Arrheinous
Well-Known Member
I haven't really noticed it and I wouldn't expect it but are beer kits priced lower or higher than their respective components?
I just checked a randomly selected kit at Midwest Supplies (their Pilsen lager). The kit costs $28.49. The individual components cost $27.78. So it's slightly cheaper to buy the components, but it's not a big markup. If you have the capacity to do bulk buys, that will help, but otherwise it doesn't look like it makes much difference. (That is assuming that this is a representative example.)
Yeah, I don't think it's really fair to compare the kit price to bulk prices. If you're doing extract batches, other than for hops, the benefits of bulk are pretty small or nonexistent.
If you want to be sure you get the best deal, you just have to add up the prices for each kit, because it varies. I've never seen a big difference (though I've also never bought a kit).
Sure, but then you have to deal with either large quantities of sticky DME or have to be sure you get through your LME quickly enough that you use it up while it's still fresh. I don't see either of those as being attractive options.
Split up your DME outside into 2 or 3 lb bags and don't get LME. Problem solved.
Yep, you can do that if you want, but it's a lot more trouble and mess than other bulk options.
I totally agree. AG is the way to go, but some people haven't gotten that far yet or prefer the repeatability of extract. Before I went AG, I was getting 55 lb bags of DME. I'm a cheap bastard.
Yeah, I am still doing PMs so I go through quite a bit of DME, but I'm not hard core enough to go with bulk. I'd probably get through a 55 lb bag in a year if I did go that route, and when I got my vacuum sealer I thought about making the investment, but I get enough sticky dust around the kitchen just opening a couple 3 lb bags. Also my son is allergic to wheat (not celiac, an allergy), and it seems that the barley glutens are also a problem for him, so I try to keep dust down to a minimum.
Anyway, I don't mean to discourage anyone from saving a buck going in bulk, but for purposes of comparing kits to raw ingredients, I think it's fairest to compare single-batch prices since I'd think most people doing enough brewing to be making bulk buys are probably rolling their own. (I could be wrong, and I'm sure there are exceptions, though.)
I would use 10 or 11 lbs of DME for each 5 gallon batch.
That's well above an average beer gravity. As I said, I do partial mashes, so I usually use about 3 lbs in a go. Even so, a beer with 10 or 11 lbs would exceed gravity of the heaviest beer I've ever made (and that used mostly LME because I wanted Munich).
So if anything, I think this thread has demonstrated that you have to run your own comparisons, because the results depend on your assumptions.
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