Reckless brewing

[Rick Crane]

I brewed Captain's Ration Stout and followed the all grain recipe step by step. I had to build the kit from scratch btw, because Midwest brewing supplies and Northern did not have the Captains Ration kit in stock and i waited, and waited, and waited for it to be in stock.

Anyway, I just bought everything seperate and it cost me $90.00. Way too much money, but I needed to brew. I forgot to buy the .5 lbs Simpsons CrystalLight and thought i should substitute something for it, so In the last 15 minutes of the boil I added a cup of LME. It tastes pretty good and has a high gravity. I ended up with 4.5 gallons in the carboy and satisfied the itch to brew again

Erik

 

[worlddivides]

$90 for a batch being a lot or a little really depends on what's in it. The least I've spent for a 5 gallon batch was probably around $15, while the most I've spent for a 5 gallon batch was over $200. Even a difference between 1 packet of dry yeast versus 2-3 separate liquid yeasts can make a huge difference in price. And especially if you're adding pricy ingredients or whatever.

I've never heard of this Captain's Ration Stout before, but I'm guessing it must be pretty unique for you to recreate it individually like that. Is it an RIS or something?

 

[mac_1103]

I just bought everything seperate and it cost me $90.00. Way too much money, but I needed to brew.

I usually find that I can put together a recipe for less than the cost of a pre-packaged kit. But maybe part of that is buying grains and hops in bulk.

 

[IslandLizard]

Glad to hear you brewed again, that's always an accomplishment!

I forgot to buy the .5 lbs Simpsons CrystalLight

It's listed as 30-37 °Lovibond, I'd say any crystal malt between 20 and 40°L(ovibond) would have been fine. In a dark beer the color and flavor of the lighter crystal malts are added for flavor complexity and are not that critical. Moreover, you may never miss it.

BTW, that picture, is that showing your OG at around 1.078?

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I brewed Captain's Ration Stout and followed the all grain recipe step by step. I had to build the kit from scratch btw, because Midwest brewing supplies and Northern did not have the Captains Ration kit in stock and i waited, and waited, and waited for it to be in stock.

Anyway, I just bought everything seperate and it cost me $90.00. Way too much money, but I needed to brew. I forgot to buy the .5 lbs Simpsons CrystalLight and thought i should substitute something for it, so In the last 15 minutes of the boil I added a cup of LME. It tastes pretty good and has a high gravity. I ended up with 4.5 gallons in the carboy and satisfied the itch to brew again

Erik

Could you elaborate on what was included for your brew to cost $90?
Just curious what the break down is and maybe we can help point you to some spots to save on your next batch.

 

[BrewZer]

Anyway, I just bought everything seperate and it cost me $90.00

Wow! Are you buying grains by the ounce???

 

[mac_1103]

$59 with shipping at BrewHardware FWIW. And that's a pound each of the specialty grains and a pack of S-04. The NB kit, if it wasn't out of stock, would be $55 and $10 for the yeast. Spend another $34 and you qualify for "free" shipping.

 

[Rick Crane]

Could you elaborate on what was included for your brew to cost $90?
Just curious what the break down is and maybe we can help point you to some spots to save on your next batch.

Sorry for the late reply. With some of the grains, I needed half a pound, but the smallest qty I could get is one pound.

 

[Rick Crane]

I brewed Captain's Ration Stout and followed the all grain recipe step by step. I had to build the kit from scratch btw, because Midwest brewing supplies and Northern did not have the Captains Ration kit in stock and i waited, and waited, and waited for it to be in stock.

Anyway, I just bought everything seperate and it cost me $90.00. Way too much money, but I needed to brew. I forgot to buy the .5 lbs Simpsons CrystalLight and thought i should substitute something for it, so In the last 15 minutes of the boil I added a cup of LME. It tastes pretty good and has a high gravity. I ended up with 4.5 gallons in the carboy and satisfied the itch to brew again

Erik

Here's the bill from midwest supplies. On some of the grains I only needed half a pound, but the smallest qty I could get is one pound.

 

[Rick Crane]

Glad to hear you brewed again, that's always an accomplishment!


It's listed as 30-37 °Lovibond, I'd say any crystal malt between 20 and 40°L(ovibond) would have been fine. In a dark beer the color and flavor of the lighter crystal malts are added for flavor complexity and are not that critical. Moreover, you may never miss it.

BTW, that picture, is that showing your OG at around 1.078?

Yes, OG 1.078, is that high? Maybe I added too much LME.

 

[Rick Crane]

$59 with shipping at BrewHardware FWIW. And that's a pound each of the specialty grains and a pack of S-04. The NB kit, if it wasn't out of stock, would be $55 and $10 for the yeast. Spend another $34 and you qualify for "free" shipping.

Thanks! I will shop there from now on. Midwest raped me on this.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Thanks! I will shop there from now on. Midwest raped me on this.

Shame on Midwest, those prices are really expensive.

There's a lot of places selling home brew supplies and unfortunately not many local shops anymore. I think most everyone here shops around but picking one spot is good too. A knowledgeable staff is a great benefit too a person should consider.

When you get ramped up brewing on a regular basis look for bulk purchases to save some money. Try looking at recipes that share some of the same grains. I keep lots of base grains in stock then I only need to buy the specialty ones. Dry yeast can keep a long time so buying it in bulk can save some cash.

 

[NewBrewer2025]

I have been looking at some of these sites for either kits and/or other things, and sometimes the shipping will cost just as much as the kits. It's a bit ridiculous.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yes, OG 1.078, is that high? Maybe I added too much LME.

At 1.078 it's only 6 points higher (~8%) than the recipe's prediction of 1.072. That's never bad in a bigger Stout.

About half, 3-4 points, is from the extra LME addition and the remainder possibly from a somewhat larger boil-off and/or better mash efficiency.

 

[Bobby_M]

I have been looking at some of these sites for either kits and/or other things, and sometimes the shipping will cost just as much as the kits. It's a bit ridiculous.

Who deserves the ridicule? That is the question.

 

[MaxStout]

I have been looking at some of these sites for either kits and/or other things, and sometimes the shipping will cost just as much as the kits. It's a bit ridiculous.

Kits are bulky and heavy and shipping isn't cheap. You could wait until you need a bunch of other things and order it all at once. That spreads the shipping costs across several items. Economy of scale.

This might be the impetus to start building your own recipes. As @mac_1103 mentioned, it's often cheaper to buy the components than the kits.

 

[NewBrewer2025]

Kits are bulky and heavy and shipping isn't cheap. You could wait until you need a bunch of other things and order it all at once. That spreads the shipping costs across several items. Economy of scale.

This might be the impetus to start building your own recipes. As @mac_1103 mentioned, it's often cheaper to buy the components than the kits.

It's just given me an incentive to get things through my local brew house, which I am not against anyway, and it's the better thing to do! They mostly have what I need.

 

[Snuffy]

Sorry for the late reply. With some of the grains, I needed half a pound, but the smallest qty I could get is one pound.

Build your custom grain bill at https://www.greatfermentations.com/ and you'll get every component at fractional quantity and bagged together or separate. Hops too.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

In the upper mid-west there is also Home Brew Ohio (HBT Sponsor), FarmHouse Brewing Supply (HBT Sponsor), and RiteBrew. I did some price checking a while back - total order cost (including shipping) at any of these three is less than MoreBeer or NB/MWS/AIH/AHS.

 

[MaxStout]

I often order supplies from Brew Hardware, and even being shipped halfway scross the US, it still beats MW/NB, et al.

Seconded on Ritebrew. I've had good luck with William's, too.

 

[IslandLizard]

I usually find that I can put together a recipe for less than the cost of a pre-packaged kit. But maybe part of that is buying grains and hops in bulk.

As @mac_1103 mentioned, it's often cheaper to buy the components than the kits.

A brew friend of mine always buys all grain kits, usually from NB. Alas, he waits until they're offered "on sale," such as 3 for $xx.99.
He also signed up for email deals, so he gets similar "exclusive" offers from them too, often by means of a coupon code. That way he stocks up for 6-12 months of brewing. He brews once a month on average.

The total price of the 3-fer kits is usually high enough to qualify for free shipping at the outfit offering the deal. Any extras, such as specialty malts, hops and yeast, can be added to the purchase, and ship free when ordered along with the (3-fer) kit deals or other special offers.

We've discussed, compared, and calculated several times over the years to see if there are any savings to be had by ordering the "kit" components separately, and buying 1/2 or 1 pound hops from Yakima or HopsDirect. Usually it's a wash, or the "special kit deal" with some add-ons comes out to be a bit better.

 

[Snuffy]

The component of kits that makes or breaks the quality of the deal is usually yeast. Those kit specials only stay a deal if you go with the dry stuff. You add 40 bucks for 3 packs of slurry and you are easily in free shipping territory.

 

[Rick Crane]

Yes, OG 1.078, is that high? Maybe I added too much DME.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yes, OG 1.078, is that high? Maybe I added too much DME.

This was answered in post #14, above^.
BTW, you said you had added LME, not DME.

 

[IslandLizard]

The component of kits that makes or breaks the quality of the deal is usually yeast. Those kit specials only stay a deal if you go with the dry stuff. You add 40 bucks for 3 packs of slurry and you are easily in free shipping territory.

Yup, the price of (their) liquid yeast* tends to be on the high side, but if you can add them to your order that already qualifies for "free shipping," or gets you to the "free shipping" amount, you save the money for shipping them separately.

* The price of liquid yeast pouches has about doubled over the past 2 years.
Although the initial purchase today of a pouch of liquid yeast can make you shiver, you can save quite a bit of money by making large (overbuild) starters and always save some out for a next starter, and so on.

Even the individual sachets of dry yeast these outfits sell are much higher than buying a bunch of them at the better places (e.g., RiteBrew.com).
If you use the same (dry) yeast often, or brew large batches, buying a 500g brick can make sense, as long as you understand how to keep it frozen and the content dry.

 

[MaxStout]

For dry, lager yeasts tend to be higher priced than ale yeast. Plus, you usually need to pitch more lager yeast. Double whammy. If you brew a lot of lagers, or plan to, getting a brick might be an option to consider. E.g., W34/70 is a good all-around lager yeast, and a brick can be found for as low as around $150. That's equivalent to 43 packets.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Seconded on Ritebrew. I've had good luck with William's, too.

Seconded on Williams.

On the side topic of email discounts, Home Brew Ohio (HBT Sponsor) and Williams (HBT Sponsor) periodically run sales that (for me) result in final prices that almost match RiteBrew. As 'they' often say, 'free shipping isn't free'.

 

[MaxStout]

Seconded on Williams.

On the side topic of email discounts, Home Brew Ohio (HBT Sponsor) and Williams (HBT Sponsor) periodically run sales that (for me) result in final prices that almost match RiteBrew. As 'they' often say, 'free shipping isn't free'.

Yup, you pay the shipping on the front end or the back end. That's why I always say to populate the carts in several sites, add shipping and see which one is best.

If you shop William's, sign up for their email newsletter. They usually shoot a couple each week and feature different items. Sooner or later they'll discount something you want.

 

[Rick Crane]

This was answered in post #14, above^.
BTW, you said you had added LME, not DME.

Sorry,

I added Dry malt, not liquid malt. I took a 2cups of hot wert and stired in a about a cup of dry malt, and added it back to the boil in the last 15 minutes.

 

[Rick Crane]

At 1.078 it's only 6 points higher (~8%) than the recipe's prediction of 1.072. That's never bad in a bigger Stout.

About half, 3-4 points, is from the extra LME addition and the remainder possibly from a somewhat larger boil-off and/or better mash efficiency.

Thanks for the breakdown on OG and alcohol. It is always good to hear from a pro on such things. Like I said previously by mistake, I added dry malt not liquid malt . I used a few handfulls of rice hulls too, and that helped i could tell the difference.

I use a Brewers edge mash and boil, and all the boiling, cooling and draining is done in a tall cylindar type vesel. I appreciate the comments and advice.
Erik