Homebrewing on on the cheap?

[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.

 

[Steveruch]

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 nylon voile.

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

We can discus which makes better beer all day long, but the one inarguable fact about all-grain is that it gives you complete control over the entire process.