Homebrewing on on the cheap?

[Lambo3]

There is a lot of good advice here. I'll pitch in my bit. I've thought about this a lot as I look at the 100s (maybe thousands by now) that I've spent.

There are two costs - gear, and ingredients.

Go all grain.
Grain, you pay what you need to... try to find a place that sells bulk 50# sacks. There is a malt factory in Great Falls, MT (I'm near Kalispell, MT), and my local homebrew supply store has gotten on thier delivery chain. When they get stocked I can get a bag for $38. Call around to all the places near by, one of them must have bulk grain. Consider your gas to go get it, team up with other brewers and maybe by 200-300# at a time if you need to.

Specialty grains often end up being a wash either online or in the LHBS. 10lbs at a time is sometimes cheaper.

Hops - again, buy bulk as well, it is way cheaper. 1 oz at a time is borderline robbery. The LHBS seems to again be a wash here when you figure in shipping. If you can buy a LOT of online with flat shipping sometimes it beats the LHBS, but remember who always has supplies for you locally - they need the business.

Yeast - start washing it. It isn't that hard, and will save you 3-5 bucks a batch. It'll also gives you a great yeast count to start with. It is the way to go, dive in and do it. Again, it's really not that hard.

Gear - If you want to keep it cheaper, consider being okay with smaller batch brewing. The cost (and complication) goes up exponentially the larger you go. At some point I figured I needed to do at least 10g batches - which is great and all, but it makes brew day longer, more expensive, and more complicated.

If you brew 2.5-3 gallon batches, you can probably do it all on your stove top with a much cheaper 5 gallon kettle, and a smaller cooler MT (or BIAB). 5-6 gallon batches are still kinda small, but tends to require a larger kettle, and also a separate more powerful burner that you probably have to use outside.

Chilling is also easier for small batch, as you can chill in the sink with an ice bath, or a simple immersion coil chiller if you want to invest in that. No need for a CFC or plate chiller and such.

In small batch you don't need a pump.

Keep it simple - herms and rims is neat and all that, but you don't need it to make great beer. Most of the pro's I know still make beer the old fashioned way with a big insulated mash tun and a single infusion.

I'm already geared up for bigger batch brewing, but if I knew what I know now, I might have been a little less zealous about gear, and focused more on the beer.

 

[stlblues5010]

Try looking at www.GWKent.com for bulk supplies.

 

[Thorsbrew]

I've got to disagree with this. For grain, my LHBS is about 10% less than More Beer and 25-30% less than Northern Brewer the closest other HBS. There's one local HBS that has really high prices and I figure the only people that go there are the ones that don't compare prices, or maybe they just don't care. (see below)
If you buy 10 lb bags you can save even more and not have too many storage issues. More Beer is cheaper if you buy whole sacks. But when you buy bulk, you need a scale and a mill to weigh and crush, so you have more money wrapped up in equipment.
If you brew a lot of the same beer, buying in volume can save a lot of money. I brew something different every time, so I just buy what I need.
My big savings comes from buying hops on line in either 1/4 LB or 1 Lb amounts. I'll re-use yeast and have a yeast bank in jars. I've re-used yeast that I've stored for a year or more. Since I have so much beer and yeast and hops in storage, I needed another refrigerator and the electricity to run it so that's more money spent. Am I really saving anything? Probably not. But......
The beer I make would cost $9 to $15 or more a six pack or more if I were to buy it. ( I brew a lot of clones) so If you figure 50 beers for a five gallon batch, it would cost me $80-$120, plus tax, to buy a similar beer. So I don't really care about buying quality ingredients for my beer.
Bottom line, it pays to shop around and know what everyone else charges, but homebrewing is supposed to be a fun hobby and so spending a little extra isn't a big deal.

Only 10% less than morebeer? Wow much bigger difference for me.

For me i have 55lb sacks of 2-row for $40 and 50lb sacks of pilsner for $40 (avangard, briess is little more at 41.50/50lb but avangard is just fine). Morebeer is $38+15 shipping northernbrewer is $35+$30 shipping making them 37% and 78% more expensive respectively for 2-row. Online is very expensive with shipping for grains.

 

[CavA3R4]

I used to buy bulk when I lived in MN and had a basement.
HOuses in Phoenix have no basements and no storage area.

 

[swampbrewcrew]

I bought extract kits my first year and went back in my notes and found the two I rated the highest. Converted it into all grain and bought those ingredients in bulk. This served a dual purpose, it drove the brewing costs down, and I was learning all grain using the same two recipes over and over for awhile. I was able to iron out my process until I consistently hit my numbers. Knowing your equipment is much more important than expensive gear.

 

[55x11]

There is a lot of good advice here. I'll pitch in my bit. I've thought about this a lot as I look at the 100s (maybe thousands by now) that I've spent.

There are two costs - gear, and ingredients.

Go all grain.
Grain, you pay what you need to... try to find a place that sells bulk 50# sacks. There is a malt factory in Great Falls, MT (I'm near Kalispell, MT), and my local homebrew supply store has gotten on thier delivery chain. When they get stocked I can get a bag for $38. Call around to all the places near by, one of them must have bulk grain. Consider your gas to go get it, team up with other brewers and maybe by 200-300# at a time if you need to.

Specialty grains often end up being a wash either online or in the LHBS. 10lbs at a time is sometimes cheaper.

Hops - again, buy bulk as well, it is way cheaper. 1 oz at a time is borderline robbery. The LHBS seems to again be a wash here when you figure in shipping. If you can buy a LOT of online with flat shipping sometimes it beats the LHBS, but remember who always has supplies for you locally - they need the business.

Yeast - start washing it. It isn't that hard, and will save you 3-5 bucks a batch. It'll also gives you a great yeast count to start with. It is the way to go, dive in and do it. Again, it's really not that hard.

Gear - If you want to keep it cheaper, consider being okay with smaller batch brewing. The cost (and complication) goes up exponentially the larger you go. At some point I figured I needed to do at least 10g batches - which is great and all, but it makes brew day longer, more expensive, and more complicated.

If you brew 2.5-3 gallon batches, you can probably do it all on your stove top with a much cheaper 5 gallon kettle, and a smaller cooler MT (or BIAB). 5-6 gallon batches are still kinda small, but tends to require a larger kettle, and also a separate more powerful burner that you probably have to use outside.

Chilling is also easier for small batch, as you can chill in the sink with an ice bath, or a simple immersion coil chiller if you want to invest in that. No need for a CFC or plate chiller and such.

In small batch you don't need a pump.

Keep it simple - herms and rims is neat and all that, but you don't need it to make great beer. Most of the pro's I know still make beer the old fashioned way with a big insulated mash tun and a single infusion.

I'm already geared up for bigger batch brewing, but if I knew what I know now, I might have been a little less zealous about gear, and focused more on the beer.

All great advice. By going all-grain, buying hops in bulk and reusing/harvesting yeast, many of my beers are $20 per 5G batch in ingredients, or even less. Hoppy beers and high ABV beers are usually more, due to higher cost of hops or malt. But a regular 5-6% Amber or Red Ale, or brown ale, saison etc. could be under $20 for 5-6G batch, which is less than 40 cents per pint.

Having said all that, and after thinking about how much less expensive homebrewing is (in ingredients) compared to buying beer at the store or at the bar, the biggest hidden cost is obviously time spent brewing/planning the brew day (recipe formulation, setup, buying ingredients etc), and also cleanup.

I now almost exclusively brew 10G batches instead of 5G, which cuts down a bit (it takes almost the same time to brew 10G as it does for 5G) - also allows me to split batches 2-4 ways and experiment with different additions, hops, yeasts etc., and I sometimes mash in late at night, go to bed and resume brewing in the morning - with electric heater pre-heating strike water while I sleep, so when I get up it's all ready to go. This saves me another hour or slightly more. Still, it takes 3-4 hours for my typical brewday.

Considering the time and effort invested, I am lately rethinking my strategy - for example, perhaps I should buy fresh hops and pay $2 or $2.50 or whatever per ounce, rather than use my year old (refrigerated and vacuum sealed of course) pack of bulk-purchased 1lb of hops which amounted to $1 per ounce, assuming I will finish it at some point before they go bad.

Similarly, I still re-use yeast, but I begin to think that saving $6.99 or whatever and risking some off-flavors due to poor yeast health in a beer that I only get to brew once every couple of weeks or so, may not be wise. I always do the starter, but still.

Malt is cheap, but again one can look for more fancy varieties, like Simpsons Golden Naked, or replacing your US 2-row in your malty beers with Maris Otter, and making saisons with Belgian Pilsner instead of US 2-row. This may almost double the malt price (I pay $1 per lb at my LHBS for US 2-row, and $0.80 if I buy it in bulk - 50lb bag for $40, while Maris Otter is $1.95 per lb), but it's a small price to pay for having an exceptionally tasty beer instead of just an average dull one.

I do water chemistry tweaks for all my beers now - starting with RO water (cost me $3.75 for 15G of RO water for 10-12G batches I usually brew nowadays, plus salts, could be another $1-2 per batch, plus my time of filling jugs with RO water at Glacier ), but I believe it's worth every cent. And let's not forget equipment which is a one-time expense (I had to chuckle while typing this - that's we tell our SHMBO's) but it all adds up as a hidden built-in cost of every batch. I like to keep things fairly simple but still, by brewing/kegging/serving setup has probably $2-3K of capital investment in it.
Over say 100 x 10G batches (equivalent to 200 5G batches), that's "only" $10-$15 per batch, but it still adds up. I suspect most people will never get to brew 200 batches (1,000 gallons) on their equipment - they will either never get there in the first place, or will switch to conicals and some other "upgrades" well before reaching this target.

Once you get to that level, saving a few bucks on a recipe while cutting corners is a bit like renovating your kitchen to make it into a chef's paradise, only to use it to microwave raman noodles, becase of desire to save costs per meal.

Having said all that, brewing can be (and is) a very, very inexpensive hobby.

In cooking a dinner, ingredients can be easily $5-10 per meal. In making mead, the ingredients are probably 4-5 times that of beer. (?)

 

[CavA3R4]

I buy from my local home brew store probably 8 months out of the year in PHX.
I'll buy two or 3 batches worth from Northern Brewer in MN or Windriver in WI. as they have some stuff that I really like and it's reasonably priced.

 

[Bruinsfan]

I've been using HOMEBREWING.ORG, they offer a selection of seasonals on a rotating basis that are free shipping for the extract kits or 20% off on All Grain

 

[Jim311]

I just bought some bulk hops and it's dirt cheap by comparison to the local shop. I still get my grains, yeast, and other stuff from the local brew shop but man their prices on hops are high. I literally just bought 2 pounds of Warrior hops for 10 dollars from Yakima Valley Hops. Granted they're 2013 crop but they smell and taste great still. I forsee me buying from that company a whole lot in the future.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

Equipment cost aside, my daily beer intake cost less then my daily coffe intake. All, told including propane, chemicals, and water treatment, I'm at 45 to 70 cents a pint with hop levels/types or premium British malts (MO, GP) driving the high end of the range.

I do buy grain and hops in bulk and repitch yeast but If I ever get motivate, I know I can save $5 per 10 gallons on propane, another $5 on DI water, and maybe another $5 shopping the sales. I'll do this after I start making my coffee at home instead stopping at Starbucks on the way to work

 

[jtratcliff]

Only 10% less than morebeer? Wow much bigger difference for me.

For me i have 55lb sacks of 2-row for $40 and 50lb sacks of pilsner for $40 (avangard, briess is little more at 41.50/50lb but avangard is just fine). Morebeer is $38+15 shipping northernbrewer is $35+$30 shipping making them 37% and 78% more expensive respectively for 2-row. Online is very expensive with shipping for grains.

My LHBS is more expensive than Morebeer for bulk 2-row.



50 lb bulk sack from Morebeer shipped to me is $38 + $15.50 shipping = 53.50 for 50lb ($1.07/lb) ... My LHBS charges over $60 for a 50lb sack!

It's completely insane.

I get a slightly better price by buying the 10lb bags which are eligible for free shipping on a $59 order.

e.g. 6 x 10lbs = $63.54 shipped ($1.06/lb)

By the time I've added 2-3 10lb bags of 2 row, some 5lb bags Vienna and Munich, a few lbs of different crystal or roast malts, and maybe some bottle caps or yeast, I've easily hit the free ship limit without having to get 60lbs of 2-row, so I'm still only paying $1.06/lb for my 20-30lb.

And it's delivered my door...

 

[Lambo3]

My LHBS is more expensive than Morebeer for bulk 2-row.

That's a shame.... some local stores don't get it. The local store here is happy to see folks come in and partake in the hobby. They more or less sell the bulk grain for what they pay to get it in stock. Invariably, I spend another 10-20 bucks every time I go in. Some folks simply aren't good business people.

 

[purplerat]

One suggestion I've yet to see is to grow your own hops. It takes a little bit of extra effort, some patience, and space depending on how much you want to grow but it's worth it if you're trying to save money.

I've planted a few rhizomes over the last couple of years and had mixed success (mostly due to mistakes on my part) but 1 plant really took off and produced around 2lbs of dried hops. Considering that a single rhizome cost about as much as couple of 1oz packs of pellets and a healthy planet can produce year after year that's a huge saving. Just the one plant that has really done well for me has already more than paid for itself and the others (which I hope catch up this year) such that it's now just free hops.

 

[Thorsbrew]

One suggestion I've yet to see is to grow your own hops. It takes a little bit of extra effort, some patience, and space depending on how much you want to grow but it's worth it if you're trying to save money.

I've planted a few rhizomes over the last couple of years and had mixed success (mostly due to mistakes on my part) but 1 plant really took off and produced around 2lbs of dried hops. Considering that a single rhizome cost about as much as couple of 1oz packs of pellets and a healthy planet can produce year after year that's a huge saving. Just the one plant that has really done well for me has already more than paid for itself and the others (which I hope catch up this year) such that it's now just free hops.

It's not the cost of the rhizomes its all the other costs, and mostly, time and effort. I havent looked that much into whats involved but i read one thread on here where he planted 4 plants, fixed up the whole 2x4 structure and lattice of stringing and after all was said and done he had like 5-6lbs of hops after a year.

You have to water these every day right? And idk what else.

Frankly that seems like WAY more effort than its worth for what $80 in hops?

 

[stz]

I used to bulk buy online when I saw a good deal, but eventually switched to buying direct from local breweries. As long as you weren't a nuisance, wanting to open all the bags, take small amounts of everything etc they were pretty easy going about it though sometimes I'd just ask for a 25kg bag of pale malt, wheat malt or dextrine and pick up smaller quantities of lesser used speciality grains online because no way are they weighing out 50g of roasted barley for me unless they are using it that day or parting with more than 50-60g of hops when their recipe calls for 5kg and they come in 5kg bags.

I work in a brewery now so get whatever I need from work, even with that benefit I stick to weighing out my stuff when I have it open already for work purposes and not opening fresh bags of hops to take out stupid amounts (they are hard to reseal without some space to fold down) to avoid the other brewers ensuring I have an 'accident' for making the job harder for the next man or even being perceived as contributing to anything other than excellent beer.

FYI anecdotally what would typically be a very good online price for home brewers are in the region of a 400% mark up compared to trade.

Also you'd think it'd be really easy to just stock up for personal use, but in reality you order enough malt to cover just a couple of weeks on the schedule and you adjust recipes to use as many whole bags or proportional fractions of bags as possible to avoid having to open and reseal lots of pointless bags of malt on an already hectic brew day.

 

[purplerat]

It's not the cost of the rhizomes its all the other costs, and mostly, time and effort. I havent looked that much into whats involved but i read one thread on here where he planted 4 plants, fixed up the whole 2x4 structure and lattice of stringing and after all was said and done he had like 5-6lbs of hops after a year.

You have to water these every day right? And idk what else.

Frankly that seems like WAY more effort than its worth for what $80 in hops?

Maybe I just got lucky, but it wasn't all that much effort for me. I suspect growing hops is much like everything else in brewing where it can be - relatively speaking - as easy or as complex as one wants it to be. The only part that was really time-consuming was harvesting them, but I'm not about to complain about an afternoon sitting in the sun picking flowers while drinking a homebrew.

 

[Thorsbrew]

Maybe I just got lucky, but it wasn't all that much effort for me. I suspect growing hops is much like everything else in brewing where it can be - relatively speaking - as easy or as complex as one wants it to be. The only part that was really time-consuming was harvesting them, but I'm not about to complain about an afternoon sitting in the sun picking flowers while drinking a homebrew.

You just planted then harvested? There was no daily watering or other forms of maintenance?

If you can get away with that then perhaps its worth it.

 

[InTheBasement]

Kind of funny. Six pages of comments on this and the OP has not checked in since 2/4/17, on page 1. I think he can be considered to have checked out.

 

[Steveruch]

You just planted then harvested? There was no daily watering or other forms of maintenance?

If you can get away with that then perhaps its worth it.

I get by with not much effort on my hops. I do a slow deep watering once or twice a week and occasionally add plant food and do weeding. Hops are weeds after all (useful weeds but weeds none the less) and managed to survive for a long time without any input from humans.

 

[TripleC223]

Kind of funny. Six pages of comments on this and the OP has not checked in since 2/4/17, on page 1. I think he can be considered to have checked out.

Haha I'm still here. Have been reading as the comments come in. I asked a simple question but didn't expect this much of a response. My rookie status prevents me from giving much input here...just trying to be a sponge instead.

The big takeaway seems to be that extract brewing is the most expensive way to do things. Buying kits seems even more wasteful.

Please...continue with the tips.

 

[beernutz]

For me, reusing yeast and buying hops in bulk as opposed to in 1 or 2 oz bags are the best ways I keep costs low. I vacuum seal then freeze hops after using what I need and I try to get at least two brews out of each yeast package.

I don't know your brewing setup but if you are married and brew on the kitchen stove you would do well to try and move the operation outdoors. That was my experience at least as a boilover or spill or two can put a strain on a relationship.

I also buy pale or pilsner malts in 50 or 55 lb bags and grind my grain which lowers the cost per lb somewhat compared to buying 10 lb bags but you need pest resistant containers and a mill.

Like others have said, if you are looking for equipment periodically check craigslist for used stuff but don't overpay as some people have a very inflated idea of what their used gear is worth imo. You can set up automated craigslist searches with ifttt.com (if this then that) to alert you when new homebrew gear gets posted locally.

 

[Thorsbrew]

For me, reusing yeast and buying hops in bulk as opposed to in 1 or 2 oz bags are the best ways I keep costs low. I vacuum seal then freeze hops after using what I need and I try to get at least two brews out of each yeast package.

I don't know your brewing setup but if you are married and brew on the kitchen stove you would do well to try and move the operation outdoors. That was my experience at least as a boilover or spill or two can put a strain on a relationship.

I also buy pale or pilsner malts in 50 or 55 lb bags and grind my grain which lowers the cost per lb somewhat compared to buying 10 lb bags but you need pest resistant containers and a mill.

Like others have said, if you are looking for equipment periodically check craigslist for used stuff but don't overpay as some people have a very inflated idea of what their used gear is worth imo. You can set up automated craigslist searches with ifttt.com (if this then that) to alert you when new homebrew gear gets posted locally.

Completely agree. I often see things posted for as much or nearly as much as you can get it for new online. Very stupid, im not going near that. So many people don't even understand basic negotiating either.

Where's your limit? I usually expect to pay about 50% of the new cost. Perhaps 70% tops. With a few exceptions.

Of course there is some variability depending on items (25 cubic foot chest freezer is $700-800 new but can be had for $100-200 used for some reason) but generally i find 50-70% to be my range. Like im not paying $90 for your used $110 mash tun/boil kettle or grain mill or whatever.

 

[Soulshine2]

All grain at my LHBS. They often give me discounts and freebies. And I get to grind grain on site.

Newbie here too. I went AG right after the Mr Beer kits, just because I'd rather make it myself than open a can of LME into boiling water ,ferment it and call it homemade beer.
I'm a cook at heart so I wanted as much control as possible.
FWIW- As soon as I figured out I had a LHBS 10 minutes away I started buying their stuff and they offered an annual $25 Brew club membership , gets me 10% off ingredients and on a newsletter for specials and events and they threw in the choice of a 32 or 64 oz amber glass growler on the spot...
I went big.
BUT. I also bought a boiler kettle online way cheaper than they wanted and built a 48qt (bazooka)MLT for less than half of what they wanted .
Theres times to buy the shop stuff and theres times you should be tinkering to make your own . Call it cheap , call it frugality , call it pride .

 

[jtratcliff]

That's a shame.... some local stores don't get it. The local store here is happy to see folks come in and partake in the hobby. They more or less sell the bulk grain for what they pay to get it in stock. Invariably, I spend another 10-20 bucks every time I go in. Some folks simply aren't good business people.

Tell me about it... I drop at least $60 on each Morebeer order (in order to get​ free shipping)... But can't recall the last time I went to the LHBS...

I think I maybe I sent SWMBO there to get bottle caps as a stocking stuffer... What, maybe almost $4?

Yup, excellent business acumen on their part...

 

[purplerat]

You just planted then harvested? There was no daily watering or other forms of maintenance?

If you can get away with that then perhaps its worth it.

There was no daily maintenance. I water them occasionally, maybe weekly depending on rainfall. Last year I felt there was too much rain so I barely watered them at all. I put a simple pole for each to climb up and pruned them a few times. All in all not a whole lot of effort.
Certainly if I had many more plants it would be more effort. However, as it's really just simple gardening outdoors in the nice weather it's hard for me to consider it "work" in the first place. YMMV depending on whether you like that kind of stuff or not. That it comes out to the equivalent of a couple of free brews is really just a plus for me.

 

[Lambo3]

Haha I'm still here. Have been reading as the comments come in. I asked a simple question but didn't expect this much of a response. My rookie status prevents me from giving much input here...just trying to be a sponge instead.

The big takeaway seems to be that extract brewing is the most expensive way to do things. Buying kits seems even more wasteful.

Please...continue with the tips.

True, and all grain is what I suggested as well; however, it IS cheaper up front (equipment wise) to extract brew, because you only need a boil kettle big enough to do about 50% of your brew, and you can do most of your chilling based on the temp of your tap water.

So, all grain ultimately should be your end game, but you can be brewing extract with nothing more than a 5 gallon kettle, at least on the brewery side. Fermentation side is the same.

 

[beernutz]

My LHBS is more expensive than Morebeer for bulk 2-row.



50 lb bulk sack from Morebeer shipped to me is $38 + $15.50 shipping = 53.50 for 50lb ($1.07/lb) ... My LHBS charges over $60 for a 50lb sack!

It's completely insane.

I get a slightly better price by buying the 10lb bags which are eligible for free shipping on a $59 order.

e.g. 6 x 10lbs = $63.54 shipped ($1.06/lb)

By the time I've added 2-3 10lb bags of 2 row, some 5lb bags Vienna and Munich, a few lbs of different crystal or roast malts, and maybe some bottle caps or yeast, I've easily hit the free ship limit without having to get 60lbs of 2-row, so I'm still only paying $1.06/lb for my 20-30lb.

And it's delivered my door...

Are you comparing the same brand of 2 row at Morebeer to what your LHBS sells? On morebeer.com Great Western 2 row appears to be the cheapest bulk sack at $39.99 but if your LHBS is selling Rahr that sack is selling for $46.99 at MB.

Don't get me wrong, I like MB and I've been a consistent customer since 1999 when they were still beerbeerandmorebeer.com, but it is hard to know what a LHBS's margins are without an insider's perspective. I know I pay more on some things from my LHBS but he's very supportive of the local homebrewing community and I want him to continue to be viable.

 

[jtratcliff]

Are you comparing the same brand of 2 row at Morebeer to what your LHBS sells?

Fair point... I don't know their brand of 2-row, because they don't advertise it. They'd probably tell me if I asked, though.

But they don't seem to give any bulk discount... Their 50lb sack is the same per lb rate as the loose stuff out on the floor.

If I were close enough to Morebeer to pick up in-store, the 50lb sack of Great Western 2-row would be ~ $38 vs my LHBS 2-row of ~$63+ for unkown brand... Or I could have Morebeer deliver it to my house for ~$53 ish (as long as I buy ~$7 more stuff to reach free shipping)...

At which point I have 50lb of 2-row + $7 worth of yeast, or bottle caps, or nutrient, or tubing, or whatever... delivered to my door. For less than 50lb of 2-row picked up at the LHBS...

Plus I don't have to deal with a 50-60% chance of getting an a-hole working the register... Morebeer still wins, regardless of the maltster.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

It is highly likely tha all of what I'm about to write has already been shared, but here goes. Get equipment and ingredients on sale wherever possible, and reuse yeast at least once. Look for used equipment, buy commercial beer that comes in bottles you can reuse. Get clamps and hardware from auto or hardware stores, it's usually less expensive.

 

[msherretz]

I do t believe you have grasped the info. All grain brewing only pays when you brew a lot of batches or have large volumes of beer. The price for equipment to do all grain can be high. It may take you several years to get that investment back. Extract brewing has many advantages. One is that your brew day is cut in half. Another is that the brews are very reproducible. Third is you do not need to do a full volume boil.
With all these advantages, extract brewing is cheap and efficient and saves lots of clean up time, water and energy.
For my first 26 years of brewing, I stuck with Extract brews and won many competitions. I only went to all-grain when my batch sizes increased to 10 -15 gallons.
Don't fall into the trap that makes people think better beer comes from all grain brewing. That is not true.

 

[TripleC223]

I do t believe you have grasped the info. All grain brewing only pays when you brew a lot of batches or have large volumes of beer. The price for equipment to do all grain can be high. It may take you several years to get that investment back. Extract brewing has many advantages. One is that your brew day is cut in half. Another is that the brews are very reproducible. Third is you do not need to do a full volume boil.

With all these advantages, extract brewing is cheap and efficient and saves lots of clean up time, water and energy.

For my first 26 years of brewing, I stuck with Extract brews and won many competitions. I only went to all-grain when my batch sizes increased to 10 -15 gallons.

Don't fall into the trap that makes people think better beer comes from all grain brewing. That is not true.

Thanks -- very helpful. I'm curious if, in your years of extract brewing, you developed a preference between DME and LME. I can find LME a bit cheaper, but from what I've read, DME seems to have a slight edge in stability and storage. Have you noticed that one or the other produced better beer?

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

When you consider that DME gives almost 30% more fermentables per pound, it can cheaper if you buy in bulk. Morebeer has 50 lbs for $170 with free shipping. That's $3.40 for a gallon of 1.045 wort. Their LME would cost $3.85 for a gallon of 1.045 wort.

1 pound of dried malt extract dissolved in one gallon of water = 1.045 SG
1 pound of liquid malt extract dissolved in one gallon of water = 1.035 SG

Thanks -- very helpful. I'm curious if, in your years of extract brewing, you developed a preference between DME and LME. I can find LME a bit cheaper, but from what I've read, DME seems to have a slight edge in stability and storage. Have you noticed that one or the other produced better beer?

 

[thekraken]

When you consider that DME gives almost 30% more fermentables per pound, it can cheaper if you buy in bulk. Morebeer has 50 lbs for $170 with free shipping. That's $3.40 for a gallon of 1.045 wort. Their LME would cost $3.85 for a gallon of 1.045 wort.

1 pound of dried malt extract dissolved in one gallon of water = 1.045 SG
1 pound of liquid malt extract dissolved in one gallon of water = 1.035 SG

And just for s**** and giggles 1 gallon of 1.045 SG wort is about $1.28 worth of morebeer's rahr 2 row when buying a 55lb sack. Or $2.24 when buying in 1 lb increments.

 

[Thorsbrew]

And just for s**** and giggles 1 gallon of 1.045 SG wort is about $1.28 worth of morebeer's rahr 2 row when buying a 55lb sack. Or $2.24 when buying in 1 lb increments.

Why use rahr? The rahr is $46.99 the briess is $37.99.

So even a bit cheaper.

Or perhaps even less if you can get it cheaper at your LHBS (i can).

 

[bleme]

My homebrew club membership is $25/year. They have a deal with a local brewpub that allows members to pick up full bags of grain from him for his cost. They will also buy you one full bag of grain a year if you donate a keg of beer to one of the charity events that they support.

So I pay my membership dues ($25 in January), brew up a $25 batch of beer for Irishfest. My wife and I get in free at Irishfest ($60 value) and I get $32 from the club for a bag of Maris Otter. That's $42 in the black! AND I get to hear what 150 people think about my beer!

 

[bleme]

I do t believe you have grasped the info. All grain brewing only pays when you brew a lot of batches or have large volumes of beer. The price for equipment to do all grain can be high.

I couldn't agree with this part less. The difference between my extract batches and my All Grain batches is a $20 tamale pot and $9 for a yard of polyester voile.

I will agree that All Grain doesn't make better beer, and it does take me 2 hours longer.

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

Cheap????? .... home brew can't be done cheaply, homebrew is the most expensive beer you can drink if you put a value to your time. If you need to save money, take the five hours you would put into a batch and work for a wage.

 

[govner1]

Numerous strategies for saving on home brewing have been laid out. Many options are dictated by location & personal convenience.
I started in AG using an 8g kettle plus 2 5g Rubbermaid coolers doing three gal batches.
Over time and with more experience I upgraded gradually adding a CFC (gravity fed), a good burner (Blichmann), a used ferm chamber, often trading equipment until I reached current system for doing 6g batches.
I've added a brewstand, pump, 10g HLT, 15g MLT & BK.
Keep in mind this has been a 5 year process.
I also take advantage of group buys for base grains & mill my own.
My LHBS closed so I've been using Great Fermentations for specialty grains, yeast, and odds & ends. They offer fixed shipping of $8.99 and ice pack & insulate your yeast at no charge.

 

[bleme]

Cheap????? .... home brew can't be done cheaply, homebrew is the most expensive beer you can drink if you put a value to your time. If you need to save money, take the five hours you would put into a batch and work for a wage.

I've always thought that counting your time was silly. I don't figure the "wage" I am losing by going to the movies for 2 hours. Why should I count it on any other recreation time?

 

[thekraken]

I've always thought that counting your time was silly. I don't figure the "wage" I am losing by going to the movies for 2 hours. Why should I count it on any other recreation time?

Agreed. It would only make sense if you would in fact otherwise be earning money during that time.