There is a lot of good advice here. I'll pitch in my bit. I've thought about this a lot as I look at the 100s (maybe thousands by now) that I've spent.
There are two costs - gear, and ingredients.
Go all grain.
Grain, you pay what you need to... try to find a place that sells bulk 50# sacks. There is a malt factory in Great Falls, MT (I'm near Kalispell, MT), and my local homebrew supply store has gotten on thier delivery chain. When they get stocked I can get a bag for $38. Call around to all the places near by, one of them must have bulk grain. Consider your gas to go get it, team up with other brewers and maybe by 200-300# at a time if you need to.
Specialty grains often end up being a wash either online or in the LHBS. 10lbs at a time is sometimes cheaper.
Hops - again, buy bulk as well, it is way cheaper. 1 oz at a time is borderline robbery. The LHBS seems to again be a wash here when you figure in shipping. If you can buy a LOT of online with flat shipping sometimes it beats the LHBS, but remember who always has supplies for you locally - they need the business.
Yeast - start washing it. It isn't that hard, and will save you 3-5 bucks a batch. It'll also gives you a great yeast count to start with. It is the way to go, dive in and do it. Again, it's really not that hard.
Gear - If you want to keep it cheaper, consider being okay with smaller batch brewing. The cost (and complication) goes up exponentially the larger you go. At some point I figured I needed to do at least 10g batches - which is great and all, but it makes brew day longer, more expensive, and more complicated.
If you brew 2.5-3 gallon batches, you can probably do it all on your stove top with a much cheaper 5 gallon kettle, and a smaller cooler MT (or BIAB). 5-6 gallon batches are still kinda small, but tends to require a larger kettle, and also a separate more powerful burner that you probably have to use outside.
Chilling is also easier for small batch, as you can chill in the sink with an ice bath, or a simple immersion coil chiller if you want to invest in that. No need for a CFC or plate chiller and such.
In small batch you don't need a pump.
Keep it simple - herms and rims is neat and all that, but you don't need it to make great beer. Most of the pro's I know still make beer the old fashioned way with a big insulated mash tun and a single infusion.
I'm already geared up for bigger batch brewing, but if I knew what I know now, I might have been a little less zealous about gear, and focused more on the beer.
There are two costs - gear, and ingredients.
Go all grain.
Grain, you pay what you need to... try to find a place that sells bulk 50# sacks. There is a malt factory in Great Falls, MT (I'm near Kalispell, MT), and my local homebrew supply store has gotten on thier delivery chain. When they get stocked I can get a bag for $38. Call around to all the places near by, one of them must have bulk grain. Consider your gas to go get it, team up with other brewers and maybe by 200-300# at a time if you need to.
Specialty grains often end up being a wash either online or in the LHBS. 10lbs at a time is sometimes cheaper.
Hops - again, buy bulk as well, it is way cheaper. 1 oz at a time is borderline robbery. The LHBS seems to again be a wash here when you figure in shipping. If you can buy a LOT of online with flat shipping sometimes it beats the LHBS, but remember who always has supplies for you locally - they need the business.
Yeast - start washing it. It isn't that hard, and will save you 3-5 bucks a batch. It'll also gives you a great yeast count to start with. It is the way to go, dive in and do it. Again, it's really not that hard.
Gear - If you want to keep it cheaper, consider being okay with smaller batch brewing. The cost (and complication) goes up exponentially the larger you go. At some point I figured I needed to do at least 10g batches - which is great and all, but it makes brew day longer, more expensive, and more complicated.
If you brew 2.5-3 gallon batches, you can probably do it all on your stove top with a much cheaper 5 gallon kettle, and a smaller cooler MT (or BIAB). 5-6 gallon batches are still kinda small, but tends to require a larger kettle, and also a separate more powerful burner that you probably have to use outside.
Chilling is also easier for small batch, as you can chill in the sink with an ice bath, or a simple immersion coil chiller if you want to invest in that. No need for a CFC or plate chiller and such.
In small batch you don't need a pump.
Keep it simple - herms and rims is neat and all that, but you don't need it to make great beer. Most of the pro's I know still make beer the old fashioned way with a big insulated mash tun and a single infusion.
I'm already geared up for bigger batch brewing, but if I knew what I know now, I might have been a little less zealous about gear, and focused more on the beer.