HBC
Well-Known Member
I get tired when I see the trite 'reply' postings when anyone makes a comment that they are brewing beer 'to save money'. I totally understand where they are coming from and honestly not so sure that those who replied have put the numbers in a spreadsheet. I have done just that recently.
For many folks, they are trying to make a beer that seems like a value (cost affected and effective). If we build a beer with similar ABV, mouthfeel, and relative SRM to the commercial brews that they are coming to, I find that it is indeed much cheaper to brew your own.
The obvious factors of equipment cost are a consideration when evaluating the per unit cost, but even still- equipment can be inexpensive (turkey fryers that are in the garage, cheap fermenting buckets, and reused bottles.......) - you get the point.
With that stated, my objective of the post is to illustrate, as others have in past forums, that the per unit cost can be controlled and the comment that many newbies make in regards to low-cost beer, can be realized:
Example:
Purchase your grain in bulk and store them in dry storage containers that we all have in our garages!
5-gallon batch of summer ale- inexpensive/tasty beer
-$6.75: 9lbs of MO or 2-ROW in bulk/from COOP. or direct if you can get a vendor to sell to you, will get the cost of grain down to $.75 per lb to $1.00 with shipping depending on how many lbs your COOP. purchase).
-$2.00: 1lb of specialty (like C-40) -- and maybe you pay the normal LHBS pricing for it.
-$1.50 yeast : I use 1/2 packs of the dry S-05 and have GREAT fermentation results.
-$2.03 hops for 2.5 oz total (I buy in bulk 1lb units)
-$.50 of sanitizer for cleaning all items prior to fermentation
-$1.00 of propane to make the water roll.
-FREE BOTTLES from your neighbor that threw them out after his recent drunk-ass party.
-$1.00 for the corn sugar that you used for fermentation (bought in bulk)
-$1.00 for the caps that you used on your bottles.
TOTAL for about 53-beers? $13.75 or .25 per bottle. I am sure it can be MUCH cheaper than this, and much more expensive- but there are the real numbers from my latest batch of kick ass-summer ale.
For many folks, they are trying to make a beer that seems like a value (cost affected and effective). If we build a beer with similar ABV, mouthfeel, and relative SRM to the commercial brews that they are coming to, I find that it is indeed much cheaper to brew your own.
The obvious factors of equipment cost are a consideration when evaluating the per unit cost, but even still- equipment can be inexpensive (turkey fryers that are in the garage, cheap fermenting buckets, and reused bottles.......) - you get the point.
With that stated, my objective of the post is to illustrate, as others have in past forums, that the per unit cost can be controlled and the comment that many newbies make in regards to low-cost beer, can be realized:
Example:
Purchase your grain in bulk and store them in dry storage containers that we all have in our garages!
5-gallon batch of summer ale- inexpensive/tasty beer
-$6.75: 9lbs of MO or 2-ROW in bulk/from COOP. or direct if you can get a vendor to sell to you, will get the cost of grain down to $.75 per lb to $1.00 with shipping depending on how many lbs your COOP. purchase).
-$2.00: 1lb of specialty (like C-40) -- and maybe you pay the normal LHBS pricing for it.
-$1.50 yeast : I use 1/2 packs of the dry S-05 and have GREAT fermentation results.
-$2.03 hops for 2.5 oz total (I buy in bulk 1lb units)
-$.50 of sanitizer for cleaning all items prior to fermentation
-$1.00 of propane to make the water roll.
-FREE BOTTLES from your neighbor that threw them out after his recent drunk-ass party.
-$1.00 for the corn sugar that you used for fermentation (bought in bulk)
-$1.00 for the caps that you used on your bottles.
TOTAL for about 53-beers? $13.75 or .25 per bottle. I am sure it can be MUCH cheaper than this, and much more expensive- but there are the real numbers from my latest batch of kick ass-summer ale.
Gonna hazard a guess and say that doby had a motor, you sail?
