lower priced ingredient kits

[Patton191]

FYI - The Midwest 20 minute kits are canned prehopped kits with some extra grain.

We have about 100 kits at about 50 cents a beer or less. I guess I need to make a list on the website.

Forrest

Which kits at AHS are under $24 including yeast?? I looked around there and even the Texas blonde was gonna be $25 with yeast and that was the Cooper's dry.

Edit: assuming one gets 48 beers out of a batch.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Which kits at AHS are under $24 including yeast?? I looked around there and even the Texas blonde was gonna be $25 with yeast and that was the Cooper's dry.

Edit: assuming one gets 48 beers out of a batch.

About 50-52 bottles usually.

 

[hcarter]

I've used morebeer (B3), I got the Irish Red Ale. I thought it was a great kit.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Which kits at AHS are under $24 including yeast?? I looked around there and even the Texas blonde was gonna be $25 with yeast and that was the Cooper's dry.

Edit: assuming one gets 48 beers out of a batch.

Our kits are designed to have 5 gallons of beer at the end not 4 1/2.

5 x 128= 640/12= 53 bottles x 50 cents = $26.50.

Are you looking at extract or all grain? All grain would be less but requires additional equipment and time.

All of this beer by price reminds me of a cartoon I saw once. The man was in Walmart and he was talking to a clerk. The caption said "I am looking for a book in the 3 dollar range"

If people want a line of inexpensive generic beers that taste good I can do that. Style is out the window, but price and taste is still there.

Let me know. I am here for you.

Forrest

 

[llazy_llama]

Our kits are designed to have 5 gallons of beer at the end not 4 1/2.

5 x 128= 640/12= 53 bottles x 50 cents = $26.50.

Are you looking at extract or all grain? All grain would be less but requires additional equipment and time.

All of this beer by price reminds me of a cartoon I saw once. The man was in Walmart and he was talking to a clerk. The caption said "I am looking for a book in the 3 dollar range"

If people want a line of inexpensive generic beers that taste good I can do that. Style is out the window, but price and taste is still there.

Let me know. I am here for you.

Forrest

Honestly, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a couple of these recipe kits on hand. I know that I have a lot of friends who can't appriciate good beers. If you had a cheap kit that would taste decent, low ABV, and be mostly lighter styles, I would keep a few of these on hand to satisfy the thirsty masses.

Anyone else?

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I could easily come up with a line of 6 gallon kits that would only cost about 3 dollars more than the 5 gallon ones. That would be 64 beers instead of 53. But that would shake up the industry too much. The rest of the industry would not like me doing that. Everyone has 5 gallon carboys.

I could switch all of my kits to 6 gallon and the beer equipment kits would come with a 6 gallon secondary.

What do you guys think?
Maybe make it an option.

I think it would be cool to shake up the industry.

Forrest

P.S. I said it first, let's see who steals it.

 

[llazy_llama]

You do that, and I personally promise to buy several 7 gallon buckets from your site, as well as the recipe kits.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

We now have a catagory called 50 cent beers (or is that Fiddy cent).

There are about 120 kits at that price or lower.

In the extract column are the less expensive (not cheap - cheap implies quality) kits.

In the all-grain section are the less expensive all grain kits.

Forrest

 

[orangeandblue302]

We now have a catagory called 50 cent beers (or is that Fiddy cent).

There are about 120 kits at that price or lower.

In the extract column are the less expensive (not cheap - cheap implies quality) kits.

In the all-grain section are the less expensive all grain kits.

Forrest

Fiddy Cent Beers WOOT WOOT..lol.

I would absolutely buy from AHBS if i didnt have my LHBS so close to me (minute drive on a windy day). I will but from either you or my LHBS in the future if she cant keep ingredients in supply but even during the christmas season she did very well with demand. So austin dont be mad i havent bought from you yet but I have been looking....

 

[Patton191]

From every website I have searched morebeer seems to be the cheapest, if you want to brew one of the 5 beers they have in the 50c section. $22-23 including yeast seems to be the best I have found. Austin homebrew has kits in that range, but without yeast.

 

[brown_dog_us]

Why not make your own Blonde Ale?

Try this recipe:
(prices are from Morebeer)
6 lbs of ultra light LME-13.80
.5 lbs crystal 15L - 0.78
.5 lbs Victory - .85
1 once of Willamette- 2.00
nottingham dry yeast- 1.65

That is $19.08 for 5 gallons with an OG of 1.047

 

[enderwig]

One of the tricks to saving on shipping is to purchase as many kits at one time as you can, that way you only pay shipping once. Most of the reputable online shops have flat rate shipping, or free shipping if you spend over a certain amount.

 

[Scrow]

My LHBS has Brewer's Best brand (I think that's the name) kits ranging from $22 to $35 per kit (depending on the style of beer). Looks like a decent price compared to online?

 

[Patton191]

Why not make your own Blonde Ale?

Try this recipe:
(prices are from Morebeer)
6 lbs of ultra light LME-13.80
.5 lbs crystal 15L - 0.78
.5 lbs Victory - .85
1 once of Willamette- 2.00
nottingham dry yeast- 1.65

That is $19.08 for 5 gallons with an OG of 1.047

Interesting point, normally self made recipes are more expensive than just buying a kit. I will take that into account thanks alot.

 

[like2brew]

Why not make your own Blonde Ale?

Try this recipe:
(prices are from Morebeer)
6 lbs of ultra light LME-13.80
.5 lbs crystal 15L - 0.78
.5 lbs Victory - .85
1 once of Willamette- 2.00
nottingham dry yeast- 1.65

That is $19.08 for 5 gallons with an OG of 1.047

sounds like a good recipe to me, and excellent price to. hey what can i say i'm on a budget but i like good beer. i'm not one of those people who can forget about how much i spend on a batch. i'm currently buying quarter kegs from the brewery for $56, 75 cents a beer.

 

[dotknott]

With 10+% sales tax + gas money to drive to a LHBS + prices that are no better than online stores I find that its hard to not shop online.

10% !! where do you live? Remind me not to move there.

 

[telemaster]

My problem with midwest is the shipping and they give muntons for dry yeast on almost every kit. From what I have read munton's doesn't seem to be a great dry yeast.

That is why I bought several packets of US-05 with my order from them. Now I use the muntons for soda.

 

[Eves]

10% !! where do you live? Remind me not to move there.

The closest LHBS to me is in the city of Chicago. IL sales tax + Cook sales county tax + Chicago sales tax = 10+% sales tax. Not sure if its true but some have said that the city of Chicago now has the highest sales tax in the country. Sadly even if I shop outside of the city and even the county sales tax is still not far from 10%.

I'd much rather prefer to shop locally but with all the extra costs involved in shopping locally it is just way cheaper for me to buy online. Though I am positive if a LHBS were to open closer to me (or even on my way home from work) I'd still throw 'some' business their way. Nothing quite like being able to run out to pick up a kit/ingredient on the spur of the moment.


EDIT: With regards to the question of whether or not you can build your own beer cheaper than kits... I think if you were to mimic a kit by buying separately you'd have a harder time buying for less. Now if you come up with your own brew I think you could save some money...just as that Blond Ale recipe showed.

And lets not forget partial or AG brewing. If you happen to have the equipment to do even partial mash brewing you could probably save some money going that route. 5 lbs of grain can account for ~50% of your fermentables in a 5gal batch and yet costs way less than extract that would account for that same amount of fermentables.

Lastly...if you're a fan of hoppy brews then hops make up a good chunk of the cost of beer. I mean even if the hop shortage is coming to an end stores might decide not to lower their hop prices in this economy. Try growing your own hops if you can.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

From every website I have searched morebeer seems to be the cheapest, if you want to brew one of the 5 beers they have in the 50c section. $22-23 including yeast seems to be the best I have found. Austin homebrew has kits in that range, but without yeast.

I could have just listed the 25 or so beers that were the same or less than More Beers only 5 kits. But there are a lot of customers that already have yeast so without yeast there are about 120 in that price range. Sure beats 5.

Forrest
Austin Homebrew Supply

 

[JMG680]

I use Austin Homebrew Supply too, They have some $.50 beer too, and flat rate shipping. I also hit up the store any time I am up in the area. My LHBS is just not that good here, and that is crazy cause of the business that goes to Austin from San Antonio

 

[dotknott]

The closest LHBS to me is in the city of Chicago. IL sales tax + Cook sales county tax + Chicago sales tax = 10+% sales tax. Not sure if its true but some have said that the city of Chicago now has the highest sales tax in the country. Sadly even if I shop outside of the city and even the county sales tax is still not far from 10%.

Wow, I work in retail here in RI, and I get a LOT of people from Mass. complaining about the 7% we have in RI over the 5% they have in Mass. People gripe, but if they really cared, they would go to New Hampshire, where there is no sales tax. I can't even begin to imagine having to pay 10%... is it on all sales? here, we have no tax on groceries and clothes, 7% on most other sales except an additional 1.5% on food service.

Lastly...if you're a fan of hoppy brews then hops make up a good chunk of the cost of beer. I mean even if the hop shortage is coming to an end stores might decide not to lower their hop prices in this economy. Try growing your own hops if you can.

I'm just getting into this "hobby" and I'm already planning to add hops to my container garden this year. I don't know that it will really suspend my reliance on the LHBS, but it will allow me to keep a small supply of my own.

Like almost anything I grown in my garden, it won't keep me from having to go to the grocery store, but it does cut back on what I have to buy when I do go.

 

[Eves]

Wow, I work in retail here in RI, and I get a LOT of people from Mass. complaining about the 7% we have in RI over the 5% they have in Mass. People gripe, but if they really cared, they would go to New Hampshire, where there is no sales tax. I can't even begin to imagine having to pay 10%... is it on all sales? here, we have no tax on groceries and clothes, 7% on most other sales except an additional 1.5% on food service.

I am not really sure how the sales tax is broken down in IL (you'd think I would have a clue after living there most of my life). However, I am pretty sure that sales tax on food is slightly lower than the sales tax on everything else.