Homebrewing saved me over $1000 in 2015!

[slym2none]

I am usually on HBT as I am brewing... does that count for something???

 

[FatDragon]

At $11 per six pack your $25 would buy you 1.28 gallons of craft beer. I was curious.

Not as sure about other locales, but if you're in northern California, Sierra Nevada often goes for $7/sixer, $13/12-pack, and sub-$1/can in 24 packs. Between NorCal, Western Arizona, and Houston (my three stopovers on the annual summer break trip to the US), $9/sixer is a common price point for basic craft beers, though there's plenty of stuff on the shelves that dwarfs that number.

Since I didn't drink all that much beer (most of the year - lack of good, readily available, affordable options) before I started brewing, and because at least half of what I brew is given away, I definitely spend more on beer as a brewer than I did before. Even factoring in my ugly junk equipment, I've probably made a couple beers for every dollar I've spent on brewing, but comparing how much I spend on brewing against how much beer costs elsewhere is apples and oranges. I don't brew to save money, I brew to make beer, and also in the idle hope that maybe one day I'll be able to make a bit of money doing it.

 

[cpa4ny]

Not as sure about other locales, but if you're in northern California, Sierra Nevada often goes for $7/sixer, $13/12-pack, and sub-$1/can in 24 packs. Between NorCal, Western Arizona, and Houston (my three stopovers on the annual summer break trip to the US), $9/sixer is a common price point for basic craft beers, though there's plenty of stuff on the shelves that dwarfs that number.

Since I didn't drink all that much beer (most of the year - lack of good, readily available, affordable options) before I started brewing, and because at least half of what I brew is given away, I definitely spend more on beer as a brewer than I did before. Even factoring in my ugly junk equipment, I've probably made a couple beers for every dollar I've spent on brewing, but comparing how much I spend on brewing against how much beer costs elsewhere is apples and oranges. I don't brew to save money, I brew to make beer, and also in the idle hope that maybe one day I'll be able to make a bit of money doing it.

Wow - $7 for a SN SIXER! In Singapore, a single bottle from a store (not a bar) would set you back around USD 5.80.

I am quite confident that those of us who brew US-style beers overseas (myself included) save a fairly decent chunk of change by homebrewing vs buying.

 

[hunter_le five]

I'm sending you all a bill for my time.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

The way I look at it is that it's not much different than posting on this site.
Some people have over 3000 posts... at an average of 8 minutes to read and reply to a post thats over 400 hours. Thats not counting the hours of just reading time without posting. Would we spend this much time if we felt it was costing us money ? No we do this because it's a hobby that is rewarding. The fact that we can save some money along the way is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents.... well $8 if I had to bill for my time..

I'm usually on HBT while at work. I get paid to post stoopid stuff.

 

[mongoose33]

We should all just take a moment and recognize OP has actually achieved something noteworthy here. He has successfully convinced his WIFE, of all people, that he is saving money by brewing beer! Bravo!

Someone please make a meme: I don't always cook the books, but when I do it's to convince my wife that I'm saving money by homebrewing.

View attachment 339971

Actually, the fox in all this may be the wife; when hubby is homebrewing she knows exactly where he is, what he's doing and with whom.

Where OP may think he's pulled a fast one, his wife is laughing inside knowing how she's chained him down.

 

[iijakii]

I'm usually on HBT while at work. I get paid to post stoopid stuff.

Pooping at home costs me money as I could be doing it on the clock at work instead. Oh how I try.

 

[didinho]

While I am the extreme, I have never actually met anyone that has saved money homebrewing. Wine- yes, beer - no.

please allow me to introduce myself, I brew since 2004, I use 30 liters pots on the kitchen stove and I produce 20 liters per batch with an average cost of 20 euros per batch.
that's 1€ per liter, while in Italy craft beer costs 10€ per liter. and often the quality of my homebrew is higher.

 

[mmb]

You can count labor all you want but that isn't how it works within a sole proprietorship. You can't take perceived labor costs from expenses. Sometimes you can pay yourself a hefty sum, sometimes you can't. There isn't a distinction between the individual and business. Personal labor doesn't affect the accounting.

In the case of injury hopefully an owner has insurance coverage or savings.

A sole prop would not be what you use for any manufacturing plant, especially one making alcohol. And labor cost is an expense against profit and is included in most business plan projection ratios. Your lender is going to look at you like a dog with a new pan if you explain you don't have labor costs.

The way I look at it is that it's not much different than posting on this site.
Some people have over 3000 posts... at an average of 8 minutes to read and reply to a post thats over 400 hours. Thats not counting the hours of just reading time without posting. Would we spend this much time if we felt it was costing us money ? No we do this because it's a hobby that is rewarding. The fact that we can save some money along the way is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents.... well $8 if I had to bill for my time..

3000 is a lot?

I'm sending you all a bill for my time.

I'll pay it with tags from my McCafe drinks.

 

[mmb]

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.

That one. Not counting labor.

 

[canehdianman]

I got laid off from my job last week.

I'm so lucky, I'm now saving $40 a week in gas!!

Look at me making money!!!!!!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Pooping at home costs me money as I could be doing it on the clock at work instead. Oh how I try.

Yup. Counts as extra vacation time, ya know.

That one. Not counting labor.

That's pretty awesome. Does it have a urinal?

I got laid off from my job last week.

I'm so lucky, I'm now saving $40 a week in gas!!

Look at me making money!!!!!!

Sweet! Now you can brew more.

 

[hunter_le five]

That's pretty awesome. Does it have a urinal?

Finally, someone's asking the important questions.

 

[brewcat]

A sole prop would not be what you use for any manufacturing plant, especially one making alcohol. And labor cost is an expense against profit and is included in most business plan projection ratios. Your lender is going to look at you like a dog with a new pan if you explain you don't have labor costs.

And I need a lender why? We are talking homebrewing saving money over store bought. The accounting is what I'm getting at. Owner labor doesn't factor into it. Any income the business makes is what the owner makes. That's the point in your time not being a cost. A sole proprietorship is how a homebrewer would be recognized if they could sell without doing anything else.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

That one. Not counting labor.

Veery nice, I'd have to see the BOM on that one to take you at your word though

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

We should all just take a moment and recognize OP has actually achieved something noteworthy here. He has successfully convinced his WIFE, of all people, that he is saving money by brewing beer! Bravo!

Someone please make a meme: I don't always cook the books, but when I do it's to convince my wife that I'm saving money by homebrewing.

View attachment 339971

I was going to post this exact thing here this morning. Actually its even better, let me paint the scene:

Both of us sit on couch, laptop on my wifes lap, she opens excel document, then she says "look at how much money homebrewing saved us this year"

Me: yeah and think of how much that will be saved over my lifetime!

It was so-far the pinnacle of my homebrewing career.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

OK I made my own.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=339978&stc=1&d=1456461873

ok this is awesome.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.

For about 1K I built what I think is a sweet setup. I'm really space limited so I put two ferm chambers ontop of my keezer, and pump water around for cooling and use fermwraps for heating. There is a little control box on the side using 3 STC1000's for the brains, one for the keezer and one for each chamber. I did a thread on the build on the time.

 

[brewcat]

Even insurance can't protect your personal assets in a sole proprietorship. This is where an LLC comes into play for most small business owners. S-Corp is even better, but in an S-Corp you do have to pay yourself a salary.

The other two only provide personal protection to a point (business debts, lawsuits against the business). Negligence from an individual or even employees isn't necessarily covered. Liability insurance is necessary for any of them.

There would be no reason you couldn't form as a sole proprietorship in a one person operation. I'm thinking small brewpub.

 

[mmb]

Personal asset protection doesn't rate in your opinion? Lose it all doesn't sound appealing in the least.

 

[specharka]

OK I made my own.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=339978&stc=1&d=1456461873

 

[normonster]

..

 

[FatDragon]

Wow - $7 for a SN SIXER! In Singapore, a single bottle from a store (not a bar) would set you back around USD 5.80.

I am quite confident that those of us who brew US-style beers overseas (myself included) save a fairly decent chunk of change by homebrewing vs buying.

I'm in China and that's about what a bottle of SN Pale Ale costs here (now that it's sporadically available in specialty beer shops). Certainly, if I were buying as much American style craft beer in China as I drink, I would be spending way more than I do on brewing (probably 8-10x), but I drank imported beer only sporadically here before I started brewing, so it's not really a fair comparison.

 

[pwnshop]

brewing has not saved me money but i dont care. Before i decided i wanted to try brewing i knew nothing about beer aside from the fact that i liked getting drunk and thought making beer might be fun. Since i brewed my first batch two years ago my eyes have been opened to this crazy wonderful world of beer. I have even traveled to Belgium SPECIFICALLY for beer.
I have spent lots of money on equipment, bottle caps, sugar, dms, tubing, hydrometers, grains, hops etc. and I still continue to buy craft beer and interesting beers all the time.
Bottom line is I dont care about saving money one bit. Beer has become a passion of mine and to me its worth spending money on.
If there are people out there brewing because they want to save money, i think that yeah - maybe you can actually save money... but in my opinion that's the worst reason to brew. Brew because it is fun and interesting and rewarding and who cares about $$!

 

[Stillraining]

A penny saved is a penny earned.