My new goal- $10.00 to make 5 gallons

[bellmtbbq]

+1 on this post being about more than just making "Cheap Beer".

Also, what process do you use to malt your grain? Is there a guide or detailed instructions available somewhere for malting grain at home?

BYO has a couple good articles. I don't get 100% germination but I get enough DP to convert

It's fun. I'd I need Munich malt for a Dunkel? Done. Crystal 20 L? Done. Only one I can't figure out is Honey Malt

 

[jflongo]

Problem solved. Malt your own grain. Costs me 20 cents a pound unmalted and it costs me nearly nothing to malt and dry during the summer. You could make almost any beer besides IPAs and barleywines using washed yeast. Really not that difficult, you just need to do a protien rest

I can literally make five gallons of pale ale 10 lbs of grain, 3 oz of hops, and washed yeast for under 5 bucks.
10*.3= $3 grain.. Can make my own biscuit, C40, etc etc.. Toasting cost included
3*.50= $1.5 hops.. CTZ, Summit, Cascade, all CHEAP

I get 5-6 generations out of US05.. Not recommended but in my lab I can

I make tons of lagers so liquid yeast costs more even if I get tons of generations. Still costs under 8 bucks for a batch of Bohemian pilsner

Just curious where you buy your 2-row, this is about the lowest I see it at my LHBS.

BRIESS 2-ROW BREWERS MALT - 50 lb, $40

 

[eric19312]

The Briess 2- row you cited is malted. I'm not sure where to go to get unmelted 2- row and am also interested in the answer.

 

[bellmtbbq]

The Briess 2- row you cited is malted. I'm not sure where to go to get unmelted 2- row and am also interested in the answer.

Feed stores. I live in the backwoods and the feed store I use for my farm didn't carry it. Have to go an actual feed mill. You are talking about 55 LB sacks of malted barley, I buy bags for 12 bucks and germinate and dry them myself, and then roast and stew them for speciality and crystal malts. It's a lot more work but it's fun and cheap

 

[weirdboy]

The other day I went to the LHBS bought the ingredients I needed for two batches, along with a couple of airlocks, and the total was around $18. That also includes the ~$2 or whatever I paid for an ounce of hops, because I didn't have any good substitutes from my bulk hops.

One of the batches is a Mild, and the other is a Berliner Weiss. Low OG and low hopping for both. VERY cheap and tasty beers.

 

[Dynachrome]

Try a batch with bread yeast.

Split off a gallon of wort and pitch it for an experiment.

 

[Mojzis]

Try a batch with bread yeast.

Split off a gallon of wort and pitch it for an experiment.

There are some interesting recipes in Radical Brewing that call for bread yeast. Maybe it can't hurt to go old school....

 

[thadius856]

I know it's different, but I was reading some trials with Fleischmann's in Apfelwein, and it consistently ranked right around the bottom in every aspect, including taste, except carbonation level.

 

[fredthecat]

The other day I went to the LHBS bought the ingredients I needed for two batches, along with a couple of airlocks, and the total was around $18. That also includes the ~$2 or whatever I paid for an ounce of hops, because I didn't have any good substitutes from my bulk hops.

One of the batches is a Mild, and the other is a Berliner Weiss. Low OG and low hopping for both. VERY cheap and tasty beers.

yeah going to have to agree, as i think many people said. you could easily make a good, standard homebrew quality beer if its malt focused.

90% 2row, 10% munich an ounce of bittering hops at 60. if you used a belgian yeast, lager or a clean ale it would end up quite nice

 

[TMadness1013]

For those at the proper latitude, you should look into growing your own hops. Definitely will save you a good bit of cash if you use them year after year.

 

[jflongo]

For those at the proper latitude, you should look into growing your own hops. Definitely will save you a good bit of cash if you use them year after year.

I actually had a question about this

I know dry hops are dangerous for dogs, so I make sure I'm careful with them to not drop any when I'm brewing, since I have 2 dogs. Is that the same with growing live ones? If they ate a cone, is that a chance of death as well?

 

[thadius856]

I don't think they'd be much interested in hops of any sort on the vine, to be honest. My dogs hate basically anything green.

Found [post="461095"]one scenario for hops killing a dog[/post].

 

[Crito]

Hops problem is related to labs and greyhounds. If you Google it, you will find people using hops as a natural pesticide. The problem is when hops are mixed with wort and then the dogs eat it. The sweet smell of the wort is what the dogs like.

I am on my second year for hops. My dogs only touch the bines as a chew toy. This was after harvest.

 

[bkl63]

What is really cool about this thread are the tips giving to take the hobby further. It was so much more than making a $10.00 beer (which is possible) but it's about saving $10 to $20 off every beer you make.

 

[BobbiLynn]

I agree, really great money saving tips!

I didn't reach my goal yet, but I did make a 3 gallon batch for $9.00 in supplies!

 

[foodplusbeer]

Has anyone suggested a Berliner Weisse? You could get 5lbs of pale grain for less than 10 bucks and you're done! Use a couple spoons of the raw grain, and a 1 pint sugar water starter of 1.030 gravity to grow some Lacto and Brett, and pitch that. No purchase of hops or yeast necessary. You dont really need to boil long either so you save on energy costs.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Growing hops is seriously simple if you have some available space with full sun. This was only my 2nd year and from 4 rhizomes I got ~6 pounds. And that was growing in a fence, not up a trellis. It greatly saves cost. Toss in a few ounces of rye and a great session IPA with some pizazz is easily doable on the cheap.

 

[Varmintman]

The thing I get from this thread is there are many ways to make good beer. Some cheaper than others but it all ends up as beer.

 

[BobbiLynn]

I also learned that spending a bunch of money doesn't mean you'll make great beer. And vice versa, spending only a little doesn't mean you can't make great beer.

 

[okiedog]

Most home brew competitions are based on style and/or gravity categories. There are so many entries for Big Beers. It would be interesting to see a category for best beer under a specific total dollar amount, ingredients only, including adjuncts. Say $15 or $20 max so as not to narrow the field too much. It would be difficult to calculate and verify specific costs for different fuels and water (bottled, distilled, filtered etc).

 

[Dynachrome]

This has a foreshadowing of becoming one of those threads that grows and gains momentum. Seventeen pages in 4 weeks.

Is anyone familiar enough with Google docs to set up a spreadsheet/database ...source, price, quantity/recipe, others?

I'm in groups at work, but I've never set one up myself.

 

[naga77777]

This has a foreshadowing of becoming one of those threads that grows and gains momentum. Seventeen pages in 4 weeks.

Is anyone familiar enough with Google docs to set up a spreadsheet/database ...source, price, quantity/recipe, others?

I'm in groups at work, but I've never set one up myself.

I'm going to bump this thread-- i see it incredibly ironic, and unfortunate, that this was the final post.

Has anyone suggested a Berliner Weisse? You could get 5lbs of pale grain for less than 10 bucks and you're done! Use a couple spoons of the raw grain, and a 1 pint sugar water starter of 1.030 gravity to grow some Lacto and Brett, and pitch that. No purchase of hops or yeast necessary. You dont really need to boil long either so you save on energy costs.

I'm interested. How long for the boil? How long do you let the starter sit?

I'd like to do this one, also curious if it would render a primary or keg "sours only" after that.

 

[thadius856]

Looking back at this thread, it's really not that hard to make 5 gallons of many brews for $10 ($2/gal), excluding the cost of fuels.

My LHBS sells 2-row at $0.78/lb in bulk, specialty grains at $1.71/lb, Wyeast at $6.50, White Labs at $7.25, dry packets $3-4 each and I buy my hops in bulk at $8-12 per lb. Using my own purchase prices and inventory, BeerSmith tells me the last 7 batches cost (alphabetically sorted):

*Black Pearl Porter - 10.50 gal - $31.52 - $3.00/gal
Centennial Blonde - 10.50 gal - $21.23 - $2.02/gal
Cream of Three Crops - 10.50 gal - $24.78 - $2.36/gal
Haus Pale Ale - 10.50 gal - $28.95 - $2.75/gal
*Kona Fire Rock Clone - 11.50 gal - $38.40 - $3.34/gal
Reaper's Mild - 10.50 gal - $27.38 - $2.60/gal
*Stone Ruination Clone - 10.50 gal - $46.98 - $4.47/gal

Cream of Three Crops comes out the clear winner, but it's lacking in flavor to me. I'm kegging EdWort's Haus Pale Ale today, but it already looks super promising to me. If I decide to keep it always on tap, I'll buy a full sack of Vienna (19% of grist), bringing the price of that grain down 37%. That would make 10.50 gallons $25.85, or $2.46/gal. The same could be said for buying a full sack of Chocolate malt for Milds.

If I didn't live in CA, my grain costs would be substantially lower, driving both recipes well below $2/gal.

* these recipe used 1 Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast, plus a few cents of all-grain canned starter. All other recipes used two packets of dry yeast, rehydrated.

 

[thadius856]

Taking it a step farther, look for styles that are low in ABV or use few specialty malts. Less hoppy brews using cheaper noble hops save addition cash. Look at the price of retailer's kits for a hint as to which styles cost the least to brew:

My LHBS's 10 cheapest all-grain kits:

Belgian Table Beer
Mild
Pale
Pale
Pale
Porter (includes honey)
Pale
Stout
Pale
Brown

Midwest's 10 cheapest kits:

Pale
Stout
Red
Mild
Porter
Brown
Stout
Mexican
Scottish Light
English Bitter

Northern Brewer:

English Pale
Mild
American Wheat
Red
American Pale
Cream
Light lager
Scottish
Pale
Amber

Edit: If you include the cost of bulk EC-1118 and grocery store apple juice on sale, it's hard to beat the cost of Apfelwein boosted with 2# of table sugar per point ABV. At $4 gal and $.60/lb, you can make a 5 gallons of 9% hooch for about $22. Again, cheaper during sales.

 

[TopherM]

I routinely make 5 gallon batches of good sparkling hard cider at about 6.1% ABV for $12.84, not including the cost of CO2.

 

[jflongo]

Now sure if Cider counts I buy Apple Juice when it's about $1 / half gallon. So I bought 11 for $11 and made 5.5 gallon batch of Hard Cider. Plus I already had a 4lb bag of Brown Sugar and used that. Mine came out at 10.35% ABV. Now to be honest though, I bought liquid yeast this time around which was about $6, plus I dry hopped it.

So about 4.5 Gallons of Hopped Cider
1 Gallon of Apple Jack

probably cost me around $20. This summer I'm going to hit up my Apple Orchard though and see if I can get some cider cheaper. Also, next time I'm going to make 11 gallons at a time, and make a 2L starter out of the liquid yeast to make it cheaper and dump it into 2 buckets.

 

[woknblues]

Looking back at this thread, it's really not that hard to make 5 gallons of many brews for $10 ($2/gal), excluding the cost of fuels.

My LHBS sells 2-row at $0.78/lb in bulk, specialty grains at $1.71/lb, Wyeast at $6.50, White Labs at $7.25, dry packets $3-4 each and I buy my hops in bulk at $8-12 per lb. Using my own purchase prices and inventory, BeerSmith tells me the last 7 batches cost (alphabetically sorted):

*Black Pearl Porter - 10.50 gal - $31.52 - $3.00/gal
Centennial Blonde - 10.50 gal - $21.23 - $2.02/gal
Cream of Three Crops - 10.50 gal - $24.78 - $2.36/gal
Haus Pale Ale - 10.50 gal - $28.95 - $2.75/gal
*Kona Fire Rock Clone - 11.50 gal - $38.40 - $3.34/gal
Reaper's Mild - 10.50 gal - $27.38 - $2.60/gal
*Stone Ruination Clone - 10.50 gal - $46.98 - $4.47/gal

Cream of Three Crops comes out the clear winner, but it's lacking in flavor to me. I'm kegging EdWort's Haus Pale Ale today, but it already looks super promising to me. If I decide to keep it always on tap, I'll buy a full sack of Vienna (19% of grist), bringing the price of that grain down 37%. That would make 10.50 gallons $25.85, or $2.46/gal. The same could be said for buying a full sack of Chocolate malt for Milds.

If I didn't live in CA, my grain costs would be substantially lower, driving both recipes well below $2/gal.

* these recipe used 1 Wyeast or White Labs liquid yeast, plus a few cents of all-grain canned starter. All other recipes used two packets of dry yeast, rehydrated.

Taking it a step farther, look for styles that are low in ABV or use few specialty malts. Less hoppy brews using cheaper noble hops save addition cash. Look at the price of retailer's kits for a hint as to which styles cost the least to brew:

My LHBS's 10 cheapest all-grain kits:

Belgian Table Beer
Mild
Pale
Pale
Pale
Porter (includes honey)
Pale
Stout
Pale
Brown

Midwest's 10 cheapest kits:

Pale
Stout
Red
Mild
Porter
Brown
Stout
Mexican
Scottish Light
English Bitter

Northern Brewer:

English Pale
Mild
American Wheat
Red
American Pale
Cream
Light lager
Scottish
Pale
Amber

Edit: If you include the cost of bulk EC-1118 and grocery store apple juice on sale, it's hard to beat the cost of Apfelwein boosted with 2# of table sugar per point ABV. At $4 gal and $.60/lb, you can make a 5 gallons of 9% hooch for about $22. Again, cheaper during sales.

Interesting and informative, thanks!

 

[Dynachrome]

... incredibly ironic, and unfortunate...

My middle names.

 

[augiedoggy]

I think it cost me like 50cents in electricity to brew a 5.5 gallon batch with my electric setup.

I found valuebrews kits and ingredient prices to be the best I've encountered as of yet.... and shipping is very reasonable too.... 5 gallon all grain kits start at like $14! Even with shipping its like $20 for me. Combined shipping makes multiple items cheaper... I bought my specialty grains, hops and yeast packets there and use my local lhbs for stuff I don't stock and my sacks (which have a huge markup but hey I got to support the local shop they are very helpful and convenient...)

http://www.valuebrew.com/collections/ingredient-kits

 

[Hamaki]

I think it cost me like 50cents in electricity to brew a 5.5 gallon batch with my electric setup.

I wish I could get close to that on my electric setup. I'm in California and my brewing is "on top of" all other electrical use in the house so I figure it costs a little over $.30 per KWH. I haven't metered my rig, but I run a 4500 W element in my HLT for probably 1.5 hr total (doubles as a herms) and the 5500 W element in the BK maybe an hour. I figure between this and running my well pump I'm at $3.50 - $4.00 per batch. Still, no worse than what I used to spend for propane. I suppose I could use wood; I have tons of "free" wood.