How can I save money on brew day?

[GorillaMedic]

Getting ready to bottle one batch and brew another today, and looking at my batch-specific costs—its sitting at about $9-12/gallon. I'd like to see if I can cut costs down some, so I have more money to spend on equipment investments to make better beer.

Here's my ingredient cost breakdown for today's 10 gallon pale ale:

Yeast starter: $11.58 (used one smack pack and spun it up with DME, thus saving $7.70 compared to last batch and getting an improved pitch rate.)

Grain bill: $25.49

Hop bill: $26.63

Water: $24.50 for RO water from store

Incidentals: $7.83 (caps, other one time use items)

Where could I focus on lowering costs, even if it requires equipment/time investment?

 

[Firewalker11]

Long term savings on water with a $100.00 system from eBay. You can pull 1000 gallons off a RO system before a filter change, depending on the water you start with.

 

[eadavis80]

Guess I'm lucky. I'm happy with my tap water and I harvest yeast more often than not. $26 on hops seems insane to me though. Figure $2/pound on grain at most and hops are usually between $3-4/ounce in my experience.

 

[ncbrewer]

Have you had your tap water analyzed, or read a report? If you can brew with it there's a big savings. And I agree $26 seems like a lot of hops for a pale ale (but maybe I just don't use as much as I should).

 

[Canuck137]

Wow seems expensive all around...

How many oz of hops are you using?

You can also "re-use" yeast or make yeast starters which I have done a few times to save a few $$.

 

[Firewalker11]

You may want to look at buying bulk hops too, I just got #4 for $40.00 delivered, that's only $0.63 an ounce!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Hops by the pound always
Bulk grain (50# sacks)
My water thankfully is good for brewing
Reusing yeast
Cant see any other way to save money aside from brewing light beer all the time

 

[divrguy]

Our RO water here is .35 per gallon.

Water: $24.50 for RO water from store

 

[cannman]

Here's a $62 RO system @ 50gpd, for $67 you can get 100gpd (worth it). Time to save money: 3 batches. I have the 100 gpd version and I test it every time and it takes 190ppm water to 0ppm ro/di water everytime with no problem.

http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=95&products_id=246&osCsid=vfmkbqgyizibjv


Buy grain in bulk (I think most are 50~55 pound sacks, about 10 gallons a sack) and store in food grade 5 gallon buckets and use a Gamma lid. I left 8 of these buckets out in the rain for 8 weeks and when tested, the grains stayed dry and viable.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FNSUS92/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you use PBW, buy the big 8 pound Jug or bigger.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/cleaner-pbw-8-lbs.html?site_id=7


Buy hops as close to the source as possible. Try this source, buy by the pound, and try to plan a few batches ahead to save on shipping and store the product in the freezer: https://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/

Consider sending your home water to get analyzed. It turns out that after learning about my water profile and plugging it into BeerSmith 2, I learned that I can sometimes use 75% house water and only 25% RO/DI water. This saves on the RO/DI bill and you can make use of your house minerals! Test W-6 costs $21. Just fill up an old 16oz water bottle, box it, and mail it off. https://producers.wardlab.com/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=/

Learn yeast repitching, yeast washing.

Finally, try making your house beer with 100% house water.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

I'll echo what others have said - bulk hops will probably save you the most, aside from lowering that water bill - I use spring water ($0.89/gallon from the store).

Dry yeast will cut your cost, but if you're going for something exotic I would see why you would want liquid yeast. In that case, another dollar or two of DME and you will have built a large enough starter to save some for a following brew or two, if the yeast can be stored in a sanitary container.

 

[mattdee1]

Take a deep breath and step away from the hops.

 

[Legume]

The water bill seems crazy high.
I fill my own container with RO water at the store for .20/gal...5 galons of RO for $1
you might shop arround, or put in a little RO system at home.

learning to overbuild your starter and save yeast also adds up to signifigant savings over time.

 

[Aristotelian]

Agreed, the water bill is nuts and storing/reusing yeast is easy. If RO water is that expensive you could try cutting it with tap water or drinking water.

 

[303Dan]

I just went through this exercise myself after spending all my time up until now just getting the quality of my beer to where I want it. I haven't done anything that hasn't already been touched on here, but I did three things:

1. Reusing yeast. I'll initially buy one smack pack of a strain, then do a stepped up starter that I can fill about 6-7 500ml mason jars with about 100 billion cells each. Then I don't have to buy that strain again for a very long time, using one mason jar for a starter for each brew day, then using the last mason jar to start over again. I also tried to limit myself to two strains for 95% of my beers instead of jumping all over the place. For me, that's Wyeast 1056 and Conan.

2. Buying bulk hops. This saves me the most of the three things, mostly because I make a lot of Pales and IPA's and I dry hop a lot of other styles. I did need to make an investment in a vacuum sealer, but it'll pay itself off in 7-8 brews.

3. Buying bulk grain. Again, needed an up front investment in a mill, but saving significant money every brew will pay it off rather quickly.

I figure I'm saving between 20-35 dollars per 5 gallon batch, depending on style, with those three things combined.

I'll echo that your water seems extremely expensive. I build my water from 100% Distilled for most styles, and I only pay about $10 per 5 gallon batch (usually start with about 11-12 gallons of Distilled water @ about $0.89 per gallon).

Anyway, I hope that helps.

 

[cannman]

For those critics who are analyzing op's ro/di costs, I live in a rural community of 3000 where Hot-Pockets are $5, lays are $4.50, a 12 pack of soda after tax and crv is $11.00, and RO water from Arrowhead is $2.49 a gallon. We have excellent prices on beef and poultry though. #itswhatsfordinner

 

[Transamguy77]

Wow that's a high price tag even for 10 gallons! Does that include propane too?

Bulk, bulk and more bulk! Most of my 10 gallon batches cost me $35-50. I buy most of my commonly used speciality grains in 10lb increments which happens to be cheaper at my LHBS. I try to wash yeast whenever possible or just keg and rack on brew day if it's a similar beer.

 

[Bilsch]

That's all the lower hanging fruit. If your looking for a little more challenge but big savings, try malting your own grain. It's not terribly hard but does take some time and attention. I get 6row barley locally for 9 bucks a 50 lb bag, wheat is a little more.

 

[MaryB]

Grow your own hops, I just planted 3 types...

 

[ChelisHubby]

another vote for what Baja brewer says change your hops around if you can stand the flavor. I would skip the RO water and doctor what I have on tap. Then I would reuse my yeast at least 4 times by washing it or just saving Slurry.

 

[Calder]

Grow your own hops, I just planted 3 types...

It is fun to grow your own hops, but .......... if you keep an account of the total costs (rhizomes, shipping, trellis, fertilizer, drying screens, etc), I think the first year hops (only a few ounces), are actually the most expensive hops you will ever buy. My first year hops (2 ozs dry) were the equivalent of $152 a pound. I'm hoping to get the overall average cost down to about $18 this year, and maybe next year (third year) get to a more reasonable $8 per lb (average overall cost).

I'm pretty frugal, but I think it will take about 4 years for me to feel I am saving money.

 

[mongoose33]

The easiest, IMO, is an RO system. I bought one this spring, and I'm glad I did. Whatever you do, get one with higher capacity than you think--the ratings are in ideal circumstances which you may or may not have.

I bought a 50 gpd system from Buckeye Hydro, and it's worked as advertised. The only thing I wish I'd done differently is get one with higher capacity. Doesn't cost much more, saves time.

Mine was $129 plus shipping, though I added a Total Dissolved Solids meter and a few fittings.

Russ from Buckeye Hydro posts here, and he was tremendously helpful in getting me set up. The system is perfect--drains into an Aquatainer whose vent hole I enlarged to 1/4" so the output line would fit. When I brew, I take the water I'd created the previous brew day and use that for the day's brew, then refill with the RO system while I'm busy brewing.

Here's a pic of how I do it--the filter is hung on the wall, and fed from the sink faucet:

 

[jmcquesten]

Walmart near me has a fill yourself RO machine, the water is $0.37 per gallon, or $1.85 for a 5 gallon refill. Reusing yeast is also a good money saver.

 

[55x11]

Getting ready to bottle one batch and brew another today, and looking at my batch-specific costs—its sitting at about $9-12/gallon. I'd like to see if I can cut costs down some, so I have more money to spend on equipment investments to make better beer.

Here's my ingredient cost breakdown for today's 10 gallon pale ale:

Yeast starter: $11.58 (used one smack pack and spun it up with DME, thus saving $7.70 compared to last batch and getting an improved pitch rate.)

Grain bill: $25.49

Hop bill: $26.63

Water: $24.50 for RO water from store

Incidentals: $7.83 (caps, other one time use items)

Where could I focus on lowering costs, even if it requires equipment/time investment?

Yeast: free (or well below $1 per batch, $0.20 per lb) - harvesting from previous brews.

My Grain Bill is about $2-3 per gallon ($10-15 per 5G batch - my two-row is .99 per lb at LHBS and specialty grains $1-$2 per lb.

Hops: about <$1 per ounce (buying in bulk). So maybe $1 per gallon, $2 per gallon for very hoppy beers (double IPAs etc.)

Water: (RO is $0.25 per gallon at CVS or local stores, but if you cut it in half with tap water, it's $0.12 per gallon - that's your biggest savings there).

Biggest investment is your own time, I believe.
Look - for less than $100 in ingredients you made more than 100 12-oz bottles of beer. But you also spent ~4-5 hours working on it. How much is your time worth?

 

[MaryB]

Rhizomes: $20 shipped for all 3
Trellis: 3 screw eyes and baling twine $30
Drying screens: scrap from when I replaced windows in the house $0
Fertilizer: my own compost tea from the 55 gallon garbage can that gets all kitchen scraps and garden weeds $0

Total spent first year $50...

It is fun to grow your own hops, but .......... if you keep an account of the total costs (rhizomes, shipping, trellis, fertilizer, drying screens, etc), I think the first year hops (only a few ounces), are actually the most expensive hops you will ever buy. My first year hops (2 ozs dry) were the equivalent of $152 a pound. I'm hoping to get the overall average cost down to about $18 this year, and maybe next year (third year) get to a more reasonable $8 per lb (average overall cost).

I'm pretty frugal, but I think it will take about 4 years for me to feel I am saving money.

 

[cannman]

I'm out and about Los Angeles and I just went to a quarter machine to buy water and it's only filtered water. You have to go Into the "Agua" stores and pay 35¢ for RO water. Make sure your machine is more than filtered water.

 

[Firewalker11]

The easiest, IMO, is an RO system. I bought one this spring, and I'm glad I did. Whatever you do, get one with higher capacity than you think--the ratings are in ideal circumstances which you may or may not have.

I bought a 50 gpd system from Buckeye Hydro, and it's worked as advertised. The only thing I wish I'd done differently is get one with higher capacity. Doesn't cost much more, saves time.

Mine was $129 plus shipping, though I added a Total Dissolved Solids meter and a few fittings.

Russ from Buckeye Hydro posts here, and he was tremendously helpful in getting me set up. The system is perfect--drains into an Aquatainer whose vent hole I enlarged to 1/4" so the output line would fit. When I brew, I take the water I'd created the previous brew day and use that for the day's brew, then refill with the RO system while I'm busy brewing.

Here's a pic of how I do it--the filter is hung on the wall, and fed from the sink faucet:

View attachment 353633

I know this is a silly add but I put one of these in my Keurig so I could always have a full reservoir, I bet you could adapt it to your water tank if you want to walk away while its filling.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-...1e34fae&pid=100034&rk=7&rkt=8&sd=331378781545

 

[bobeer]

I'll pretty much echo what's been said... wash your yeast, buy bulk grain and hops, get a water filter for your house, etc.

Do you bottle or keg? If you keg you could carbonate naturally in the keg to save c02 for serving only.

Do you use natural gas/propane/electric? Perhaps looking at other heating alternatives could cut you some costs.

You could use higher alpha acid hops for bittering hops so you use less of them.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

Water: $24.50 for RO water from store

That's really high...I refill a 5 gallon jug with RO water at the store for $1.95.

 

[Calder]

Rhizomes: $20 shipped for all 3
Trellis: 3 screw eyes and baling twine $30
Drying screens: scrap from when I replaced windows in the house $0
Fertilizer: my own compost tea from the 55 gallon garbage can that gets all kitchen scraps and garden weeds $0

Total spent first year $50...

That's pretty good. Now, if you get 4 ozs dry this year from them (and that is probably on the high side), your cost of the hops works out to $200/lb.

If you spend nothing more, and get 3 lbs from them next year (and that would be a pretty good haul), you are still looking at $16/lb after 2 years.

Eventually they will provide savings, but not in the first 2 to 3 years.

I am looking forward to brewing a couple of fresh-hop beers this year, which is something I couldn't do if I didn't grow hops.

 

[55x11]

Rhizomes: $20 shipped for all 3
Trellis: 3 screw eyes and baling twine $30
Drying screens: scrap from when I replaced windows in the house $0
Fertilizer: my own compost tea from the 55 gallon garbage can that gets all kitchen scraps and garden weeds $0

Total spent first year $50...

I grow my own hops too, just for fun.
But come on, lets admit it - it's not fiscally profitable to do it. We do it for fun, not to save $$$.

How many pounds of hop leaves did you harvest in your first year?

How much time did you spend on gardening? (it's like gardening for 3 tomatoes like my SHMBO does and declaring they are "free" - in economics there is something called "opportunity cost")

 

[Jaybird]

Getting ready to bottle one batch and brew another today, and looking at my batch-specific costs—its sitting at about $9-12/gallon. I'd like to see if I can cut costs down some, so I have more money to spend on equipment investments to make better beer.

Here's my ingredient cost breakdown for today's 10 gallon pale ale:

Yeast starter: $11.58 (used one smack pack and spun it up with DME, thus saving $7.70 compared to last batch and getting an improved pitch rate.)

Grain bill: $25.49

Hop bill: $26.63

Water: $24.50 for RO water from store

Incidentals: $7.83 (caps, other one time use items)

Where could I focus on lowering costs, even if it requires equipment/time investment?

Man..I have seen RO system on Ebay for under 100 bones that will do over 1000 gallons. 4 batches and its paid for. Just a thought. Why are you buying water? Is your water just crap or what? You could get a water profile and brew the styles for the water you have....Just a thought.

Plan several brews in advance so you can pitch on your yeast cake, or at least save your yeast and repitch. We give a class on that at our store to help people save $$$. If your brewing IIpas then you are gonna pay for hops. Just the facts bro. But if you're like me and REALLY want to challenge yourself dive into Super LIGHT lagers. Simple grain and hop bills STUPID cheap to make. ya just have to be able to control temps. But they are a challenge THAT'S for sure!

Good luck man. If I can help at all please don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers
Jay

 

[MaryB]

I also have a 15x60 foot garden. I haven't bought vegetables from the store in years unless I want something for a stir fry(easier to buy that frozen and get water chestnuts, mini corn, etc). My cost is whatever I buy in new seeds each year because I save seeds of the heirlooms.

This is my first year of hops so how much I get is wait and see... but it can be done cheap with the only expense being the hop rhizomes. Well and the 3 screw eyes I used to make a fan of baling twine from the ground to a single point 14 feet up. I may add some twine around my bay window of the house just for fun.

Drying screens are old window screens from casement windows. I made a rack from scrap pallets to hold them and I use the same screens to dry morels.

I grow my own hops too, just for fun.
But come on, lets admit it - it's not fiscally profitable to do it. We do it for fun, not to save $$$.

How many pounds of hop leaves did you harvest in your first year?

How much time did you spend on gardening? (it's like gardening for 3 tomatoes like my SHMBO does and declaring they are "free" - in economics there is something called "opportunity cost")

 

[pdxal]

That's pretty good. Now, if you get 4 ozs dry this year from them (and that is probably on the high side), your cost of the hops works out to $200/lb.

If you spend nothing more, and get 3 lbs from them next year (and that would be a pretty good haul), you are still looking at $16/lb after 2 years.

Eventually they will provide savings, but not in the first 2 to 3 years.

I am looking forward to brewing a couple of fresh-hop beers this year, which is something I couldn't do if I didn't grow hops.

(OK, I'll admit I'm having fun with the math)
But, once the hop trellis and everything is paid for with the $200 per pound hops the first year they will become free, and the cost will amortize (accountants on here correct me if I'm wrong) and the true cost/pound will decrease over time. 6.25lbs over the 3 years/$50 as you mention would work out to $8.00/lb if there was nothing more than the original $50 spent.
Cheers Calder, just having fun with you. They're still $200/# the first year.

 

[Magnus314]

I reuse yeast slurry, use R/O (or catch rain), buy bulk hops, and buy grain from MoreBeer where I can get good-to-great prices and free shipping.

My last 11 gallon batch cost $24, including electricity.

 

[pdxal]

Typical 5 gallon brew:
$9 in grain
<$1 in water filtered with Brita filters and/or Campden tablets
$4 or less for hops (1/2 oz Magnum or Chinook for bittering plus 1oz late hops loose/pellet give or take)
<$10 in yeast plus DME for starter if I don't have a saved yeast strain for it.
=roughly $4.80/gallon without much difficulty.
IMO filtered/RO water, bulk grain and bulk hops, plus saving and propagating yeast when feasible could get your costs way down.

 

[jonny24]

Anyone saving slurry from dry yeast? I mean yes you obviously save money, but right now it seems like a hassle to save less than $3 (I get it in 20g baggies from the LHBS for 4.50, that's good for two batches).

 

[kombat]

Anyone saving slurry from dry yeast?

Absolutely! I don't do it to save money, I do it for better fermentations. When I repitch slurry from a batch that was originally pitched with (rehydrated, obviously) dry yeast, my lag time is much shorter, and I get a better beer. I pitch about half a yeast cake from a previous batch into a new one.

 

[wyowolf]

wow... 9 bucks, jealous.

That's all the lower hanging fruit. If your looking for a little more challenge but big savings, try malting your own grain. It's not terribly hard but does take some time and attention. I get 6row barley locally for 9 bucks a 50 lb bag, wheat is a little more.

 

[dstockwell]

Anyone saving slurry from dry yeast? I mean yes you obviously save money, but right now it seems like a hassle to save less than $3 (I get it in 20g baggies from the LHBS for 4.50, that's good for two batches).

Yep all the time... I do 3.25G batches and pitch one packet, and make at least two more batches from the slurry.

 

[Firewalker11]

I reuse yeast as well, no need to make a starter that way and it seems (to me at least) that its a lot harder to over-pitch.