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How much $$$ does it cost YOU a batch?

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Okay I'm doing something wrong. I spend way more than most. I run between $6-8.50/six pack. I don't buy in bulk and that doesn't count the $14 in gas I use to get to the LHBS. I hate to change direction but where do I start buying in bulk. I live in metro Atlanta. I'm all ears since I could be brewing twice as much with what I'm spending.

Thanks,

Nick


Brewmasters Warehouse is in Marietta depending on where you are in Metro Hotlanta that is not a far shoot up 75. They unfortunately can not ship to Georgia addresses, but I'd bet they would allow in store pickups, maybe they have a brick and mortar.

Really Bulk wise you really only need to buy base grains at least at first, a bag or two of 2-row and maybe a bag of wheat. 10 pounds of whatever specialty grains you always use makes sence also. You can store them in 5 gallon buckets, rubbermaid tote etc. pretty much anything air tight.

Biggest cost is a grain mill, but a roller can be used to start, or find a cheap corana mill on e-bay.


I spend about 30 bucks as I buy local and have not started buying bulk yet. Of course if you figure in recent equipment cost I'm probably at $150 a batch....
 
about $25-35 for a 5gal extract batch. I buy everything spacifacally for the next batch, and don't stickpile.

Not including my keezer, I have about $300 into brewing gear over 7yrs/~50 batches.
 
Apparently, I'm spending waaaaayyyy to much at my LHBS! I'm trying to move away from extract and towards PM and hopefully before too long, AG.:rockin:

I know about Hops Direct for bulk hops. Where is the best place to get grains bulk? I'm not sure I can swing 55 lbs at a time yet, but maybe 10 lbs?
 
I am currently arounf 15-20 per batch depending on what I am makeing. I have a IIPA coming up that will run about 30 because i am putting almost a pound of hops into it. I try to make my own equipment so I can keep the prices down on those costs.
 
Once you get dialed in you can keep cost low. Buying hops direct is a must. The LHBS I go to has an old crop, still, that dates back to the hop shortage. They're over priced.
 
Double IPAs are kinda 'go big or go home' kind of beers. Restraint isn't a strong suit. ;)

I wouldn't normally but since I am setting up for an OG around 1.090-1.100 I figure about 100-120 IBUs was needed to balance it out. All Amarillo hops!! That and a friend of mine and I are in a kind of competition. Who can make the biggest baddest IPA. He has a Smoked IPA which I am fermenting for him (not enough room in his mr. beer) and I am going with my experimental A-10 IIPA.
 
I'm not sure I can swing 55 lbs at a time yet, but maybe 10 lbs?

Not much discount buying 10lbs, but 55lbs can go fast if you plan your brewing right. If you're brewing all grain, you can easily make 55lbs disappear in 4-5 batches.

Just plan on your next few batches using a common base malt like American pale 2 row.
 
Depends on what I'm brewing but I regularly do 10 gal of my Pale Ale for under $15

Or as I cal it: '10 Under 15 Pale Ale'

Mostly bulk grain (some not), homegrown hops and cultured yeast from a bottle or saved from a previous cake. :mug:
 
I know about Hops Direct for bulk hops. Where is the best place to get grains bulk? I'm not sure I can swing 55 lbs at a time yet, but maybe 10 lbs?
A 50# sack of 2Row is only going to cost you $45ish. 10# will only get you through a batch...
 
Giving a figure is practically irrelevant without exploring the type of beer brewed, and the volumes, methods & motivations of each individual brewer. If the only goal is to achieve the cheapest possible glass of beer, probably best to go to the supermarket and stock up on whatever swill the BMCs have on sale this weekend.....
 
Giving a figure is practically irrelevant without exploring the type of beer brewed, and the volumes, methods & motivations of each individual brewer. If the only goal is to achieve the cheapest possible glass of beer, probably best to go to the supermarket and stock up on whatever swill the BMCs have on sale this weekend.....

Actually several did give the type of beer they were brewing


I was gonna ask how you pull that off, but now that I think about it, if you buy in bulk, etc, its totally possible.

Your Haus Pale, at bulk prices:

8lbs 2 row @ .70/lb = $6
2lb Vienna @ .75/lb = $1.50
2 oz Cascade @ $18/lb = $2.25
Yeast (washed, etc) = $0
-----------------------------------
$9.75




For me, extract was, what, $35-$40 a batch? All grain is probably costing me about $80/batch with all the crap I keep buying (kegs, burner, etc), but probably $15-20 for ingredients.
If you get higher than 75%, it gets even cheaper.

my last beer was Eds Bavarian Hefeweizen 10 gallons

12 lbs wheat @73 Cents per pound =8.76
6 pounds Pilsner @ 70 cents per pound =4.20
1 lbs rice hulls free Thanks to Bad Coffee
1 Packet 3068 = 5.75
1.25 oz of halletau @ 1.20 a pound =1.51

about 2 lb propane = 4 $

24.22 cents for 10 gallons .

That comes out to .30 cents per pint.

Bulk baby

For an average beer around 1.055 OG:

Malt $17
Grains $3
Yeast $7
Hops $3
---------
$30

I don't do AG so the DME is killing me! ;)

My biggest savings are from buying hops in bulk (11-20$ lb depending on the variety) and making a yeast starter (so I only need a single Wyeast pack to hit proper pitching rates).
 
Giving a figure is practically irrelevant without exploring the type of beer brewed, and the volumes, methods & motivations of each individual brewer. If the only goal is to achieve the cheapest possible glass of beer, probably best to go to the supermarket and stock up on whatever swill the BMCs have on sale this weekend.....


What's wrong with finding the cheapest way to brew a specific style? While I may not want to buy the cheapest swill on the market to drink there is nothing wrong with trying to save a buck.

Spending as much money as possible doesn't make a better glass of beer it only makes you stupid and lazy...
 
I don't do AG so the DME is killing me! ;)

I'm sure I'll get some slack for saying this, but bulk LME is much cheaper than DME. Above the Rest in Tigard, OR charges $1.95 a pound for bulk LME, whereas DME is closer to $3-$4 a pound. I know that DME will go further, but LME is still cheaper...
 
Depending on the recipe, at least 30$ (CDN) for a 5 gallon batch. In order of cost: LME, Hops, yeast, steeping grain, ...
 
Did an Original bitter last night.

6lbs MO @ .90/lb
.5lb Crystal @ 1.40/lb
~2oz hops @ .66/oz
Washed yeast - second use = $3.50 if you can call it that.

10.92 with yeast 7 something without.
But then propane....
 
I've got to convince SWMBO that bulk will save us $$$. She thinks it'll just mean that I'll brew more often because I won't have the lack of supplies keeping me from making beer.

OK, so she's probably right.

I still buy by the batch and bought two this week. These are for five gallons-
Cream Ale - $18
IPA - $33
 
I'm sure I'll get some slack for saying this, but bulk LME is much cheaper than DME. Above the Rest in Tigard, OR charges $1.95 a pound for bulk LME, whereas DME is closer to $3-$4 a pound. I know that DME will go further, but LME is still cheaper...

At my LHBS, 1 lb of LME is $2.85 and the equivalent amount of DME (.8 lb) is $2.60 so, for me, it's cheaper to use DME.

I like the physical properties of DME better anyway. ;)
 
I'm still trying to figure out if Propane should be considered into the cost. I assume if you put in propane, you might as well add water, electricity, etc...

As far as SWMBO thinking it'll just mean that you'll brew more often, counter that it will also mean more $$$ to spend on her, etc. Plus less amount of time spent at the LHBS!! :)
 
Using business models, you should try to use some kind of markup. I've heard 1/3 on ingredients sounds right. The 2 others are divided between equipment and labor.

So, even if you look at about $90/batch. Ingredients x 3. You'll still doing better than if you were to buy. If you were to purchase similar quality beer (if you could find it), it's going to top $100 for two cases.

I run between 30 and 40. I don't buy many bulk hops, so some batches are like $10 alone for hops. LHBS is a rip-off when they mill your grains. You're looking at $2/# PLUS 20 cent per/# to mill.

Basically if I can re-use yeast I'm closer to 30, and if not I'm closer to 40.

Avg batch is prob 1.056-1.060 and 30-45 IBU.
 
As far as SWMBO thinking it'll just mean that you'll brew more often, counter that it will also mean more $$$ to spend on her, etc. Plus less amount of time spent at the LHBS!! :)

Yeah a nice dinner and a lil shopping afterwards has given me way too much of a green light!!! :ban:Just go to the local Harley Davidson/BMW/Mercedes dealership and bring home a brochure... Homebrewing becomes a simple hobby quick!!! SWMBO approves!!!:tank:
 
I spend about 10-20 a batch....probably on average about 12.

For about 90% of my beers I use safale 05, 04 or saflager, rarely do I use need to use any liguid yeasts unless I'm brewing a Belgian. If I do use liquid I usually harvest my yeast or pitch on top of it.

One of my LHB's sells outdated tubes for 3.00 bucks (most of them are no more than a month old-It's a high traffic store)...and they can be a year old and if you grow from a starter even just a few viable cells can be made into a big starter. (That's why we can harvest huge amounts of yeast from the dregs of some bottles of beer-it only takes a few cells.)

Now that the hop crisis has been averted (and even when it was going on) I would always snag the max amount allowed for recipe whether or not I needed them, and now I'll grab a couple packs of my most used whenever I'm in, even if I am not planning to brew anytime soon. So I have a fairly built up hop supply in my freezer.

So most of the time when I picking up ingredients I am just getting grain, because I have everything else.

I have found that a lot of new brewers especially, THINK they HAVE to use liquid yeast, but in reality most ales can be made with Notty, WIndsor, Us-05, Us-04 and many lagers with basic Saflager.....7-8 bucks a pop for liquid as opposed to $1.50-2.50 for dry, with more cell count, is imho just not economically viable....most commercial ales us a limited range of strains, and those liquid strains are really the same strains that the afore mentioned dry strains cover, for example Us-05 is the famed "Chico", so if you are paying 7-8 bucks for Wyeast 1056 American/Chico Ale Yeast, and STILL have to buy DME to make a starter to have enough viable cells, then you are ripping yourself off....Especially if you are not washing and reusing it.

So, one big way to save money, is to look at your recipes, see what yeast you are using, and if there is a comparable dry strain, the use it.
 
It varies, but usually it's $10-$18 per 5 gallon batch.

I buy grain in bulk, hops in bulk (and kept vacuum packed in the freezer) and wash my yeast. I use tap water, or a mix of tap/reverse osmosis water, so don't spend much more than $1.50 on water per batch if that.

thats about what I pay too

I only buy hops in bulk though, I just buy the grain when I'm ready to brew
 
How long do hops last after you open one of those sealed bags they come in? I have half an once of magnum hops left over from a beer I brewed 3 months ago. Plus a little bit of mt. hood.
 
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