Make your own beer, they said. You'll save money, they said.

[AzOr]

Similar experience with installing a wood burning stove to save money:

Stove $1200
Chainsaw $200
Donation to local Vol Fire Dept for 1st chimney fire response $100
New Pickup Truck $25,000
New rear window for Pickup truck $150
Redneck tow to get pickup truck out of mud (AAA doesn't go into the woods) $50
Emergency room bill to get splinters out of eye $250
Donation to local Vol Fire Dept for 2nd chimney fire response $100
New coffee table (old one chopped up and burned while drunk) $400
Chiropractor bill for herniated discs in back $300
Divorce settlement to the tune of $40,000 or so.

Brilliant! I need to upgrade my vehicle too. Those 50lb sacks of grain are gonna eventually wear out the suspension on my Subaru. It’s practically unsafe to be on the roads with that kind of load.
A new truck only makes sense.

Wish me luck.

 

[Golddiggie]

Brilliant! I need to upgrade my vehicle too. Those 50lb sacks of grain are gonna eventually wear out the suspension on my Subaru. It’s practically unsafe to be on the roads with that kind of load.
A new truck only makes sense.

Wish me luck.

The new (2021) Silverado 2500HD series are nice.

Even though I could transport plenty in the bed of my 2020 1500. Or hook up a trailer if I needed to transport even more.

 

[verboten]

Yeah, my tap tower cost more than my daily driver car.

 

[Velnerj]

Here are two memes I created a long time ago to depict our financial plight as homebrewers

 

[robertkerr79]

So after buying the ingredients (I wont include that) I finally made my first solo brew - came out ok but bottling sucked and I got too much oxygen into my beer.

Am I the only one who's happy enough bottling? I'll admit that the sanitising step is a bit laborious, but an evening listening to music and completing the job is well spent in my opinion. When I'm done, the bottles stand before me like loyal subjects. It's very satisfying to see the output of the process, plus they're easy to share, ration, and you can see when you're going to run out.

We'll see if I change my tune once I've bottled a NEIPA.

 

[OldDogBrewing]

Am I the only one who's happy enough bottling? I'll admit that the sanitising step is a bit laborious, but an evening listening to music and completing the job is well spent in my opinion. When I'm done, the bottles stand before me like loyal subjects. It's very satisfying to see the output of the process, plus they're easy to share, ration, and you can see when you're going to run out.

We'll see if I change my tune once I've bottled a NEIPA.

I enjoy bottling too, I have an Spotify playlist for brewing related chores, so I just turn on my music and go ahead with the bottling, plus I brew mostly belgian beers so I need to bottle condition.

I'm aware of its limitations so I'm thinking about getting a keg and a keezer for more hoppy brews in a future

 

[Brewbuzzard]

One of my brew buddies owns the LHBS and 20 years ago he told me it actually wouldn't save much money but I could make what I liked and it's a hell of a lot of fun.

In 2011 I had a horrible harley wreck which almost killed me. When I got back on my feet my wife said you can have a new Harley or that backyard brewery you've dreamed about.

 

[Joggin]

I don't want that much stuff to brew all grain. Use the keggel for mash and boil. Batch sparge. Buy copper make chiller. Corona grinder. Reusable paint bags for hops. Thermometer, hydrometer, buckets, padel...basics. Stopped using recipe calculaters long ago. To me micro brewing is like scratch baking. Once you get the idea what's going on and make adjustments you can tell what you'll have in the end.
Anything more technical and it takes the fun out of it for me. If I wanted to brew the exact same thing I'd be a commercial brewer.
Oh and grow your own hops. Could care less what exact AA they are. It's only beer. Enjoy the process.

 

[PaleMan]

The old saying you get what you pay for. If you want seriously good beer, expect to pay for seriously good equipment, and ingredients.
If you want low cost, bodgy, twangy beer. Go to a supermarket and get a can of goop and sugar.

 

[Ragman]

Just found a grain mill on CL.- $50 lol.

As many have stated, it isnt necessarily about the money if you enjoy the hobby. And I do enjoy it.
I also enjoy drinking beer. I prefer IPA's and Stouts. I have yet to find a domestic that satisfies anymore.
The beers I usually drink range from about $1.75 to $5 each. If I dont think about the equipment and the time, and just about the ingredients then I am spending around $1.50 a beer. Im about to knock that down a little with the grain mill and this spring I plan on starting to grow my own hops.
I need to find an inexpensive hop that I like cause thats where the majority of the money spent is going.

Anyway - I dont see myself stopping anytime soon, I have yet to make a beer that is un-drinkable so I feel Im winning.

 

[Ragman]

To me micro brewing is like scratch baking. Once you get the idea what's going on and make adjustments you can tell what you'll have in the end.
Anything more technical and it takes the fun out of it for me. If I wanted to brew the exact same thing I'd be a commercial brewer.

I really like this philosophy and I hope to get there at some point once I have made some I really like. Im sure after many brews I will get to the point where I just throw the stuff together but Im still learning and need to follow recipes and document for now.

 

[bwible]

I did all this, also took it to the extent that I bought a homebrew shop that was going out of business and ran that not very successfully for just about 4 years before running out of money and being forced to go under. So I lost numbers that are significantly higher than others are posting.

Metal detecting is another great hobby to take a loss on:
- Metal detector: $379 (for a cheap one)
- digging tools: $60
- gas: $40
- tolls: $12
- lunch: $10
- bottled water: $4
- batteries: $8
- Suntan oil: $7

-Spending a day on the beach rounding up $1.90 in new clad coins, 47 pulltabs, 36 bottlecaps, 7 pieces of aluminum foil, 2 drug needles, a bobby pin and a broken toy car: priceless.

An outing doesn’t usually even pay for the batteries I use, let alone anything else.

 

[Dancy]

Like many hobbies, it comes down to differentiating between what you want versus what you need. There’s always going to be someone manufacturing some new gizmo which invents a need for the equipment junkie. My needs are dictated by a tight budget and the fact 5 gallon batches are enough for me as I only give small amounts away and my friends don’t brew. I think some home brewers convince themselves they’ll make better beer with more gear when in fact many home brewers with very basic setups make great beer due to consistently executing the basics. To be fair, some are simply brewing at a higher level. Of course how much beer one consumes affects cost and for those who brew a lot of very high gravity beers, you will save money over time.

 

[Jeff Olson]

Although I have around 3 grand i equipment, I also have beer that is very good, and styles not available anywhere near me. Closest home brew supply is 150 miles and that is the distance to quality crafted beers as well. My wife really only wants to drink big rich syrupy imperial stouts, you can't get one for less then 15 buck a bottle. I like sours, a good sour like you get from The Rare Barrel is $15 + for a 375 ml bottle, 12 oz consecration is 12ish. Although we don't drink those all the time, we have definitely saved 3 grand plus over the last 10 years to cover the cost of just those types of beers. The lighter session ale I make cost around 50 bucks (propane included) for a 15 gallon batch. thats around 24 6 packs at 8-10 a pop. so if your going to do this long term it will eventually cost you less for top quality beer, and that the beer of your choice, not just what the local grocery store carries.

 

[NewJersey]

LOL - its been a fun ride so far.. and be forewarned - Im kinda rambling here...

All hobbies can be costly and I got into this because my tastes in beer changed which started to greatly impact my wallet. 2 of my friends let me enjoy their homebrew and told me how much they saved by brewing their own. After drinking some of their delicious brew, I wanted to see if I could make something that duplicated the taste of the more expensive beers my palate was becoming accustomed to.

My friends made all-grain brew which they said was better so I proceeded to build an all-grain setup.

It started with the search for a brew kettle. - My buddies had one built by someone out of a 15 gallon keg with welded taps, thermometer and sight glass. - they ended up spending a pretty penny on it - Almost $300. I wasnt about to spend that much so I looked on craigslist and found a bar owner who was getting rid of some old Kegs. Picked a nice one up for $40.

After cutting the top off with my angle grinder and a cutting wheel, I drilled 2 holes in the bottom and picked up 2 weldless bulkhead kits, a 2 piece ball valve, a thermometer and sight glass from bargainfittings.com for about $80. After assembly, I had my finished brew keg for about $120.

Next I needed a mash tun. I picked up a 70qt coleman cooler from Walmart for about $45, a cooler bulkhead kit from bargainfittings for $25 and I used a washing machine hose for a filter for $6 - so lets call it $80 for the completed mash tun.

OK next was a Hot Liquor Tank. I searched craigslist and found someone who was selling a home depot cooler built as a mash tun as well as some carboys (2-6gal, 1-5gal, and 1-3gal) a smaller copper cooling coil, a funnel, a thermometer, and some tubing all for $100.

While searching craigslist I also found someone selling 2 bottling buckets, 2 bottle cappers, 2 bottle brushes, 4 bubblers, an auto syphon, a large metal stir spoon and a hydrometer all for $25.

I had a propane burner from an old turkey fryer. $0

So at $325, I figured I was done and I did well.........umm I was wrong.

When I brewed with my friends they had the equipment to make the yeast starters - which was necessary to achieve the results we were looking for in our 10 gallon batches.

But the next brew was solo. So I needed to make yeast starters for the large batches I was doing so 2-2000ml flasks, 2 stir plates, and a scale. (all from Amazon) Not too bad but about another $100 for all that.

Decided I wanted to try whirlpooling and easier transfers of wort so I needed a pump. $90 for pump, $40 for fittings, barbs, silicone tubing and valve (bargainfittings) and $40 for whirlpool wand (not sure where i got this but Im sure looking back I couldve gotten it cheaper., . - $170

So now Im up to $595...- cant tell the wife.....

Solo brewing I realized how I was missing some items that my friends had that I didnt. Needed to pick up Star San ($15), PH5.2 ($10) Bottling wand ($4), more tubing ($10) Hop basket ($35) and a strainer for sparging ($7), Bottle caps ($5), DME ($6) sugar for bottling ($6) all these I picked up at the local homebrew supply store - Sunset Hydroponics. - ~$100

$695.....sheesh - I just wanted to make beer......

So after buying the ingredients (I wont include that) I finally made my first solo brew - came out ok but bottling sucked and I got too much oxygen into my beer.

Decided I needed to keg my beer from now on.

Bought a used pinlock 2 -corny keg setup from AIH for $120 - this included 2 used corny kegs, a regulator, fittings, tubing and 2 picnic taps.

Got a 5lb Co2 tank for $70, a freezer for $90 (craigslist), and an inkbird temp controller for $40 (Amazon) - oh and I bought a new autosyphon $15.

$1030 in and I think I have everything I need for a little while. I just had some time and needed to figure out how much I spent. Im wondering if there is anything I missed.

I know I plan to buy 2 forward seal - stainless steel beer faucets and shanks along with a drip tray so Im looking at at least about $125 -$150 for all that.... heh heh - it never ends..

I never thought I would spend this much trying to save on my beer costs but to be honest - its a ton of fun trying to duplicate flavors, creating new recipes and learning some chemistry along the way.

Like I said its been a helluva ride and looking at other setups in this forum, I may have gotten off pretty cheap - what do you guys think?

Anyway, I couldnt have done it without the help of the people on this forum. I appreciate you guys and I am learning more everyday,

Wait until you start buying shiny SS stuff or buy new stuff to replace stuff that is actually still working....
I knew going into it there was no money to be saved.
I also don't answer to my wife on purchases.
Enjoy the hobby, it's as much about the process/tinkering as it is the beer

 

[YeastFeast]

I’m surprised to hear so many people were told you would save money brewing your own? The shop I went into years ago to learn about home brewing said just the opposite. If your looking to get into brewing to save money, you’re going to want to find a different hobby. That couldn’t have been more true.

 

[EthanH]

2 pages of comments on "homebrewing to save money" thread and no one has rolled out this old chestnut yet?

"Homebrewing to save money on beer is like buying a boat to save money on fish."

<shakes head>

 

[bracconiere]

"Homebrewing to save money on beer is like buying a boat to save money on fish."

but i just posted this pic in another thread, and i can brew a 99 cent twelve pack of 8% beer...

"You can always save money and just buy a fishing poll and fish from the pier!"

 

[EthanH]

but i just posted this pic in another thread, and i can brew a 99 cent twelve pack of 8% beer...

"You can always save money and just buy a fishing poll and fish from the pier!"

View attachment 707017

Not saying I subscribe to the homebrew/beer/boat/fish analogy, just surprised it hadn't come up yet.

Speaking for myself, I have a dead-simple BIAB setup that paid for itself ages ago and I buy ingredients in bulk, so I definitely save money brewing (though that was never the intention).

 

[bracconiere]

(though that was never the intention).

when i first started brewing a twelver of milwaukee's was 4.99. and it cost me $25 to brew a five gallon batch. now a twelve pack of "The best from milwaukee" costs ~$9 and i brew a 10 gallon batch of 8-9% for $28. or $8 depending if i feel like malting my own or not......

 

[Joggin]

I really like this philosophy and I hope to get there at some point once I have made some I really like. Im sure after many brews I will get to the point where I just throw the stuff together but Im still learning and need to follow recipes and document for now.

The more brews you do, take notes. You dial in your system and see the times bad beer happens it's the usual initial learning curve mistakes. Not being sanitary, bad yeast management, yeast pitch temp, etc.
Things I remember, once in winter before going all grain letting the extract get cold and dumped it in without stirring. So it got scorched. Drinkable but could taste it in background. Watch out for boilovers adding hops. Where I'm at the water is fine so not a problem but still use a bit of campton just in case.
As for saving money I oven roast soaked pils to my liking for crystal malt and roast pale for a munich like taste. Going too dark stinks up the house though. Rather buy.

 

[Ragman]

The more brews you do, take notes. You dial in your system and see the times bad beer happens it's the usual initial learning curve mistakes. Not being sanitary, bad yeast management, yeast pitch temp, etc.
Things I remember, once in winter before going all grain letting the extract get cold and dumped it in without stirring. So it got scorched. Drinkable but could taste it in background. Watch out for boilovers adding hops. Where I'm at the water is fine so not a problem but still use a bit of campton just in case.
As for saving money I oven roast soaked pils to my liking for crystal malt and roast pale for a munich like taste. Going too dark stinks up the house though. Rather buy.

Yeah ive learned from a few mistakes - luckily they didnt ruin the beer to the point it was undrinkable.

Oxidation in my hazy IPA was so far the biggest one. - gray colored and off tasting after about a week.
Over carbing the bottled beer was one - foamed but when it got done foaming I could still drink some of it.
I had boil over once - only need that to happen once...what a mess.
Took the leftovers from two different batches of beer (stuff that wouldnt fit in the carboy) added a packet of dry yeast. This stuff was baaaaddd - still drank it though.
My water is good but I add the 5.2 just to try to even out the PH.

Sanitation has been paramount... of everything I have read... it seems to be the #1 cause for bad beer. I sanitize the **** out of everything.

 

[bracconiere]

My water is good but I add the 5.2 just to try to even out the PH.

is that a future prediction, for your next mistake. most people around here say it doesn't work. makes me want to try it again with a $100 ph meter! lol, damn and i just had to drop over 40 on a new probe too!

 

[bwible]

Certain brews do pay to brew vs what you buy them for. I would guess nobody here is brewing Budweiser - because you can’t brew it for what they sell it for, let alone you can’t brew it as well as they do. Economy of scale. You can just buy Budweiser for less than your ingredients would even cost, not even taking your time and energy or anything else into account.

Now if you like old ales and barleywines, you can definitely brew those for way less than you buy them for. Price a case of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot. These are wonderful beers to drink all winter long when its freezing cold outside.

I also like to read about and try to brew beers I cannot buy. Commercial examples of Mild ale do not exist in the US, yet this has been one of my pet styles for about as long as I have been brewing. Bitters, etc that are from the UK and not readily available in the states. This is where I put my energy.

Somebody hook me up with a solid recipe for Foothills Brewing Sexual Chocolate. Not available within 200 miles of where I live.

 

[Bad Bubba]

I got a good chuckle out of many posts in this thread. I took up homebrewing as a hobby and experience has shown me my hobbies are hardly ever about saving money. I want to be cost effective but I also want to master the art of brewing as much as possible. I know guys who make good beer fermenting in plastic buckets. But as I have spent a lot of time explaining to my wife, you need some really shiny things to make great beer.

It should be about enjoyment and fun. If you save some money in the process, then good for you.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

I'm a gadget nut and love to design, build, and use what I build. I get great satisfaction seeing my DIY electric system work as planned and the beers win in competition. It is definitely true you don't need expensive equipment to brew great beers. My beers have gotten better and my wins are more frequent because of experience not elaborate equipment but it is nice to sit back with a cigar and beer listen to jazz and let the system handle things for awhile.
Prost

 

[Spikybits]

$90+ for a 5g keg of 805 or something similar craft(nothing crazy like Melvin 4x8 that costs $180 in beer alone), or $16 for each 5 gallon i put in the kegerator..... average keg lasts 2 weeks or less at my house.

Save money in the long run by far

 

[ctowry]

Am I the only one who's happy enough bottling? I'll admit that the sanitising step is a bit laborious, but an evening listening to music and completing the job is well spent in my opinion. When I'm done, the bottles stand before me like loyal subjects. It's very satisfying to see the output of the process, plus they're easy to share, ration, and you can see when you're going to run out.

We'll see if I change my tune once I've bottled a NEIPA.

I remember bottling. I started brewing 25 years ago with a wedding present starter kit. That was a true friend! I loved brewing from the start even from the Coopers Extract kits. Now of course all grain. However the one thing that almost ruined it for me was the PIA of bottling. I saw the laborious process of collecting bottles, cleaning bottles, drying bottles, and sanitizing bottles even before you could bottle 30 something individual containers from a brew day laborious to say the least. Then another friend turned me on to 5 gallon ball lock kegs. Were cheap and widely available back then used. The move to one bottle (keg) saved me with brewing. Now with a home built kegerator, growlers, a beer gun, and even a few bottles around I feel like I have the best of of both. Keg all the time, bottle when I need to. Growler to a party. Or keg to a larger gathering. Everyone sees it differently and what works for me doesn’t work for everyone. I admire your patience and dedication to bottling. If you really enjoy it don’t ever start kegging because you might never look back! Cheers.

 

[cubalz]

Some of the most expensive beer I have ever drank came directly from my brew room. I totally get it and would not change a thing.

 

[Bill Tong]

Great post!

I started AG brewing 5 months ago, because we had a hard lockdown in South Africa due to C19 and all alcohol sales were prohibited. Not knowing how long the lockdown would last, my mission was to not run out of beer.

Little did I know that it will change the way I look at a beer forever!

I make and enjoy drinking beers now I never would have even considered ordering at a pub. I also remember there used to be a time when I thought about things other than my next brew.