Home brewing saves you money? HAHAH!

[Bostonbrewin63]

there might be a thread on this already, if so i apologize.

BUT, i have been home brewing for about 3 years now and i must say i have not saved a DIME home brewing beer instead of buying it. BUT i sure as hell made some damn good beer IMO and i wouldnt change it for anything!

Today;
Me: "babe we dont need all these groceries, theres no way we can eat all this food"

on the way home we stop at my LHBS. (you know its on the way, and i happen to have 2 recipes rdy to brew in my back pocket)

Kayla: "JON, you dont need to buy ingredients for 12 gallons of BEER, theres no way we can drink it all"
Me: "watch me"

need less to say i am brewing as i type. CHEERS!

 

[Heavywalker]

This is a fact that I am apposed to publicizing... How many of us buy brewing equipment and ingredients under the cloak of "look how much money this will save us" SWMBO just rolls her eyes and says OK... Keep it to yourself man!

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

This is a fact that I am apposed to publicizing... How many of us buy brewing equipment and ingredients under the cloak of "look how much money this will save us" SWMBO just rolls her eyes and says OK... Keep it to yourself man!

hahahaha! well like all hobbies it costs a few bucks! but not all hobbies have a cold beer as your aftermath!

 

[Brewrifle]

Cheers man! I couldn't agree more.

 

[Nightshade]

Initial investment is a bit but all hobbies cost to get into.

Once you start buying bulk grain and milling your own is when you can start cutting cost considerably, until then it's just practice and rationalizing to others.

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

Initial investment is a bit but all hobbies cost to get into.

Once you start buying bulk grain and milling your own is when you can start cutting cost considerably, until then it's just practice and rationalizing to others.

i see what your saying, but honestly.. do you save money?

do you keg? how much is Co2 refill? i know for me its 25 bucks. yea i know it lasts awhile! but still money adds up... thats just one example.

PLEASE dont get me wrong, i love brewing and the amount of money is costs does not matter to me. i brew cuz i love beer an changing the recipe around to get something diff. not to save $$

 

[Xpertskir]

For some of my bigger IPAs and imperial stouts I net a decent savings per batch but once my sour pipeline starts to yield a bunch of beer, I'll definitely start saving money.

Instead of paying 600+ dollars per 5 gallons(retail) I'll be paying about 30-40 on the high side. Netting 500+ a batch adds up quickly.

In fact, Im filling a full size barrel with lambic on Sunday and that alone will completely pay for the ~2500 I have in brewing stuff and ingredients so far.

 

[Uno]

Here in BC Canada a 12 pack of Miller in bottles is about $24 so at $2 a bottle it's easy to save. Most of my brews seem to come in at about 50 cents a bottle. But like many, I would do it anyways because I like doing it. It's the most rewarding hobby I've had.

 

[Phunhog]

There are definetly ways to cut down on the costs of homebrewing. Sure the initial outlay of equipment is going to cost you no matter what but after that there are ways to help defray the costs. I give away a lot of beer. So to help with the costs I made up cool brewery t-shirts and sell them at a nice profit. Made 100 bucks this week...which will buy a sack of malt, a few lbs of hops, propane, etc... Just enough to offset the costs of brewing.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

When I started brewing all grain my equipment investment was minimal (like $200 all togehter) and with that set-up I was able to break even pretty quickly. Since I purchased kegs, stainless Perlick faucets, and all the related goodies I am a long way off from breaking even/saving money. I didn't start the hobby to save money and all the equipment makes the process more enjoyable. You CAN save money brewing, but if that's your primary motivation you probably won't stick with it or truly enjoy it.

 

[smizak]

It's like buying a boat to save money on fish.

 

[LovesIPA]

Instead of paying 600+ dollars per 5 gallons(retail) I'll be paying about 30-40 on the high side. Netting 500+ a batch adds up quickly.

Wow beer sure is expensive where you live. I get two full cases out of a batch - so you're paying $300 a case for beer? $150 for a 12-pack? $20 a bomber?

 

[Xpertskir]

Wow beer sure is expensive where you live. I get two full cases out of a batch - so you're paying $300 a case for beer? $150 for a 12-pack? $20 a bomber?

For good sour beer, yes. Works out to ~20 a bomber, sometimes more, sometimes more like 15 bucks a bomber.

 

[Wynne-R]

It works for me. I have about $500 in it counting the pH meter and the stirplate. I have brewed a few hundred batches all grain.

I don’t count the stove, the ‘fridge, the dishwasher (bottle tree), and the bathtub (primary wort chiller).

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

It's like buying a boat to save money on fish.

Hahah. Agreed

 

[Heavywalker]

It's like buying a boat to save money on fish.

...and hunting, I keep telling myself I save money on meat, but the safe full of guns and optics would beg to differ. That is before I buy the license and tags, + gas, food, etc while hunting.

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

So I guess this thread would be more like. "Let's compair our other hobbies savings to brewing beer savings"?

Well I play paintball as another hobbie an let me tell you I don't save **** with that one... But it's a blast

 

[BinghamtonEd]

Woodworking. I made a nice walnut baby gate for my daughter. Cost me $75 for wood and hardware. Something comparable would have run us a few hundred. Of course, I used it to justify the purchase of a new 8" jointer.

 

[ktblunden]

Wow beer sure is expensive where you live. I get two full cases out of a batch - so you're paying $300 a case for beer? $150 for a 12-pack? $20 a bomber?

A 12oz bottle of RR Consecration runs $13 most places I've seen it. 48 of those would come out to $624. Ingredient cost for a clone batch could be up around $50 or so if you're not buying bulk. After that it's just sitting in a fermenter for several months to a year. Sours and other aged beers are generally much more expensive than fresh beers due to the amount of time they take sitting in barrels taking up floor space. So those beers will have the greatest return for homebrewers.

 

[Rockindaddy]

One thing nobody seems to calculate is their "time". Average what your hourly pay is and multiply that by how many hours it takes you to brew and bottle and add that to your cost. Yes, it's a job we love, but as they say, "Time is money". Now, time to go make some....... "money"!

 

[Heavywalker]

One thing nobody seems to calculate is their "time". Average what your hourly pay is and multiply that by how many hours it takes you to brew and bottle and add that to your cost. Yes, it's a job we love, but as they say, "Time is money". Now, time to go make some....... "money"!

I only do that to talk myself out of things I don't want to do. Besides it costs the same (hourly wage wise) to sit on my ass and watch TV as it does to brew so your hourly rate is moot.

 

[Varmintman]

About time this happened again.

Some folks spend more money brewing and some folks save money brewing. You can do as much as you like and spend as much as you like buying bling or you can make great beer and not spend a ton and that is one of the reasons I love the hobby so much.....Well that and you get beer at the end

 

[evrose]

One thing nobody seems to calculate is their "time". Average what your hourly pay is and multiply that by how many hours it takes you to brew and bottle and add that to your cost. Yes, it's a job we love, but as they say, "Time is money". Now, time to go make some....... "money"!

You're talking about opportunity cost, but that doesn't always apply. Time should only factor in to the cost of brewing if you are substituting actual work for brewing time. If you're brewing in your downtime, it doesn't factor.

For example, I charge $75/hr as a consultant. If I brew for 4 hours on Saturday afternoon, when I wouldn't otherwise be working, I'm not going to say that the batch cost an extra $300. That's silly.

Now, if I skipped a paying gig to stay home and brew... that's different (the batch would incur a $300 opportunity cost), but it wouldn't matter because my wife would kill me long before the beer was ready to drink.

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

Idk about everyone else... But I tend to brew, let's say an IPA.. I like to buy well known ipas to compair.. If I clone a beer I always buy an original to just see how close I got it... Sometimes I am dead on or a lil off... In the end still costs money. Guess I'm not the only one tho...

 

[Nightshade]

One thing nobody seems to calculate is their "time". Average what your hourly pay is and multiply that by how many hours it takes you to brew and bottle and add that to your cost. Yes, it's a job we love, but as they say, "Time is money". Now, time to go make some....... "money"!

Payment is finished product and time spent in a hobby is not time that is owed payment, if it is then it is not a hobby.

 

[WiseEyes]

i see what your saying, but honestly.. do you save money?

do you keg? how much is Co2 refill? i know for me its 25 bucks. yea i know it lasts awhile! but still money adds up... thats just one example.

PLEASE dont get me wrong, i love brewing and the amount of money is costs does not matter to me. i brew cuz i love beer an changing the recipe around to get something diff. not to save $$

Jesus $25 bucks for co2, I pay 10 bucks for a 20# tank at the welding gas supplier.

 

[LAHammer]

Just jumped into this hobby a few months ago and was hooked immediately. Something about enjoying the end result, I think. Too lazy to bottle so had to keg. Figure with initial investment and ingredient costs, I'm down below $10 per pint by now. Just need to brew more. The more you make, the cheaper it gets. (That's what I tell SWMBO)

 

[tyzippers]

Just to throw this suggestion out there: you may, or may not need to calculate the cost of kegging into the cost of making beer. I say you may not, because it's entirely in the realm of possibility to buy kegs of commercial brew and still put forth coin for a proper draught setup. In which case the home brewer only needs to count the cost of the kegs. Though if you would normally only buy bottled commercial beer, then the home brewing kegging setup might count. But then, now the home brewer has the ability to buy commercial kegs and dispense those (with the proper tap of course) so, count it if you wish, but its a way to rationalize/justify a draught setup.

 

[Rockindaddy]

You're talking about opportunity cost, but that doesn't always apply. Time should only factor in to the cost of brewing if you are substituting actual work for brewing time. If you're brewing in your downtime, it doesn't factor.

For example, I charge $75/hr as a consultant. If I brew for 4 hours on Saturday afternoon, when I wouldn't otherwise be working, I'm not going to say that the batch cost an extra $300. That's silly.

Now, if I skipped a paying gig to stay home and brew... that's different (the batch would incur a $300 opportunity cost), but it wouldn't matter because my wife would kill me long before the beer was ready to drink.

You are correct and make an excellent point. This is along the same lines of what I was thinking because I often do side jobs on the weekends. I was just throwing it out there as food for thought.

 

[willy_mugobeer]

Initial investment is a bit but all hobbies cost to get into.

Once you start buying bulk grain and milling your own is when you can start cutting cost considerably, until then it's just practice and rationalizing to others.

Oh, I dunno...my basic partial mash batch these days involves 4 lbs. of grain from lhbs for $8, 5 lbs. of dry extract (in bulk, on sale, from label peelers) for about $12, 3 ozs. of hops (in bulk from eBay) for $4, and about $3 for yeast (usually repitching one or twice).

Since I get about 26 to 28 bombers from a batch, that's about a buck a bomber. (Goes up and down according to style of course.)

That's considerably cutting my cost over the $5 to $9 I'd pay for a bomber of decent beer in the store. Doesn't factor energy costs, of course, but in the winter the boil actually helps heat the house. (And makes it smell nice. )

 

[Bostonbrewin63]

Jesus $25 bucks for co2, I pay 10 bucks for a 20# tank at the welding gas supplier.

Yep.. That's at my lhbs. I'm gonna start looking for a place to get refills...

 

[NickinWI]

So far I manage to brew what I like to drink for much less than the retail equivalent.

For me, I love gadgets (engineer) but the simpler I keep my brewing and the less junk I have to buy/store/maintain, the more of a kick I get out of knowing how cheap I made an AMAZING beer!

Only thing I haven't been able to calculate really is propane cost and water cost. Meh, whatever, I love this hobby!

The great thing is you get to drink your WORK!

Lets say we bring up the cost of going out for a beer...$3, $4 or more for one decent beer... plus tax, plus tips, plus gas, etc etc

Love being on my patio with a homebrew and a bowl of peanuts!!!

 

[NickinWI]

Oh yeah, need to stop giving it away too! :smack: But sharing is one of the best parts.

 

[BinghamtonEd]

Last night the wife and I went out for dinner. I paid $4.50 for a 12-14 oz "pint" of SA Summer Ale. I told my wife "I have 5 gallons of this stuff sitting at home, waiting to be bottled, and I paid about 70 cents per bottle to make it."

 

[Nightshade]

Oh, I dunno...my basic partial mash batch these days involves 4 lbs. of grain from lhbs for $8, 5 lbs. of dry extract (in bulk, on sale, from label peelers) for about $12, 3 ozs. of hops (in bulk from eBay) for $4, and about $3 for yeast (usually repitching one or twice).

Since I get about 26 to 28 bombers from a batch, that's about a buck a bomber. (Goes up and down according to style of course.)

That's considerably cutting my cost over the $5 to $9 I'd pay for a bomber of decent beer in the store. Doesn't factor energy costs, of course, but in the winter the boil actually helps heat the house. (And makes it smell nice. )

I get this, but if you were to buy base grains in 55lb bags you would end up with even cheaper beer at that point, washing and repitching can be done up to about 6-7 times or even more if you use starters from washed yeast, hops in quantity can be vac sealed and stored for quite a while, go in on a box withe a couple friends and split 11lbs between you to lower cost even more.

Run on sentence I know but the point being the larger quantity you can get in on the more you will save (up to a point). There is always a way to get a better deal and price.

 

[Rev2010]

I definitely save money making my own beer. It's not why I brew obviously, but I definitely save no doubt. Maybe if one was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon or Budweizers there wouldn't be much savings since you can get those beers reeeally cheap, but my typical beers that I buy to drink at home cost 3-4 times what I pay for my own. Then again I live in NJ, so even a 12oz of Sam Adams is no less than $1.50.


Rev.

 

[Baileisdad]

Wow beer sure is expensive where you live. I get two full cases out of a batch - so you're paying $300 a case for beer? $150 for a 12-pack? $20 a bomber?

Exactly what I was thinking!!! Where in the world is beer so much?

 

[ktblunden]

Exactly what I was thinking!!! Where in the world is beer so much?

As mentioned by myself and xpertskir, that's pricing on sour beers. Russian River Consecration is $13 per 12oz bottle. 48 of those equals $624. So making a Consecration clone will save you a ton of money over buying it commercially. Of course, it's also a much more advanced style, requires a few different yeasts and sour bugs, and takes up to a year to make.

 

[Baileisdad]

As mentioned by myself and xpertskir, that's pricing on sour beers. Russian River Consecration is $13 per 12oz bottle. 48 of those equals $624. So making a Consecration clone will save you a ton of money over buying it commercially. Of course, it's also a much more advanced style, requires a few different yeasts and sour bugs, and takes up to a year to make.

Got it.

 

[SteveLikesBeer]

I generally find that beers that I enjoy, on the low end, cost roughly $2 a bottle. I'm sure the more bulk buying (six pack, case, etc..) the cheaper per bottle it becomes. I don't like to buy more than 6 of the same beers with very few exceptions. Partly due to how often I am wanting to try something else (so they may sit too long) and partly because many companies don't state a bottle date and I'm not sure how long they could have been aged or on shelves. My own beer is fresh so I worry less about that. For me it seems to be cheaper but I also don't count the time it takes to brew (because it's fun and I figure that cancels it out). I also don't count the up front costs to get into the hobby any more than I'd count a utility and ISP bill in the cost of forum access .