I drink a lot....is it cheaper to brew?

[MaxStout]

For something different and easy to make, try EdWort's Apfelwein. Sort of hard cider on steroids. Apple juice from the store, table sugar and a $1 packet of wine yeast. All you need for gear is a bucket or carboy fermenter, stopper and airlock.

Tasty, and gets you piss drunk in a hurry if you're not careful.

 

[renstyle]

For something different and easy to make, try EdWort's Apfelwein. Sort of hard cider on steroids. Apple juice from the store, table sugar and a $1 packet of wine yeast. All you need for gear is a bucket or carboy fermenter, stopper and airlock.

Tasty, and gets you piss drunk in a hurry if you're not careful.

Best line from the quoted post:

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND START ANOTHER BATCH 2 WEEKS AFTER YOU START THIS ONE.
YOU WILL THANK ME LATER!

it looks damn good!

 

[Odin's_FJ40]

So..it seems WCIPAs would not be for me. What are some NEIPAs that "might" be up my alley/.

 

[Odin's_FJ40]

Best line from the quoted post:

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND START ANOTHER BATCH 2 WEEKS AFTER YOU START THIS ONE.
YOU WILL THANK ME LATER!

it looks damn good!

I am determined to try my hand at "Applejack" this fall. Is this similar?

 

[easttex]

You can make drinkable beer inexpensively but much of it depends on what all equipment you have available already.

You could start with a $20 Harbor Freight stainless pot for a kettle, a brew bucket to ferment in, and package your beer in reused 2 liter plastic soda bottles. Brew light ale extract beers and ferment them with a neutral yeast like US-05 or Omega's Lutra. Save a half a quart of trub from the bottom of the fermenter in a sanitized jar to repitch batch-over-batch. You can santize with bleach if you're meticulous about rinsing it all out afterwards.

Granted, you may not win any awards brewing like this and you won't be brewing light lagers but if it's just some simple beer to drink, you can certainly do it without tons of expensive equipment.

 

[Dgallo]

For those who dislike NEIPAS, if you haven’t had one the top Tier breweries that make the style or know a homebrewer who has mastered it, I highly suggest you do. You’ll certainly understand it then. If you still don’t prefer them I get it but I strongly feel you’ll appreciate why people do enjoy them

 

[MaxStout]

I am determined to try my hand at "Applejack" this fall. Is this similar?

I think applejack is cider that has been freeze-distilled. Apfelwein is just cider fermented with extra sugar.

I've made several batches of Apfelwein. Lately, I've been leaving out the sugar and fermenting straight cider, which still yields ~6% ABV.

 

[renstyle]

I am determined to try my hand at "Applejack" this fall. Is this similar?

Applejack is a fruit brandy, so there is distilling involved post-fermentation.

This is more similar to StrongBow and Angry Orchard.

Bonus when you can just add more dextrose to get higher ABV and not affect the flavor.

 

[renstyle]

For those who dislike NEIPAS, if you haven’t had one the top Tier breweries that make the style or know a homebrewer who has mastered it, I highly suggest you do. You’ll certainly understand it then. If you still don’t prefer them I get it but I strongly feel you’ll appreciate why people do enjoy them

I make a point to try several in a flight whenever I'm able to visit a tasting room (more lately than the last few months).

I do try an give them a fair shot, but they just aren't my thing. While I said they tasted like old orange juice that was more descriptive than insulting, as I'm sure many folks enjoy fermented orange juice (cuz to me it tastes like a NEIPA) LOL.

I've also tried several "American Pale Lagers" in flights as well. While they are a tish better than Macro Lite... it's not a flavor I'm about unless there is a large jar of queen olives around.

Considering the effort it takes to do a NEIPA well (especially with the low-oxygen regiment that is necessary) I'm glad there are good examples out there for folks to try. It's just not for me.

I'll fight you for the last Pliny the Elder tho!

 

[renstyle]

You can make drinkable beer inexpensively but much of it depends on what all equipment you have available already.

You could start with a $20 Harbor Freight stainless pot for a kettle, a brew bucket to ferment in, and package your beer in reused 2 liter plastic soda bottles. Brew light ale extract beers and ferment them with a neutral yeast like US-05 or Omega's Lutra. Save a half a quart of trub from the bottom of the fermenter in a sanitized jar to repitch batch-over-batch. You can santize with bleach if you're meticulous about rinsing it all out afterwards.

Granted, you may not win any awards brewing like this and you won't be brewing light lagers but if it's just some simple beer to drink, you can certainly do it without tons of expensive equipment.

He's on the right track here. With the addition of a cool-box (dorm fridge or similar) to use as a fermentation chamber, you can brew those lagers with the same equipment as above (and lager yeast of course).

 

[Dgallo]

I make a point to try several in a flight whenever I'm able to visit a tasting room (more lately than the last few months).

I do try an give them a fair shot, but they just aren't my thing. While I said they tasted like old orange juice that was more descriptive than insulting, as I'm sure many folks enjoy fermented orange juice (cuz to me it tastes like a NEIPA) LOL.

I've also tried several "American Pale Lagers" in flights as well. While they are a tish better than Macro Lite... it's not a flavor I'm about unless there is a large jar of queen olives around.

Considering the effort it takes to do a NEIPA well (especially with the low-oxygen regiment that is necessary) I'm glad there are good examples out there for folks to try. It's just not for me.

I'll fight you for the last Pliny the Elder tho!

That’s why point though. Try a NEIPA from monkish, electric, or green cheek if you’re out west/Cali. Try one from treehouse, trillium, hill farmstead, vitamin sea, fiden’s, etc if your on the East coast. Those will be far different than what you just find in a flight at any brewery you go to. Everyone brews them because of their demand, that’s how they keep lights on. That’s doesn’t mean everyone has mastered it.

I love lager too. I’m lucky to have Suarez family brewing less than 30 miles from me.

anyway, time for me to stop derailing this thread lol

 

[Qhrumphf]

Back to the point, it getting smashed cheap is the goal, get a job in packaging at a brewery. It's crappy dirty exhausting low paying work. But all the low fills you can grab. And often you can get in the door entry level in packaging (where getting an actual brewing job is far far harder)

 

[bracconiere]

Back to the point, it getting smashed cheap is the goal, get a job in packaging at a brewery. It's crappy dirty exhausting low paying work. But all the low fills you can grab. And often you can get in the door entry level in packaging (where getting an actual brewing job is far far harder)

damn man, what a buzz kill.... @Odin's_FJ40 if you do decide to get into hazy NEIPAs, Yakima Valley Hops has year or two old hops for pretty cheap, i'd imagine for the haze, work just fine....

well this thread is off the rails as they always get when someone talks about saving money making their own. Just remember their just intimidated by drug dealers that would rather that people couldn't even make their own at all!

 

[kmarkstevens]

So....what am I missing with the whole IPA and Juicey Fruit thing? Bad examples or is it all bitter or my grand babies juice boxes ? See I think hops is used to disguise bad beer and a rush to market.

You may also not like the hops that are used. Me, I find most "C" hops (cascade, cluster, chinook, ad nausem) or American hops taste "skunky" or "catty" to me. It has nothing to do with the hoppiness, I simply don't like the hops used as it makes every beer taste skunked.

I really like most English hops, and happily will drink an IPA hopped to the gills with East Kent Goldings. Same with Tettnanger German hops.

The joy of homebrewing is that you can zero in on what you like and then brew it the way you like. Hefeweizen "style" may not accept non- "Nobel" (traditional European) hops to be a Hefeweizen. So, **** that, you're in control. You want a Hefe with your favority English hop and 8% ABV, then you can brew that. It won't be a "traditional" Hefe or within the "style" guidelines, but who cares? The best beer is the beer you like, the way you like to drink it. If that means an 8% hefe drunk straight from the tap at 33F, then god bless, god speed and happy brewing.

And to answer another question you had. I wouldn't necessarily go for clone beers. Why brew a Michelob doppelbock beer? Brew something akin to a Michelob doppelbock beer but better and customized for your taste. Beer kits are not bad when starting out, and you could go for a doppelbock kit instead of the Mic DB clone kit. Hell, I first helped homebrew in 1980, and I still occasionally buy a beer kit (when on a big sale). In the past year, I bought both a Chipotle Chocolate Porter and a Bourbon Barrel Porter beer kit. These are someone's tried and true recipes, that I brewed, enjoyed, and plan to modify to my taste in the future.

 

[bracconiere]

The best beer is the beer you like, the way you like to drink it.

+1


who knows smoked michellob 100's black? "light"? if not a hop head, wait till you play with malts, i LOVE Special B malt!

 

[Odin's_FJ40]

You may also not like the hops that are used. Me, I find most "C" hops (cascade, cluster, chinook, ad nausem) or American hops taste "skunky" or "catty" to me. It has nothing to do with the hoppiness, I simply don't like the hops used as it makes every beer taste skunked.

I really like most English hops, and happily will drink an IPA hopped to the gills with East Kent Goldings. Same with Tettnanger German hops.

The joy of homebrewing is that you can zero in on what you like and then brew it the way you like. Hefeweizen "style" may not accept non- "Nobel" (traditional European) hops to be a Hefeweizen. So, **** that, you're in control. You want a Hefe with your favority English hop and 8% ABV, then you can brew that. It won't be a "traditional" Hefe or within the "style" guidelines, but who cares? The best beer is the beer you like, the way you like to drink it. If that means an 8% hefe drunk straight from the tap at 33F, then god bless, god speed and happy brewing.

And to answer another question you had. I wouldn't necessarily go for clone beers. Why brew a Michelob doppelbock beer? Brew something akin to a Michelob doppelbock beer but better and customized for your taste. Beer kits are not bad when starting out, and you could go for a doppelbock kit instead of the Mic DB clone kit. Hell, I first helped homebrew in 1980, and I still occasionally buy a beer kit (when on a big sale). In the past year, I bought both a Chipotle Chocolate Porter and a Bourbon Barrel Porter beer kit. These are someone's tried and true recipes, that I brewed, enjoyed, and plan to modify to my taste in the future.

Learning to discern "flavor' or "taste" is another topic I will soon address.. Some of the descriptors used when describing beer are a long way from my "man that tastes good"

 

[bracconiere]

"man that tastes good"

if that what you're looking for, and you like "light" beers, just wait till you brew your own Brüt Malty ones!

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

As others have said it can be the special flavor of American hops that has scared you, I don't like them either.
If you want to experience hoppy beers but without the "hard" grapefruity hop taste, try some Brittish bitters, big malty backbone with an assertive hop bitterness and flavour/aroma without anyone overshadowing the other, these beers are all about balance. You sound like a guy who might appreciate the classic brittish style of brewing.

 

[Nate R]

I am intrigued by the brewing hobby but am not convinced that I can drink 5 gallons of 3-4 different beers before it goes bad.

Start with a commercial 5 gallon keg. Just one. Pick a beer you love. I think you will soon discover that either: A) it's too much beer or, more likely, B) you realize it very easy to drink a lot of beer when it is on tap- no pesky bottles/cans to count. If this is case, you will learn real fast just how fast a 5 gal keg can go.

I thought I would start by seeing how long it takes me to drink a couple kegs.

Yes agree! Just one is fine. Maybe two tops.


Thank your friend for the kegerator... a gift AND a curse. For my 2 cents... wait on trying homebrewing. Just get 1 commercial keg. But clean the lines, the faucet, etc. Keep your rig clean. (This is a preview of homebrewing- cleaning, cleaning, cleaning).

When you do start brewing, making a NEIPA will become the holy grail so to speak. Very few homebrewers can do this properly. Instead, focus on easy simple basic beers and hone your craft.

My thoughts

Edit: on the topic of making a NEIPA... in my opinion, and as stated above by dgallo... very few professional breweries can make a true NEIPA. A lot try. So it stands to reason that far fewer homebrewers can as well (mostly because it requires more specialzed equipment/ aka more $$$). But there are some here who no doubt do make good homebrew neipa ((although just like professional breweries, they may think they make a good nepia!))

 

[bkboiler]

Asking if brewing is cheaper than buying commercial beer is like asking if building my own golf course is cheaper than paying to play the one down the street.
Sure, you'll save money eventually if you golf A LOT!
but the cheaper option is actually not to golf at all.
upgrade-itis is a real thing.

 

[bracconiere]

special flavor of American hops

lol

 

[bracconiere]

paying to play the one down the street.

i've seen some projector golf simulators...projectors are pretty cheap now...

 

[marc1]

i've seen some projector golf simulators...projectors are pretty cheap now...

Yeah but the projector beer drinking simulators have a long way to go yet

 

[Velnerj]

I think it's possible to save money homebrewing but most of us end up not caring in the end. Either we're too embarrassed to calculate how much money we've sunk into our brewing systems or we are doing it for other reasons...

Cheapest route would be brew in a bag (BIAB) worth looking into if you want to dip your toe in and are trying to keep the finances limited.

 

[hamachi]

How long before you produced a "thump your chest, "I made that" beer?

At my very first batch using an extract kit. After 3 weeks of fermentation, I popped the lid off the fermenter, took a look and took a whiff and said, "Wow! It's beer!"

That was last August. Forty batches later, and after moving to all-grain MIAB, my beers have gotten better. But there's nothing like the wonder of that very first batch.

It was batch #7, an all-grain Belgian Golden Strong Ale, before I said, "Hey, this is really good!"

 

[Nate R]

Asking if brewing is cheaper than buying commercial beer is like asking if building my own golf course is cheaper than paying to play the one down the street.
Sure, you'll save money eventually if you golf A LOT!
but the cheaper option is actually not to golf at all.
upgrade-itis is a real thing.

What do they say? The first round of golf costs the owner/builder $20 million? The second round costs under a $1.00??

But... i will say this.
There are some solid all in one systems that include chillers, pumps, etc. So for $250 to $500 one can buy pretty much all the hot side equipment needed

 

[Dgallo]

What do they say? The first round of golf costs the owner/builder $20 million? The second round costs under a $1.00??

But... i will say this.
There are some solid all in one systems that include chillers, pumps, etc. So for $250 to $500 one can buy pretty much all the hot side equipment needed

Ageeed. My whole setup is less than $600 including my kegging equipment. Last trip to treehouse I got 5 cases.... same cost as my equipment. So it’s totally dependent on what you’re drinking.

 

[MaxStout]

One could go really low-dough and buy used gear on Craigslist. I see lots of posts, selling the basics for around $50-$100, and that may include IC, good sized kettle, etc. Pick up a paint-strainer bag for BIAB, then brew SMaSH with the cheapest 2-row you can get, use high-alpha hops bought by the pound, reuse yeast, etc.

If all you're shooting for is making cheap swill, you can beat the cost of commercial beer by a long shot and still make something quaffable.

 

[Bad Bubba]

That is a loaded question. The simple answer is yes. You can probably buy most of the equipment used on Craigslist for under $100. If you develop your process you can definitely make very good beer with simple equipment and save money over store bought beer.

But the sky is the limit on equipment - I have over $3000 in my Biab system and a guy in my homebrew club has over $8 K in his 3 vessel system. Another guy in my club build a beer barn in his back yard and I have no idea how much that cost. We definitely are not saving money but none of us regret it.

It is a matter of how deep you are going to dive.

 

[ITV]

Speaking for myself I brew beer for the love of craft beer and drinking with friends/fellow homebrewers. I think of it more as a hobby instead of how inexpensive can I brew a batch of beer. I don't have any worries about finishing a 5 gallon keg since I end up giving about 1/2 of it away to friends/co-workers and sharring with neighbors and fellow homebrewers.

I would bet that others on Homebrewtalk share my views.

 

[kmarkstevens]

I brew because that's the only way I can get good 2-4% ABV beers. Almost all the beer i drink is lower alcohol and in the US that means brew your own.

 

[T Murph]

See that's just it. I go whole hog, both feet, WAO, All In. Damn a bunch of plastic buckets. I envision a DR. Frankenstein's lab of S.S. equipment, valves and hoses, and coils, and beakers of mysterious fluids ,and blinking lights. Creating blissful nectar in various shades of effervescent gold and amber.

Lmao, and so we brew!

 

[Soulshine2]

I like beer. Mainly amber lagers and wheat beers....yeah I'm a "Boomer" with a palate ruined by 30 years of Miller Lite. I am intrigued by the brewing hobby but am not convinced that I can drink 5 gallons of 3-4 different beers before it goes bad. A friend is gifting me a kegerator. Not sure how many taps. I thought I would start by seeing how long it takes me to drink a couple kegs. Current favorites. Yeunglng Trditional Lager, Michelob Amberbock, Tucher Helles Lager, and Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier. I don't care for sucking on grapefruit or pine needles.....So the whole IPA craze is beyond me. Change my mind. I am willing to drink one of almost anything.

i was you about 6 years ago. only i didnt drink miller , or bud, i was into the green bottles ...my beer palate was pretty narrow. every now and then id try a pick-a-6 and try different beers outside my comfort zone and you know what. i found i liked more than i thought i would. now sweetwater 420 extra pale is one of my daily go-to's . i started brewing extract kits then a buddy of mine gave me my first brewing kit which i mean to brew All Grain . changed my whole life and hobby situation. ive brewed a few maerzens(Oktoberfests), brown , kolsch, red ale, old ale, brewed 5 hefs last one with weihenstephaner yeast. an organic tangelo pale ale, ive done pretty well making my own recipes and brewed a nice blackberry kettle sour using berries out of the back yard and fence line, home grown crystal hops and locally sourced wheat. i just brewed a "monk" beer last week , going outside my normal brewing abv of 5s and 6s to what should be a 7.6%. my own recipe. I have brewed some duds, not often , theyre still good for marinating meats or they might just need more time. so if you ever do , dont pour them out . Ive never kegged , i bottle . i dont have the space or want to fuss with tanks , hoses , gauges etc. bottles suit me just fine and im able to keep almost 6 to 8 beers on hand .
go to a nice multiple pull beer house ,craft pub and step outside your taste zone and order a flight of some of the other beers, darks, mild ipas sours, etc...take more than one taste of each , because the first taste doesnt count. you may surprise yourself by what you find you like. be open minded.

 

[ChiknNutz]

I make double IPAs hopped at 4lbs per barrel for less las $1.25 for a 16oz pour. This would cost me $18-$28 depending on the brewery if I bought it. Home brewing is far cheaper than buying beer

$18-$28 for a commercially produced pint of beer?! Surely I've missed something here or your cost of living is astronomical.

 

[Transamguy77]

There has been a lot of good info in this thread, the short of it is yes it CAN be cheaper.

I started over 10 years ago with a simple setup I bought used on Craigslist and a 5 gallon pot from my grocery store for like $100 bucks. I did extract and about a year later moved to all grain with a turkey fryer and paint strainer bag.

Are you a handy person? Do you like DIY? If so you can save yourself a ton of money making things yourself. I built my 3 tier rig, ferm chamber and in process now of version 2.0, motorized and installed my grain mill in a cabinet and built other things in the brewery. I have about $3000 invested in my setup and for 6-7 years I spent $0 on equipment and only money on supplies, and buying in bulk, 50 lb sacks of grain, hops by the pound and reusing yeast whenever possible.

There are ways to keep the costs down so you can make this hobby as cheap or expensive as you want.

 

[applescrap]

I think applejack is cider that has been freeze-distilled. Apfelwein is just cider fermented with extra sugar.

I've made several batches of Apfelwein. Lately, I've been leaving out the sugar and fermenting straight cider, which still yields ~6% ABV.

Check out my two recipes, daddys juice and daddys orchard! They are worth a shot. Use 4g of your straight cider and back mix with the most expensive pomegranate juice you can find at ratio of 4g to 1g pomegranate or organic black cherry juice.

 

[Dgallo]

$18-$28 for a commercially produced pint of beer?! Surely I've missed something here or your cost of living is astronomical.

Sorry I mixed up on my wording $18-28 a 4 pack not a pint. I can make a 4 pack of a double ipa hopped to 4 lbs/bbl for $5

 

[applescrap]

To op,

It's like a ball of string, how long do you want it. There are 93 ways up this mountain and most of them work.

To the rest, wth is going on here, most of these you can brew cheap comments would have been lambasted when I first joined. You would have been insulted every which way but loose. You just want to get drunk, you have no taste buds, and you dont care what it tastes like.

I am pleased to see such a great shift in thinking like I always say the emptiness inside the vessel is what gives it value. Quick brewing, cheap brewing has always been my thing, and I have voraciously commented on both. But time gets older and so do we, and things we think we know can change.

Dont kid yourself, nice gear is nice, it makes great brew and provides pride in ownership. Also everyone has their own schtick and for some making that big Frankenstein lab brings them happiness, gets them out of bed every day to face their job, gives their life purpose and meaning. I cant spit on that because a 10 dollar pot boils water too. Just something to keep in mind in case anyone wants to be as stupid as I have been. Mastery is mastery and a real master needs different tools for different reasons and some of those tools cost.

I got into brewing to save money, but even modest equipment could calculate in, and will take time to recoup. My time is worth money and I invested some in that. I can brew quick, that matters to me.

Back to op, For you, your needs and most at this point is a no brainer. A grainfather
They are small, work well, and are all in one. Their are other brands well under 500 at this point. If I were starting again that is what I would get in 220v version. Best of luck

 

[odie]

i can brew a $8 10 gallon batch of 8% ABV....so it can be as cheap as you want it to be....

as far as your taste, beauty of DIY, make what you like!

and as far as your alcoholism, my 10 gallon 8% batches last me about 8-10 days.....so once again

8 bucks? Must be a lot of table sugar in that batch. I'm guessing you would need about 25ish pounds of grain for that...

 

[applescrap]

Sorry I mixed up on my wording $18-28 a 4 pack not a pint. I can make a 4 pack of a double ipa hopped to 4 lbs/bbl for $5

Hops in terms of barrels? Wow, are you brewing barrels of neipa! Btw closer to 5 lbs and beyond per barrel is much more accurate for this style, imo. If not 6 lbs per barrel. I think I would be fairly pissed buying an 18 dollar four pack that was hopped at 4lb per barrel. That said when it scales up maybe you need less, I doubt it though. Just my 2c.