Homebrewing saved me over $1000 in 2015!

[iijakii]

Then he needs to start a new thread. This one is about homebrewing saving you money (which it doesn't).

My records show brewing equipment has a lifetime of 30 years, when we amortize his 3400 setup there's just a marginal cost of $113 added, he's still coming in ahead.

Hey I can accounting101 too. He's also saving soooo much gas not driving to the store and pub all the time.

 

[bob1852]

My records show brewing equipment has a lifetime of 30 years, when we amortize his 3400 setup there's just a marginal cost of $113 added, he's still coming in ahead.

Hey I can accounting101 too. He's also saving soooo much gas not driving to the store and pub all the time.

But gas is cheaper this year than it was last year.

 

[broadbill]

Please explain.

I'm not arguing if labor should or should not be accounted for (I think we agree is shouldn't be, as it is hobby).

What I'm saying is the statement that I saved X dollars homebrewing because that much craft beer would have cost Y is false because that person not taking into account the same set of inputs to produce that amount of beer.

Did they save money?....uh sure, if you leave out things like labor, equipment, and all the other stuff a business has to pay for to get their beer into your gullet. But then we are back to the beginning on this, arguing if we should include those inputs in the first place.

 

[iijakii]

What I'm saying is the statement that I saved X dollars homebrewing because that much craft beer would have cost Y is false because that person not taking into account the same set of inputs to produce that amount of beer.

The price makeup of an item has no bearing on the cost you pay for it??

 

[broadbill]

I'm insisting the opposite.



Your logic is infallible. You win the the thread.

The price makeup of an item has no bearing on the cost you pay for it??

you mean markup?

 

[bob1852]

So if I bottle in Sierra Nevada bottles, I need to include the original price of the Sierra Nevada beer into my cost analysis, correct? Otherwise, I wouldn't have bottles to put my homebrew in.

 

[m00ps]

Your logic is infallible. You win the the thread.

But....but....*sob*

 

[hunter_le five]

I'm not arguing if labor should or should not be accounted for (I think we agree is shouldn't be, as it is hobby).

What I'm saying is the statement that I saved X dollars homebrewing because that much craft beer would have cost Y is false because that person not taking into account the same set of inputs to produce that amount of beer.

Did they save money?....uh sure, if you leave out things like labor, equipment, and all the other stuff a business has to pay for to get their beer into your gullet. But then we are back to the beginning on this, arguing if we should include those inputs in the first place.

That is not how a cost comparison works. Inputs in alternative A do not have to be the same as inputs in alternative B. Marginal costs of option A and option B are what is relevant.

It comes down to what did the OP spend brewing his beer versus buying.

When homebrewing, you do not have to pay for labor, and it should not be counted, as we have already agreed.

When buying craft beer, you are effectively paying someone else to brew beer for you, package it, distribute it, etc. All these are relevant input costs, whether or not the same input costs apply to the alternative.

 

[bob1852]

It comes down to what did the OP spend brewing his beer versus buying.

in 2015:

$3400 brewing
$350 buying

I'll let the rest of you accounting experts decide which number is greater.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

So will I save money making Brew Dog beers or not?

 

[hunter_le five]

in 2015:

$3400 brewing
$350 buying

I'll let the rest of you accounting experts decide which number is greater.

Let me get my abacus out of the attic, and I'll get back to you.

 

[GuldTuborg]

in 2015:

$3400 brewing
$350 buying

I'll let the rest of you accounting experts decide which number is greater.

OK, so just be patient until next year and see how the 2014 vs 2016 costs compare. Because, you know, the gear upgrade itch is so easy to ignore.

 

[bob1852]

OK, so just be patient until next year and see how the 2014 vs 2016 costs compare. Because, you know, the gear upgrade itch is so easy to ignore.

Well, according to most people in this thread it doesn't matter.

You only compare raw ingredient costs versus packaged commercial beer costs.

Now, if he's eating handfuls of raw barely and pellet hops sprinkled with yeast, then maybe he is actually saving money.

 

[MyQuL]

There are NO labor costs associated with homebrewing, unless you either 1) pay yourself, or 2) pay someone to homebrew for you.

My time at work earns me money, my time at home (homebrewing) earns me $0

Exactly my point

 

[GuldTuborg]

Now, if he's eating handfuls of raw barely and pellet hops sprinkled with yeast, then maybe he is actually saving money.

I assume most around here do this, don't you?

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

My records show brewing equipment has a lifetime of 30 years, when we amortize his 3400 setup there's just a marginal cost of $113 added, he's still coming in ahead.

Hey I can accounting101 too. He's also saving soooo much gas not driving to the store and pub all the time.

Actually I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of 4 breweries! Of course if we factor in that my time is money the 15 or 30 minutes it takes to get there it's about a wash with gas cost I suppose.

 

[iijakii]

you mean markup?

No, I mean makeup. $5 is $5, doesn't matter what that is going towards.

 

[slym2none]

Doing a keg system, that is where the money should be spent and it does take a lot of time to offset the cost versus buying bottles but the time and space savings is worth it

I'd rather spend the money used for a keg-setup to brew more beer.

 

[Auger]

never make an upgrade

BLASPHEMER!

caps

 

[bob1852]

I assume most around here do this, don't you?

Yes, but I pelletize my own hops to save money, as well as dehydrate my liquid yeast into dry to save money as well.

 

[brewcat]

Figuring labor...ha! That's nonsense. Just think of it as a one man brewery. Labor doesn't factor for an owner. They only make as much as the brewery makes. Since we as homebrewers can't sell then labor doesn't matter. Labor only matters if you take time off your day job.

My own cost analysis. $10+ for six craft beer = $80+ for two cases. Homebrew batch $(40 ingredients + 4 propane + 2 water/cleaning) = $46. That could be much lower with bulk buys, reusing yeast, etc.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Yes, but I pelletize my own hops to save money, as well as dehydrate my liquid yeast into dry to save money as well.

But, but, labor costs!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

If a $200 pair of shoes is on sale for $100 and you buy 2 pairs, did you save $200??

What if you make 5% commission on everything you sell, but you are the only one buying the product. Did you make money?

"Brewing your own beer to save money on beer is like buying your own boat to save money on fish" - Yooper

 

[Zuljin]

I figure I'm making money. I save money, and a penny saved is a penny earned, so, I'm making money.

 

[hunter_le five]

If a $200 pair of shoes is on sale for $100 and you buy 2 pairs, did you save $200??

According to Feyonce, yes.

 

[brewprint]

The way that I see it is that I'm saving money too. I drink a lot. I used to spend around $50 or so a week on beer. I know that sounds terrible.

Anyway I save a lot of money by brewing my own. I don't count labor costs because I enjoy doing it.

Now I'm going to dump >$1500 into an electric BIAB setup that I will be able to do 10 gallon batches that will account for a little less labor. It'll take a while to re-coup the cash from that.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I hate to interject this thought, but the value of convenience is a thing that is worth money. When I put up a brew it takes between 3-8 weeks to then enjoy the product. Sure I can build up a pipeline to make this not extremely inconvenient, but the effort of building the pipeline itself is a huge inconvenience. This is an inconvenience we as homebrewers are all happily willing to endure... to a point.

The proof is in the pudding. If in fact homebrewing was materially better over purchasing commercial beer then everyone would homebrew and no one would buy commercial beer. Homebrewing can cost less in money, but not in material loss, otherwise they would not be able to charge as much for beer in Canada as they do. Convenience and other material losses like time with the kids, vacation opportunity cost and missing the premiere of Game of Thrones all add up to us voting for commercial beer as the market leader. Heck, even serious homebrewers will endure a watered down or lower quality product in many cases, because buying beer is in fact easier. Easy is worth a lot of money.

You the homebrewer are different than others in your drive to achieve the best quality at the lowest price. Will you succeed? Probably not, but I applaud you all in your effort to beat the system! You truly make beer "brewed the hard way"!

 

[bob1852]

If a $200 pair of shoes is on sale for $100 and you buy 2 pairs, did you save $200??

What if you make 5% commission on everything you sell, but you are the only one buying the product. Did you make money?

"Brewing your own beer to save money on beer is like buying your own boat to save money on fish" - Yooper

If you made 2 pairs of shoes for $800 and spent $0 on other shoes, than you saved $400.

 

[ncbrewer]

If we don't count our labor cost, it seems the main factor in whether we save money is the amount spent on equipment. Several thousand dollars isn't uncommon, which means it takes many years to break even. But you can do it with a couple hundred dollars, which can be paid back in just a few months. I have about $400 in mine, and it's been paid back and saving me money for several years now.

 

[iijakii]

I sold my last three setups for more than I spent. As far as I can tell I'm saving money even though I have a few thousand into it right now. It's just an appreciating asset. Performing better than my 401K, I can guarantee that.