only payed $4.87/hr, if you could drink all day at work?

Tough decision.......
 
I'd say the brewing is worth it. I think I produce a better product @ home then I can buy. That's not to say I don't buy any though. Thanks for doing the work for me. Have a good one
 
bigjohnmilford said:
I'd say the brewing is worth it. I think I produce a better product @ home then I can buy. That's not to say I don't buy any though.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. I love having 3 faucets on tap in my kitchen and when a keg blows, I head out to the garage and pickup another chilled & carbed keg ready to go.

My costs for 5 gallon batches range from $6.50 to $9 depending on the recipe since I buy bulk an propagate liquid yeast strains.

While I save loads of bucks on my beer, you cannot put a price on the satisfaction I get each time I pull one of my beers, bring the glass to my lips, and marvel at the fact that I created this liquid nectar of the gods. :mug:
 
I definitely don't do it for the money. Even if someone handed me the exact beer that I brew for the cost (minus my time), I would still want to do it myself. That's why it's called a hobby. Of course it's impractical. I have tons of money tied up in it already and it's not stopping anytime soon. I'm really careful when people ask me how much money I save by brewing. haha.. You end up sounding like a woman trying to justify buying 4 pairs of shoes on "sale".
 
I was kind of interested to see how much I would save at first. Which I guess by brewing your own you do. I get more satisfaction from the fact that I created it much like EdWort. :mug:
 
It's a hobby. By definition, hobbies are incredible wastes of time and money. They give us something to do and keep our minds active. You shouldn't homebrew to save money, you should do it because you honestly have no better way you'd rather spend your time.
 
Yup. Hobby. Keeps me from getting bored with the domestic life. I'm not just looking for the cheapest way to get beer. The cost, as long as it's reasonable and doesn't hurt the family budget, is essentially irrelevant.

Here's another way to look at it - would you pay $5/hr to have as much fun as this hobby provides?
 
Sea said:
Ask yourself the question: Would you take a job doing something you loved that only payed $4.87/hr, if you could drink all day at work?
Click to expand...
Don't forget, it's also a job where you can work as much or as little as you want, whenever you have the free time to do so - no schedule, no boss, no pressure. And with a small amount of added planning and effort, you can dramatically increase your "pay rate" - it's not unreasonable to think that you could quite easily cut the cost of your batches in half (bulk grain/hops and yeast reuse), and shave an hour or two off the time spent on each batch, doubling or tripling the rates you calculated.

And, I agree 100% with everything the_bird said. Saving money on beer is nothing but a great side benefit.
 
Best part about the hobby is that you don't end up with a bunch of model airplanes or stuff that'll clutter up your house. Just stuff to clutter the garage.
 
Sea said:
...-Realistically, 8 hours time over 4-5 weeks....
Click to expand...

Does that include all the time pondering your beer...dreaming of your next batch...dicking around at work with BeerSmith (et al)...researching beer types?

Does that include the time to post genious prose on HBT...like mine ;)
 
the_bird said:
Spoken like a man who needs to spend some money on kegging equipment!
Click to expand...
I hear that!

Christmas is coming soon ... I have to make my list for SWMBO!
 
And let's not to factor in the promotions we're being passed over for since we spend time on HBT instead of working.
 
If I wanted to save money I would just drink BMC, but then I would be miserable. Instead I spend the money and make my own beer, drink it from my own taps, and I am happy happy happy.

Honestly, I never tried to factor whether or not brewing my own beer was cheaper than buying commercial, it just had no impact on my decision to brew beer.
 
I think i am sitting somewhere near .23 cents per pint. While my grain is in bulk (55lb base 2 row)i do get alot of grain, and i mean ALOT, from a local Brewery for their competition. i always have some left over to brew my self 5 gallons and they are cool with that. With 4 competitions a year that 20 gallons worth of free grain lowers my cost comsiderably.

Actually what happens is I make 10 gallons each 5 slightly tweaked and give them what i think is my best example. If it makes it past the first round then i have to serve it to the public and dont get much of the 5 gallons, if it dosent make it, well, i have 10 virtually free gallons of glorious beer for myself.
 
The only time this ever had really come up for me is when I'm trying to convince the wife WHY I need this particular piece of equipment... "But dear, I need the wort chiller so I can do all-grain and only pay twenty cents a pint for that beer you love!"
 
the_bird said:
The only time this ever had really come up for me is when I'm trying to convince the wife WHY I need this particular piece of equipment... "But dear, I need the wort chiller so I can do all-grain and only pay twenty cents a pint for that beer you love!"
Click to expand...


Having been married for nearly 20 yrs. She ain't buying that one anymore. :D
(Use it wisely grasshopper)
 
Chris_Dog said:
Having been married for nearly 20 yrs. She ain't buying that one anymore. :D
(Use it wisely grasshopper)
Click to expand...
I've been married for 3.5 weeks, so that should work for me, right? :)
 
the_bird said:
The only time this ever had really come up for me is when I'm trying to convince the wife WHY I need this particular piece of equipment... "But dear, I need the wort chiller so I can do all-grain and only pay twenty cents a pint for that beer you love!"
Click to expand...

With all the shoes/bags/cosmetics mine purchases we never really have arguments about equipment purchases (unless I want to take over more space in the house, then it's a whole other story).
 
There are some really great responses in here, guys.

When I decided to start brewing, saving money was not even on my mind. I wanted to do it because I love beer - GOOD beer. The thought of being able to make my own beer that was as good or possibly even better than anything I could buy at the store fascinated me, and it still does 30+ batches later.

I later found out that I can make better beer for a bit less or about the same cost as what I would buy it for and I was thrilled. Of course that savings is almost constantly being offset by new equipment purchases (with kegging and a Sanyo conversion on the horizon), but if you're doing it just to save a few pennies then you're doing it for the wrong reason. I continue to brew because I really enjoy the process and consuming the end result.

I wash yeast and will soon be buying grain in bulk in order to get some of my costs down but it's not because I have to, it's because I want to. It's a challenge to me. I'm always looking for the next thing that can help me produce a high quality beer at the lowest ingredient cost possible .
 
I homebrew for the same reason I cook and bake -- I like making the things I eat and drink. I'm intrigued by the challenge of making something just as good as, if not better than, something I can buy at the store or a restaurant. Cost doesn't really factor into it, it's all about making something with my own two hands that I can be proud of.

And I don't factor in time either, since I consider cooking/brewing to be a hobby of mine. I'd much rather be in the kitchen making tortillas from scratch or brewing a batch of beer than sitting in front of the TV.
 
It would be kind of cool to add up ALL the money I have spent on this hobby and figure out how much each gallon of beer has cost me. But then if I did that. the wife would see it and flip out.. :D
 
I got into the hobby 'cause I like tinkering with food and recipes and thought I would like doing the same with beer. Now I like brewing more than cooking. The cost savings were a side benefit at first. Now I find the cost savings to be one of my objectives. If I can make beer as good if not better than a commercial microbrew for a fraction of the cost, then I'm obtaining my objective. I enjoy finding ways to reduce the cost and make great beer. My general house beers run me $7-10 a keg. Compare that to two cases of SNPA (my favorite commercial beer) and it would be around $50. I don't need to save money, but if it's part of the deal, I'm all over it.
 
Well I'm a cheap SOB and I do it because it is cheaper for me to make 5 dozen than to buy 1/2 dozen at $11.50 of BMC type. Don't get me wrong. I love the fact I make my own and that I do it from scratch. Plus a lot of what I make isn't available to me locally.
 
This is one of the major reason I want to step up to 10 gallon batches once I get a house. Not that I brew for the cost savings, but the time investment doesn't scale with the batch size, which makes it a lot more time effective.

-D
 
boo boo said:
Well I'm a cheap SOB and I do it because it is cheaper for me to make 5 dozen than to buy 1/2 dozen at $11.50 of BMC type. Don't get me wrong. I love the fact I make my own and that I do it from scratch. Plus a lot of what I make isn't available to me locally.
Click to expand...

I'm with you, boo boo. I hate to lay down ~ 12 bucks for 6 little ones when i can brew a whole cornie for that or less. But i can't even buy my favorite beer for any price because nobody makes it. I a nut for Pre-Prohibition style brewed just outside style at~ 7.5%. To me...The Best Beer In The World!!
Cheers......
 
Hasn't been a money saver for me, and I don't care. Besides all of the equipment and ingredients, I also try alot more commercial beers then I ever did before just to see if it's something I would like to do myself. When I'm dropping between 2-15 bucks on a single bottle, I am definately not concerned about cost savings.
 
You guys must all be doing AG. I just spent about $26.00 for 5 lbs of wheat malt extract. The yeast, hops, etc. probably bring my true cost closer to $35.00 for about 5.5 gallon batch. This is not even close to the $7-10/corny that you're quoting. And I do re-use my yeast, just not buying extract in bulk like HB_99.
Having said that, obviously I'm not doing this for the cost savings.
I guess I could justify -- each 0.5 liter bottle of Franziskaner is $2.99 around here, so I am coming out ahead vs. buying at the store.

Is $7-10/corny for really good beer, or lawnmower beer, when you're doing AG?
 
LouT said:
You guys must all be doing AG....Is $7-10/corny for really good beer, or lawnmower beer, when you're doing AG?
Click to expand...

$35, 5-gallon brews were my motivation to start AG. I wanted to brew a lot...and it was easier to "invest" in some equipment and get that down to ~$20 per batch.

I can do a 10-gallon batch of my Sierra Nevada for about $23.00 (including estimated LP cost, shipping of ingredients, etc...)
 
Spent about $150 on almost 200lbs of grain, I guess about $40 bucks on a few lbs of hops, and $35 on 5 different yeasts (cali ale, irish ale, english ale, abbey, saison and hefe) strains which I'm washing and seperating into a few 2nd generation then a few 3rd generation starter's worth.

$225 bucks for 18-22 5 gallon batches. Over 100 gallons of beer? That's badass, I'm definitely saving money.

Of course my equipment was a hefty investment, but it will last me for years and I really don't need anything else right now.
 
Ó Flannagáin said:
...Of course my equipment was a hefty investment, but it will last me for years and I really don't need anything else right now.
Click to expand...

Aaaannnnndddd....

You'll get every penny of your money back on your equipment...should you decide to take a lapse of sanity and get out of the "business".
 
Well as equipment goes, I had most of my stuff from the years of extract brewing from a can days. When I moved to AG I bought a turkey frier, a cooler, and I had the top professionally removed from a 55 litre keg at a welders place to make a keggle out of. I save enough from my budget from not buying much beer to brew more than I can consume. Win win.
 

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