What is your cost per pint?

[fbaillargeon]

Around 65 cents on my end.

How about you guys?

 

[neosapien]

About .70 here for a bigger beer. I think the cheapest I've done has been around .35

 

[Phunhog]

I probably average .50-.60 for a pint. But that includes everything...propane, ice, water, cleaning supplies, as well as actual ingredients.

 

[Jayhem]

0.45/pint for my session ale.

0.65/pint for my IPAs and Stouts.

This includes the cost of yeast and starter ingredients as well as the propane required to brew the batch.

It was closer to $1.00/pint before I started buying bulk base malt and washing my yeast!

 

[Obliviousbrew]

From € 0.75 to €1.05 for a liter (around two pints) this is with taking acount of all the expenses, water, electric power, cleanears, bottle caps and ingridients. I buy in bulk mostly otherwise it will be around the double (maybe a little less)

 

[TyTanium]

I have this problem of fixed costs behaving more like marginal costs.

 

[jsv1204]

Mine average out close enough to $0.50 that this is what I tell folks.

 

[Jayhem]

Mine average out close enough to $0.50 that this is what I tell folks.

This is why I don't understand why a lot of homebrewers think it doesn't save you money.

I am brewing my homebrews for $4-$6 for a 12-pack of bottles. IF I were to buy Sam Adams @ $16.99/12 pack once a week that equates to a yearly savings of at least $575.

ALL of my equipment (I do AG 11 gallon batches) cost me less than $750. I have been brewing for 1.3 years. I have just now covered my initial equipment investment in savings! From here on out I'll be saving about $575/year on beer so I could spend $500/year on equipment upgrades and STILL save money! Win/Win.

 

[pohldogg]

Brew mostly saisons and sours in the 1.050s and with bulk grain and hops, and repitched yeast I'm running around 30 cents plus electricity. IPAs push into the 50s. Hops are the major impact, each gravity point is only $.003/pint so a bigger beer doesn't add much cost.

 

[Jeffro74]

This is why I don't understand why a lot of homebrewers think it doesn't save you money.

I don't know ANY homebrewers that think they aren't saving money!!! That's all I heard from everyone that talked me into trying it. Granted some save more by AG brewing... others figure extract is still saving them money. But even buying more expensive yeast, extracts and things to try while I'm testing things out... my ingredients and consumables are less than what I would spend on my regular store-bought drinkin' beers.

 

[TyTanium]

I don't know ANY homebrewers that think they aren't saving money!!!

I have in no way saved money by homebrewing. Not even close. Sure, if you hold consumption constant (volume of homebrew vs. equiv volume of commerical), homebrew is somewhat justified, but consumption isn't constant. Marginal cost of beer falls, therefore consumption goes up. Way up.

My total beer expenditure has increased significantly from before I homebrewed.

 

[pohldogg]

+1
My weekly consumption seems to be around 15 homebrews and 6 commercials. Without homebrewing my weekly consumption was about 6 commercials. Have not saved money.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

I´m not doing this to save money I brew because I like beer, I like drinking it and I love brewing it, I try to manage my expenses and streach the dollar like anyone else but money wasn´t a reason for me and it never will.

 

[negativereaction]

+1
My weekly consumption seems to be around 15 homebrews and 6 commercials. Without homebrewing my weekly consumption was about 6 commercials. Have not saved money.

This is accurate and realistic. When I was buying bottled beer, I would feel guilty if I cracked open a third beer in a night, since I knew how much cash I just paid for it. At home, it's faaar to easy to walk out to the taps in the garage and pull a 'free' pint, since it's so far removed from the cash transaction that created it. Result: I drink more homebrew beer than I ever did commercial.

 

[Jayhem]

This is accurate and realistic. When I was buying bottled beer, I would feel guilty if I cracked open a third beer in a night, since I knew how much cash I just paid for it. At home, it's faaar to easy to walk out to the taps in the garage and pull a 'free' pint, since it's so far removed from the cash transaction that created it. Result: I drink more homebrew beer than I ever did commercial.

I understand this argument but what about this side of it:

If you didn't home brew you might be more likely go out to the bar for beers and end up buying dinner as well and end up with $50 bar tabs. Now that I home brew I spend more time brewing and less time going out to eat/drink.

 

[brycelarson]

I don't know ANY homebrewers that think they aren't saving money!!!

No way I'm saving money. I buy tons of beers I don't make - in fact, with my palette getting better due to homebrew and other beer experience I'm buying more expensive beer than ever before.

My total beer expenditure has increased significantly from before I homebrewed.

same.

That said, the cost per unit of enjoyment when homebrewing is really excellent. I can spend $100 on dinner and movies for 5 hours of entertainment for me and my wife or I can spend $20-40 for a good afternoon and weeks of beers. Great deal.

cost per batch ranges from $.50-$.85 / pint.

 

[yso191]

Lets see... $3,873 on brewing expenses since I started in June. 15 gallons brewed... That would be $32.28 per pint.

Steve

 

[TyTanium]

I understand this argument but what about this side of it:

If you didn't home brew you might be more likely go out to the bar for beers and end up buying dinner as well and end up with $50 bar tabs. Now that I home brew I spend more time brewing and less time going out to eat/drink.

I think my cumulative bar tab for my entire life is less than $50, so that argument doesn't hold for me. May hold for others though.

 

[Golddiggie]

Highest cost on mine, for my 15.3% barleywine was about 97 cents per pint (it's still fermenting). Most are in the 45-60 cents per pint range.

I don't go at it trying to make beer as cheap as possible. While we could do it, I doubt many would enjoy drinking that. I'll take my batches (in the above per pint cost range) that taste great every time.

 

[negativereaction]

I understand this argument but what about this side of it:

If you didn't home brew you might be more likely go out to the bar for beers and end up buying dinner as well and end up with $50 bar tabs. Now that I home brew I spend more time brewing and less time going out to eat/drink.

That is a good point as well. Without homebrew as my 'alternate' source of beer, I would normally order a couple pints at a restaurant along with dinner. Now, I have a hard time dropping $6 on a pint, knowing that my nice, cost effective homebrew is waiting for me at home, roughly equivalent in quality to whatever the restaurant is calling a 'premium import' (often Sam Adams or Leinies or some sort of madness like that).

Maybe it all comes out more or less the same in the end. (no, I'm not talking urine).

 

[humann_brewing]

largely dependent on style but anywhere from .20 - 1.00 /12oz. I did a pale with free hops and mostly base grain and reused yeast so that one was probably about .05/12oz

 

[Phunhog]

I have in no way saved money by homebrewing. Not even close. Sure, if you hold consumption constant (volume of homebrew vs. equiv volume of commerical), homebrew is somewhat justified, but consumption isn't constant. Marginal cost of beer falls, therefore consumption goes up. Way up.

My total beer expenditure has increased significantly from before I homebrewed.

You make a good point. I drink more beer now than when I only drank commercial beer. The biggest reason why is that it IS cheaper than buying craft beer. I think you have to think of beer as food. Is it cheaper to make a meal at home or go out to dinner? Of course it's cheaper to eat in even if you factor in the costs of an oven, microwave, dishwasher, pots and pans, utensils, etc. The same holds true for homebrewing.

 

[bobbrewedit]

I drink more beer now that I brew, but prior to brewing, I was getting into drinking scotch and good wine. I promised to stop buying/drinking hard alcohol and wine when I started brewing, so in all, I'm certainly saving money, and my liver! I've never been one to feel "guilty" about pounding another beer though.

 

[JonW]

This is why I don't understand why a lot of homebrewers think it doesn't save you money.

There are a lot of homebrewers that haven't maximized economies of scale (yet). If you're still buying extract kits and doing 5 gallon batches, you're not really saving (much) money over buying commercial.

On the other hand, based on prices posted here, it's easy to tell that most responses are from people who are doing all grain and buying grains and hops in bulk. Once to start doing that, costs go way down.

I'm at about .30 for pales and max out at about .50 for big IPA's.

 

[pohldogg]

Not saying that the fact I don't save money is a bad thing. I enjoy brewing and really enjoy being able to drink larger quantities if beer. A good hobby that's a net cash outflow is just fine.

 

[bobbrewedit]

I have to run more now that my beer consumption has gone up...guess I should figure the price of running shoes into my per pint cost

 

[jbaysurfer]

I like giant IIPAs. 9+% and mine costs about a dollar per pint, counting grain (I buy base grain in bulk sacks), chemicals, C02, hops (also bought in bulk), and product losses...(I don't EVER get a full 5 gallons of drink out of a five gallon batch, it's usually more like 4.5G after losses to fermenter, kettle, gravity samples, the first pint of the keg is mostly yeast after I let it settle too).

My pale ale probably costs more like $.72 with all those things taken into consideration.

I think driving times brew times and cost per pints tend to get a little fudged tbh ;-)

Also, I couldn't agree more with Tytanium that my total beer expenses have gotten bigger since I started homebrewing, but a lot of that can be chalked up to just being a more avid beer geek and beer drinker. I spend MORE money at brewpubs now that I homebrew then I did before.

 

[JonW]

I like giant IIPAs. 9+% and mine costs about a dollar per pint, counting grain (I buy base grain in bulk sacks), chemicals, C02, hops (also bought in bulk), and product losses...(I don't EVER get a full 5 gallons of drink out of a five gallon batch, it's usually more like 4.5G after losses to fermenter, kettle, gravity samples, the first pint of the keg is mostly yeast after I let it settle too).

My pale ale probably costs more like $.72 with all those things taken into consideration.

Why don't you scale your batches up and do 5.5? I do 10.5 for most standard batches and 11 gallons for big IPA's with a lot of dry hopping. This way I ensure I end up with two full 5 gallon kegs.

$0.72 for an AG pale ale? You must be including equipment depreciation expenses. :cross:

 

[BBL_Brewer]

$0.50 / pint on average. A lot of people debate the "does it save money" thing. Truth is, for some it does and for some it doesn't. My consumption rate hasn't gone up since I started brewing. It did at first, but the newness has worn off now and I'm back to businiess as usual. I haven't quite broken even on my equipment yet, but after about another year, I'll be saving money vs what I would have bought from the store. Time is a different story, but I enjoy brewing.

 

[Jeffro74]

Y'all make good points about increased consumption... I hear that. But the thread was about cost per pint (12oz, 22oz, growler, serving... however you wanted to measure it)

Homebrewing decreases your cost per beer over the long haul. This thread was asking by about those metrics, and I apologize if I derailed it a bit.

My cost is going around $0.95 a beer or so. And seeing that I'm trying to make beers that taste like ones I don't mind paying $8.00 or more a six pack... I'm saving some money there (but yes... drinking more beer. Happily