I am poor.

[SeamusMac]

Unless you live in Canada, especially BC, where an 18 pack of Canadian (BMC) costs you over $30.

Here here! In Quebec where a 24 goes for about $20 CDN I may have never started making my own beer, but in Nova Scotia we pay $40+ for the same product!

I don't like the taste of most popular macrobrews and my favorite local microbrew craft ale is pretty damned expensive at $13 CDN for 6! University is expensive and time consuming so I started using Brew House and Festa Brew kits, which are priced at around $30-$35 and take very little time and effort to complete. For a brewer on a budget I'd suggest using kits like these because it allows for more time to be spent at work

 

[BeerArchitect54]

Hit the local supermarket and ask the bakery for a few 5 Gal. buckets that there frosting comes in.. They are big enough for a 5 Gal. batch with a proper blow off.. I brewed my first 5 Gal. batch this weekend and it’s blowing off as we speak. I had the same budget issue.. I got a few things from northern brewer like a spigot, air lock, and blow off, etc... I drilled the bucket myself for the spigot and airlock.

 

[Weezknight]

I always see these posts about not homebrewing for price, but I can't see how it won't save you money. The beer I was purchasing was running me about $45-$50 per case. With homebrewing I'm hoping to be able to do 2 cases of a beer that I create and can mold to my liking for $25-$35. Yes if you add in a lot of equipment the savings aren't that great, but it IS possible to homebrew and save money on beer.

 

[madewithchicken]

if you are just looking to get drunk Apfelwien is about as cheap as it gets really. But it costs almost the same as a cheap miller high life.

But if you really want to make your own i would go with the home depot bucket with a stopper and an air lock.

Here is the recipe for apfelwien:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/

from there you can get a hose and siphon into 2 liter bottles.

in the end you may save money if you are drinking nice beer already. If you are drinking crap beer then just keep drinking crap beer.

 

[BeerArchitect54]

No home depot buckets!!! They are not food grade and should not be used.. Like I said hit the supermarket and ask at the bakery for there 5 Gal. Frosting bucket... Star san it and your ready to go...

 

[Gosassin]

No home depot buckets!!! They are not food grade and should not be used.. Like I said hit the supermarket and ask at the bakery for there 5 Gal. Frosting bucket... Star san it and your ready to go...

They are #2 HDPE, which is safe for use as a food container: CHEC Lists: Plastics: What Do Those Numbers Mean? The icing buckets I have gotten from my local Kroger are also #2, so it's six of one, half dozen of the other. Plus the HD buckets will hold 5 gallons, whereas the icing buckets I got are only 2.5 gallons.

 

[llazy_llama]

No home depot buckets!!! They are not food grade and should not be used.. Like I said hit the supermarket and ask at the bakery for there 5 Gal. Frosting bucket... Star san it and your ready to go...

The Home Depot Homer buckets work fine. Relax.

 

[Revvy]

They are #2 HDPE, which is safe for use as a food container: CHEC Lists: Plastics: What Do Those Numbers Mean? The icing buckets I have gotten from my local Kroger are also #2, so it's six of one, half dozen of the other. Plus the HD buckets will hold 5 gallons, whereas the icing buckets I got are only 2.5 gallons.

The Home Depot Homer buckets work fine. Relax.

Yep they're fine to use...except they are too small for true 5 gallon batches.

There's a few threads on this topic already, with some good tips.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/how-would-you-go-cheap-54603/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/buying-brewing-equipment-non-hb-store-55302/#post560350

Most everything we use in brewing, except ingredients and a few dedicated tools (hydrometers, etc.) can be found in at the hardware, discount and dollar stores, much cheaper...If its used to prepare the wort, then it can be found in the kitchen supply section for a lot less... My strainer was 4.95 at the grocery store as opposed to 15 bucks at my LHBS...My big spoons came from the dollar store, my big funnel was a 1.50 at the hardware store...

My 5 gallon stainless pot for extract or stovetop brewing I got a dollar general for 9.99

 

[Malticulous]

I found six gallon buckets for $7 at a food storage place. They come with excellent lids too. 90% of my brews don't even need a blowoff with them but I only do five gallon batches not 5.5.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

...and I've still got that old Prohibition-era capper, use it on every batch.

The moral? You can brew very, very cheaply. The question is: what do you want?

I have one like that. It's OLD. Cast Iron, painted red. I really need to take a good lok at it and see if there is a name/date on it. I keg so I haven;t used it in a while.

You guys are NERDS!!

No, I think the correct term is ENLIGHTENED.

Besides, this gives the next guy who searches this out a bunch of ready made answers.

 

[usul]

Besides, this gives the next guy who searches this out a bunch of ready made answers.

I am going to start my first brew in 4 days, and i very much enjoyed this thread, lots of good insight. I really like this website, lots of helpful people, and i love nuances.