Brewing Master » Homebrew Beer » Do you save money brewing at home?
Do you save money brewing at home?
Question:
Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
Bill, One consideration is that I can’t even BUY many of the brew styles I can make here in Georgia! We have a nicely stocked liquor store nearby, with a full beer cooler and a 40-50 foot long, 5 level warm brew rack, so there’s a lot of variety, but I can’t get dopplebock, or Altbier, or barleywines! Many of those which areavailable are skunky, simply due to the shipping and display. These include Pilsner Urquel, the Shepard’s Neame, New Castle Brown Ale, and many, many other clear and green bottled beers. Many of the US micros arrive skunked, too! IMHO, the question is can you get quality beer, period, at whatever cost? If I buy commercial brews, I take my chances. When I make my own, the quality is brewed right in there! But, that said, yes, I too make all-grain brews for less than I buy commercial beer. Paul Gennrich Isp Brewing Reply SpamProofed
Response:
Most of us don’t brew to make cheaper beer, we brew to make better beer.
I brew to make better beer cheaper. Ken 16 Dec 1998, 9:36am
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Ah, but think of all those other microbreweries that produce mediocre beers. I belong to a micro-of-the-month-club and would say that my homebrew is at least as good if not better than 50% of what I get monthly…
Huge agreement! As part of the ill-fated Beer Judge Calibration Project a couple years ago, we got about a subscription to something like Beer Across America. Most of the beers we got I considered substandard on a homebrew scale. A few were downright bad. …but I do agree that some classics are nearly impossible to beat.
But of course! If I could make Boon Gueze and Rodenbach Grand Cru, I probably would never leave home.
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If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast.
2-3 dollars is pretty expensive to me, it seems. Counting transport costs I’m getting my grain for about $25 CDN for a 25kg bag. So that’s $1/kg. Say 10kg for 10 gallons, that’s $10 CDN. Then $1-$2 for hops (bought in bulk, 2 or 3 lbs at a time). Maybe $2-$3 for propane. There’s not much else in there cost-wise. I’m under $20 CDN for a 10 gallon batch, in any case. cheers, -Alan — "Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer" – Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide http://www.magma.ca/~bodnsatz/brew/tips/
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Ah, but think of all those other microbreweries that produce mediocre beers. I belong to a micro-of-the-month-club and would say that my homebrew is at least as good if not better than 50% of what I get monthly, but I do agree that some classics are nearly impossible to beat. Dan Cole – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Most of us don’t brew to make cheaper beer, we brew to make better beer. Some of the great beers from microbreweries are quite hard to beat… I end up buying some even as I try to improve my own… — `The reasonable man adapt himself to the world, the unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. Therefore, progress is made by the unreasonable man.’ - B. Shaw
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I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
I make about 20 six packs for about $15 CDN ($10 US). That includes fuel and the whole works. Everything. I buy my grains right from the maltster, and make 10 gallon batches. Buy my hops in bulk, too. cheers, -Alan — "Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer" – Dave Miller’s Homebrewing Guide http://www.magma.ca/~bodnsatz/brew/tips/
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A good partail grain kit costs about $22 for 8 six packs…isn’t that about $2.75/six pack?
I was trying to be fairly conservative in my cost estimates… as others have pointed out, a resourceful all-grain brewer can get the cost per 6-pack down to around $1. But if you like to try out different types of specialty grains and liquid yeast, fruit, honey, etc., then your costs are going to be higher. Once I went all-grain I stopped paying attention to what the ingredients were costing me, because the cost of ingredients basically became negligible, in the grand scheme of things. —
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill
I brew extract beers with specialty grains. The average cost of a 5-gallon batch of beer is about $25 U.S. dollars. This includes: malt extract, specialty grains, hops, yeast, and 6 gallons of bottled water. 5 gallons of beer comes out to about 50 12-oz. bottles, which is 50 cents per beer or $3 for a 6-pack, half-price! But of course, my monthly water bill is slightly higher because I need water for sanitizing, cleaning, and rinsing equipment and my gas bill is slightly higher because making a batch of beer requires one burner to go full blast for at least an hour. There’s also the cost of the equipment, but with the above numbers you can easily make that up after just a few batches. But I don’t brew beer because it’s a cheap way to get drunk. I like experimenting with different recipes and trying beers that I can’t buy in my local store or bar. Plus, I think it’s just fun to know that my homemade beer tastes better and costs less than the stuff they sell in stores. Oh yeah, it’s also an excellent conversation piece when you’re trying to talk homebrewed beer, it’s much better than that stuff you’re drinking now." Brian Roche D.A.R.E. to think for yourself.
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My homebrew (all-grain) typically costs me 50-60 cents per pint, versus 3 dollars per pint at the bar. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast. This of course doesn’t count the startup costs for equipment, or your time. If you count your time, then it is some of the most expensive beer around. 
(But then, nobody counts time when you’re talking about a hobby.) —
Sealy Center for Molecular Science University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston "Beer is good" Anonymous, c. 5000 b.c.
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Mike Uchima wrote… If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast.
I make 10 gallon batches for $20 per. That’s $2 per gallon or just over $1 a six. Happy Trails! "Nature has formed you, desire has trained you, fortune has preserved you for this insanity." – Cicero
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I brew all grain, and it costs 60 to 70 cents per pound of grain (base malt) I use on average 8 pounds. Other grains cost about a dollar per pound and I use 2 pounds. Yeast is from 1 to 6 dollars a batch ( depends on you ) plus 5 bucks or so for stuff I can’t think of right now. So 2 to 3 bucks or so, per 6 pack and loads of fun and adventure! Kevin McCunes Scottish Pub Brews That You Can Chew! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill
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Also reminds me of my bread baking. I get bread with the taste and texture I like. You can’t get that at the store. Very similar to the beer making. You make what you like (product and quality), but can’t get at the store (in my case that is Sam Adam’s Cream Stout — dropped by the local distributor). I also like the argument about having enough good beer in the house that you don’t worry about saving anything for a special day — its here! …or the line, "Enjoy, we’ll make more." – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
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A good partail grain kit costs about $22 for 8 six packs…isn’t that about $2.75/six pack? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast. This of course doesn’t count the startup costs for equipment, or your time. If you count your time, then it is some of the most expensive beer around. (But then, nobody counts time when you’re talking about a hobby.) —
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
I just started working at homebrew shop, so the owners are letting me get supplies at cost. It costs me roughly $15 to do a 5 gallon batch extract with specialty grains & liquid yeast. So I’m brewing a lot more. And it’s cheaper than I can get Coors Light or other watered commercial crap. (For those curious about why I didn’t buy the homebrew shop, I was trying to buy a house at roughly the same time, and the bank requested I chose between them. So the bookkeeper went in partnership with the owner, and they hired me for some evenings) -georg non ani sunt permittendi
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast.
For a standard 4.5-5% abv moderately hoppy ale, I figure somewhere in the vicinity of $1 per 6-pack, using the same criteria. If you brew from extract, buy retail in small quantity, etc., I could see that figure easily getting up to $5 per sixpack. And of course the words below are full of typical Uchima wisdom: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -This of course doesn’t count the startup costs for equipment, or your time. If you count your time, then it is some of the most expensive beer around. (But then, nobody counts time when you’re talking about a hobby.)
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I make a porter that is heavy on grain and light on water, $22 equals 48 – 375ml "stubby" bottles (including caps and electricity). That works out to $2.75 for a sixpack of 8% full bodied, highly hopped, "elixer fit for the gods". (And thats in Canadian sheckels) Cheers and happy brewing Dennis
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill
Once you get over the initial cost it can be cheaper. For the sake of argument, I’ll approach this as if you are just starting out, and will be using malt extracts. More money can be saved by using "all-grain", but it adds dramatically to the startup costs. A good startup kit will cost $75-$100 depending upon the source. This kit WILL NOT include the boiling kettle you will need. I recommend the largest kettle you can fit into your sink. It also WILL NOT include the beer bottles you will need. Most people end up purchasing a 12 or 16 quart pot. These can be purchased for as little as $20, for the 16qt pot. The heavier the bottom of the pot the better it will be for making beer. Thin bottom pots get hot spots and you will end up with darker beer. If you opt for a 20qt pot you will probably need to purchase/build a wort chiller. To make 2 cases of reasonably good beer will cost $20-$30 ($2.50-$3.75/six pack) for ingredients, depending upon the strength of the beer. Your time involved will be 2-3 hours on brewing day, and 2-3 hours on bottling day. To make you life easier on bottling day, I would recommend those sugar tablets that came on the market in the last year or two. Simply drop 4 into each bottle, and fill the bottle. If you decide you like brewing beer, and want to save even more per batch, consider an all grain brewery. The cost is not insignificant, mine cost $275 in addition to the cost of the initial setup. The brewing session is increased upto 5 hours for 5 gallons, 6 hours for 10 gallons. Purchasing grains at retail, the cost per 10 gallons batch is $25-$35 for 4 cases of beer ($1.50-$2.20/six pack), again depending upon the strength of the beer. Brian
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Most of us don’t brew to make cheaper beer, we brew to make better beer.
Some of the great beers from microbreweries are quite hard to beat… I end up buying some even as I try to improve my own… — `The reasonable man adapt himself to the world, the unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. Therefore, progress is made by the unreasonable man.’ – B. Shaw
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
It’s cheaper per six pack, but it’s not cheaper "per day". With 30 to 100 bottles of beer in my fridges, I lose all sense of conservation. Bart
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Most of us don’t brew to make cheaper beer, we brew to make better beer. Dan Cole – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill
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I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
5.5 gallons (10 six packs): Malt: $1-$2 (I bought 600lbs. recently at 10 cents/lb.) Yeast: $1 ($4-$6 liquid yeast, repitched at least 4 times) Hops: $.50-$5 Bottlecaps/CO2: $1-$2 Bleach: $.02 ($1/gallon, 1-2oz. used per batch) Save .5 gallon for kreusening, and pressure can second runnings for yeast starters. Often enough sugars in second runnings to make a small beer of a couple gallons. No malt extract/sugar necessary for priming or yeast starters. I have about 150lbs. of specialty grains (caramels, roasted grains, wheat), and I home roast any other type that I don’t have on hand (as well as saving money, it gives a much more robust taste). I can make British brown ales/Scottish ales for about $.35/six pack, hoppier/stronger beers up to $1/six pack. Initial equipment: $150 brew pot, $100 malt mill (necessary to take advantage of grain bargain; paid itself off quickly), $50 initial brew kit, $25 bench capper (not necessary, but really eases bottling woes), $10 digital postal scale (16 oz. capacity, for hops), $5 rummage sale kitchen scale (25lb. capacity, for grain), $50 minikeg tapper (falling into disuse now), $20 factory second gott cooler (10 gallon), $15 phil’s phalse bottom, $25 extra carboys. My stove has a high-power burner (13.5K btu; slow for 7 gallon boils, but works), so no external heat source is required. Despite this, you probably will not see a large savings in beer cost upon switching to homebrew. As you may have noticed, everything that I have is really cheap. It took me several years of keeping my eyes open to acquire all that equipment (not to mention the grain windfall; the result of a local brewery going out of business). Second, some of the cost saving measures (kreusening, yeast repitching) can be difficult for a beginning brewer, and lead to failed batches (huge cost loss). When you start off extract brewing, expect to lay out $50-$75 in initial equipment, and pay $30-$40 per 5 gal. batch. Not counting the cost of equipment, that puts the price per six-pack initially at $4-5. You could recoup the cost of equipment in 25 six-packs at that rate (3 batches), but don’t count on it. Once the brewing bug hits you, if you have the cash, you will likely reinvest in more brewing stuff… Trevor
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six?
If you go all-grain, you can get the ingredients cost per 6-pack down to 2-3 dollars, if you buy your grain in bulk and re-use your yeast. This of course doesn’t count the startup costs for equipment, or your time. If you count your time, then it is some of the most expensive beer around. (But then, nobody counts time when you’re talking about a hobby.) —
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Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill
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Where I am we pay about $10 for a 6-pack of microbrews. I make a 5 gallon batch (I get around 50 bottles) for $30. Definately cheaper.
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Maybe $2 for a six. Depends lagely on what kind of beer you are producing though. It will certainly be cheeper, and as a bonus it is fun. In fact it is probably the other way around. /peter – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it cheaper? I pay $6 to $7 a six pack for microbrews. What do you think it costs you to produce a six? Thanks, Bill