# How Much Does Your Home Brewed Beer Cost A Litre To Make ?



## Pumpy (20/6/07)

Do you really know how much it costs for your homebrew a litre.

I think it costs me about 90cents -$1 per litre 

what does it cost you ?

Pumpy :unsure:


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## Fents (20/6/07)

how do u put a price on a labour of love?


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## bconnery (20/6/07)

Fermenter x dollars

hops X dollars

yeast x dollars

Taking that first sip of a newly crafted homebrew?

Priceless!

Quick edit: In the interests of being on relatively on topic. I did do a price comparison when looking at the move to AG to get a rough estimate of how long it would take to make back the set-up money in savings per brew. I worked out it was something in the region of $8-10 cheaper per batch. 
Mostly I try to just stick to the "much cheaper than buying" line rather than hard numbers so as to justify ever increasing purchases of equipment and ingredients...


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## bugwan (20/6/07)

This thread could get messy - do we factor in efficiency, hop utilisation??  

I spent $100 at G&G last weekend and made two brews totalling ~46 litres. I guess that's $2.17 per litre  One of them was a 9% Ruination APA clone though, so I guess it's usually better than that...

Of course, that figure doesn't factor in what I've spent on the brewery and ongoing consumables (gas, cleaning products). Hmmmm, obviously I won't be telling SWMBO this, although I am still making beer for much less than I would be paying for it.


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## SpillsMostOfIt (20/6/07)

Including cleaners, electricity, bottle caps (no bottles) and all ingredients (except for water) but excluding any allocation for equipment or time, 23 litres (bottled) of my Latest Creation costs $24.03, when bottled in stubbies. 

I estimate that if I were selling it, $31.33 would be payable in excise!


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## brettprevans (20/6/07)

90cents per litre  mine costs me a good $2 - $2.50. really got to get my setup up to scrath and move onto AG and yeast culturing. Yeast costs me a fortune

still I guess its a hell of a lot cheaper than buying commercial beer!


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## Wardhog (20/6/07)

One thing I also consider when working out how much I'm saving is what it is replacing. 
No longer happy with the CUB offerings, I'd be spending whatever the price of a slab of LCPA/LCBA is, then hold it up against the ~90c/Litre.

Just wait til I start brewing Belgians.


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## winkle (20/6/07)

Me to SWMBO "It's only around $1 per litre - think of how much we save!"
Factoring in all costs it'd have to something like $2/$3 in a medium time frame if you include electricity/sanitizer/equipment/gas - possibly even more. (excluding man-hours of course since I'm cheap)


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## tangent (20/6/07)

With bulk buys and cultured yeast, i reckon i can make it for about 35-40c a litre. That's ingredients only, maybe a little more to factor in the gas.


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## devo (20/6/07)

I roughly worked out that after buying all my grain, hops and yeast in bulk quantities it was costing me about $7 a slab.


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## peas_and_corn (20/6/07)

Factoring in equipment, grain, hops, yeast, gas, cleaning equipment... I haven't worked it out, but it's roughly between $2-$3 (goes up if it involves fruit, or uses a lot of grain; down if it's my honey beer, because I don't need much)


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## SpillsMostOfIt (20/6/07)

I've just performed the same calculation as I did on my Latest Creation on my Latest Belgian - $50.89 for 23 litres. I guess that is still a bit better than the price of similar quantities of Chimay/Duvel/Westmalle...


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## johnno (20/6/07)

The only thing I am paying for at the moment is gas and time.

I have enough supplies to last me at least a year. I try to bulk up the ingredients so I am not constantly going to the LHBS.

cheers
johnno


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## troywhite (20/6/07)

It all adds up pretty quickly.

Pure ingredients wise and no other costs factored in I'm spending about $25 - $30 for partials and for my first All Grain (just completed) I spent about $22. (I need to buy bulk grains)

The BIG cost is the equipment. I've just put together the worlds most tight arse All Grain setup and I've still spent over a hundred dollars on the equipment so far. 

Having to buy friggin' tools to cut, drill or assemble stuff is another wallet whacker. 

One day I'll work it all out, but I still keep convincing myself (and the missus) that in the long run I am saving money (??)


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## ham2k (20/6/07)

Surely the main reason we are spending our time on this forum in the middle of a weekday is not because we are trying to save money! 

I too started because of the money saving angle but I am going to have to jettison that notion as it is becoming obvious to both my wife and I that I never used to spend this much money on beer related activities.

I am really happy with this new hobby of mine. It is engaging and evolving and I get to drink the result. I can't think of a more rewarding pastime.

In fact, i feel homebrew gets a bad rap (undeservedly) because it is predominantly thought of as a money saving exercise, "cheapskates making their own substandard product". 

If it could be shown that many homebrewers are in fact pedantic perfectionists striving for that perfect brew for the benefit of themselves, their friends and family I feel homebrew would be embraced more enthusiastically. Rather than as the first suspect in a food poisioning case as was mentioned a month ago.

Rant over.  

Probably around $2 litre at present, but I am still finding my feet before bulk buying extract ingredients.


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## Cortez The Killer (20/6/07)

I reckon about $1-$1.20 / litre 

Depends on how fancy I am

Say for a 27 litre batch

4 kilos base malt @ $10
1 kilo speciality @ $5
90g hops @ $5
Yeast @ $4 (or less if used more than once)
Gas @ $5 (assuming 4 batches per bottle)
Other additions $1 (Whirlfloc, Salts etc)

That's $26-30 per batch or about $9-10 per case

Not too bad I suppose

I did a rough calc on all the gear I've purchased and came back with about $850 in brewing paraphernalia and $1100 for my keg setup

Not too expensive - there are more expense hobbies out there - but few as tasty!

Cheers


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## andrewg (20/6/07)

ham2k said:


> Surely the main reason we are spending our time on this forum in the middle of a weekday is not because we are trying to save money!
> 
> I too started because of the money saving angle but I am going to have to jettison that notion as it is becoming obvious to both my wife and I that I never used to spend this much money on beer related activities.
> 
> ...



I sort of agree with ham2k's rant - I don't know or really care that much about what it costs me to brew since I brew for the enjoyment of the process and the end results :beer: 
cheers & good brewin'
HStB


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## SJW (20/6/07)

As I have been getting my malt in bulk its hard to say. But at LHBS malt rates:
- 6 kgs grain = $20
- 100g hops = $10
- Wyeast = $15
then I have caps, iodophor, pink stain, water.
But after buying grain in bulk and re-using yeast and not counting equipment setup costs I would turn out 25 litres of beer for around $25.
But who's counting.

Now you have me thinking...................................

Brew table $300
burner + H.P. Reg $100
March pump $230
Glue and rubber to cover brew table $50
hose, valves + fittings $200
False bottom + fittings $100
50 Litre Keg HLT with element & sight guage $200
Fridgemate and brew fridge $120
New power point for fermentation fridge $50
New beer fridge to store bulk beer supplies $300
set of scales $50
Bench capper $50
Grain mill $50
Plastic buckets to store grain $50
Beersmith program $30
Mash paddle, industrial paint stirer, drill to run mill, hydrometers, spoons, thermometers, imersion heater, ....... I think I will stop there before SWMBO see's the post.
But the way I see it I am still way out in front.
Steve


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## tangent (20/6/07)

6kgs of grain $20 :blink: 
I get 25kgs for $40!


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## DarkFaerytale (20/6/07)

tangent said:


> 6kgs of grain $20 :blink:
> I get 25kgs for $40!


*whistles*

i better get me a mill, it would pay it self off fairly quickly i would think

-Phill


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## Screwtop (20/6/07)

Who bloody cares :beer: 

Mine's better than any of the reasonably priced crap megaswill on offer, and good imported beer costs between $7 and $18 per bottle so I gotta be way in front. Why bother to cost it out :huh:


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## enoch (20/6/07)

<Economic theory on>

I can't see it costs much more than 70-80 c/l for a nice all grain ale in ingredients (as a short run marginal cost)

My all grain setup is probably $1k (2k if you factor in the big fridge and the kegs) and has been going for 10 years with easily another 10 years life which gives $50-200 per year including toys and new plant.

I keg 300-400 litres a year which suggests the long run marginal cost is about 85 to 150 c/l. The more you brew the cheaper it gets!

This is engineer economics so apologies to any bona fide economists out there.

<Economic theory off>

Obviously I spend way too much time with models (of the spreadsheet kind) and should get out a bit more.

All that assumes that you ignore that this is a hobby for most of us which means we buy toys for the brewery because we like toys.

In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:

Edit: actually thats so cheap that I might just be able to justify a grain mill to make it cheaper still!


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## peas_and_corn (20/6/07)

I certainly agree with you, enoch. My biggest ongoing cost is buying liquid yeast, which I am working on a remedy for- yeast harvesting. Additionally, my numbers does include how much my equipment has cost me, as well as cost of my gas cylinder.

It is getting cheaper as it goes on, but also I keep wanting to get new equipment


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## HeXa (20/6/07)

I'm a lazy K&Ker... so about 60c per litre


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## enoch (20/6/07)

peas_and_corn said:


> My biggest ongoing cost is buying liquid yeast, which I am working on a remedy for- yeast harvesting.



I tend to use dry now days as it allows me to decide at short notice to do a brew. WIll then do another the following week onto the yeast cake - gives 90-100 litres of beer from two packs of dry yeast. Yeast ranching would be nice but it just doesn't fit in my schedule!


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## boingk (20/6/07)

Depends what I'm doing - I'll be fully anal and write up a list of a few brews I've done to represent mid, high and budget spending.

*Two-Row Lager*
$12.98 - Malt Shovel 1.7kg can [used the good kit yeast]
$7.20 - 800g LDME [@ $9/kg]
$1.20 - 400g Dextrose
$3.50 - 30g Hops [$7/60g]
Total cost of $24.88, and bottled 22.5L for a cost of $1.11 per litre to the nearest cent. For the record, its one of the best brews I've made...nice and crisp with a balanced palate and excellent mouthfeel. The fruity flavours mixing around from Hallertau and Cascade hopping are very nice. Definitely do again.


*Chilli Vanilli*
$22.60 - 3500g LLME
$1.00 - 100g Jalapenos
$2.55 - 10g Chipotles
$5.10 - 2 large vanilla beans
$5.85 - 50g Hops
$4.00 - Yeast
Comes to a total of $41.10 for 22.5L, a cost of $1.83 a litre. Can't wait for it to be ready...


*Toucan Farmland Draught*

$16.50 - 2 cans of Farmland Draught

This makes for $0.73 a litre to 22.5L! People liked it, and it actually came out drinkable [and strong] so i can't complain. Would have been improved with flavouring hops for a total cost of around 83c/L.


So thats my costing for average, high-end, and budget brewing. 

Cheers all - boingk


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## troywhite (20/6/07)

enoch said:


> In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:



LOL, see this is the problem. My multiple hobbies are the killer  If I did that wifey would throw in the towel.

I do like the longevity argument though. I do churn out at least 25 brews a year minimum so it will work out quite reasonable in the long run. And it's not like the SS will go off.


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## Barramundi (20/6/07)

HaigStBrewery said:


> I sort of agree with ham2k's rant - I don't know or really care that much about what it costs me to brew since I brew for the enjoyment of the process and the end results :beer:
> cheers & good brewin'
> HStB


 what he said , im not really in in for the cost saving factor , i do it for the process of doing it an making a quality product that i can enjoy ... having said that i will one day do the sums and work out what it costs at present i dont bulk buy grains/hops etc so im paying more for what i do use ...


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## FazerPete (20/6/07)

enoch said:


> In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:



I've done the sailing bit and have the motorbike plus frequent golf and squash needs so I don't mention economics and hobbies together at home.  

I reckon my brews vary between $1.20 to $1.60 per litre.


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## bugwan (20/6/07)

I used to buy at least two (usually 3 or 4) six packs of micro/imported beer a week - that would set me back between $40 and $80!!

Now a brew costs somewhere around $30-40 and lasts me a month or more!! Can't complain.


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## Kingy (20/6/07)

havent worked it out but its going to get cheaper with my marga mill on the way


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## blackbock (20/6/07)

I estimate that even with the best ingredients I can find, it won't cost me any more than $1.50/l and that includes consumables like gas, whirlfloc, etc. etc.


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## Back Yard Brewer (20/6/07)

Pumpy said:


> Do you really know how much it costs for your homebrew a litre.
> 
> I think it costs me about 90cents -$1 per litre
> 
> ...



I like the other angle. How much excise is the stinking rotten government losing every time I down a brew :angry: . Thats priceless  . How many others turn to homebrewing everytime there is a excise increase. Yes I had a bad day at work and saw what tax I paid on my pay slip today.

BYB


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## Kai (20/6/07)

I don't care in the slightest. It's far cheaper than buying it, an more importantly it's a lot more fun.


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## microbe (20/6/07)

On a purely ingredients basis - it ranges from $0.25 per tallie (33c/L) for a ginger beer I did - (helped by Coles stuffing up the price labelling - free can for me!) to $1.21 ($1.61/L) for a three can stout. On average (including all consumables - caps, sanitiser etc) it works out at about $0.85 ($1.13/L)

I have never included equipment costs in my calculations because for the most part they're just one-off purchases.

In the long run though, I don't care how much because I like what I make and I've proved to SWMBO that it is cheaper than getting a carton every fortnight. Kegs and fridges and AG might change the expenses side of things if they ever eventuate for me, but if it gets to that it'll be because I won't be worried about the cost.


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## Pumpy (20/6/07)

Kai said:


> I don't care in the slightest. It's far cheaper than buying it, an more importantly it's a lot more fun.



Kai are you sure you are not in denial ?

have you been going over the top with those expensive ajuncts , the Begian Candy sugar at nine bucks a kilo , the sixteen dollar phial of exotic yeast , the imported malts and the fancy Ph adjusters and yeast nutrients . phew those alone would put a dollar fifty on a litre .

Pumpy


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## razz (20/6/07)

I figure on $1 a litre, the only thing I don't count is electricity and hardware. About all I can do to reduce my costs further is to buy a mill and get a better deal on grain.


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## MVZOOM (20/6/07)

I'm sitting here with a $1.20 p/l AG SNPA clone which I'm absolutely loving. It's priceless..

Aside from that, the equipment cost isn't a dead cost - you sell your kegging bits and pieces if you ever give it up and will re-coup a lot of the outlay. Same with mills, boilers etc. 

Cheers - Mike


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## johnno (20/6/07)

MVZOOM said:


> you sell your kegging bits and pieces if you ever give it up
> Cheers - Mike




Dont swear here mike.

cheers
johnno


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## domonsura (20/6/07)

Basic 50l brew with JW malt, carapils and Hallertau pacific hops and a dried yeast is around 80 cents a litre not including gas or equipment costs (last time I worked it out). Some brews are more costly than that, but I don't usually go over the top with more expensive ingredients so that keeps the costs down.



Edit: And I'll never sell my brew gear, if I have my way I'll be buried with it  .......


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## MVZOOM (20/6/07)

johnno said:


> Dont swear here mike.
> 
> cheers
> johnno



Sorry Johnno. Cant believe I actually said that. h34r:


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## chris.taylor.98 (20/6/07)

How do you guys keep the costs so low!!! 

With just one smack pack ($15) and gas for the burner (~$6) I'm already up to 90c/l.

Usually costs me at least 1.80/l even if I reuse the yeast 5 times.


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## Kai (20/6/07)

Pumpy said:


> Kai are you sure you are not in denial ?
> 
> have you been going over the top with those expensive ajuncts , the Begian Candy sugar at nine bucks a kilo , the sixteen dollar phial of exotic yeast , the imported malts and the fancy Ph adjusters and yeast nutrients . phew those alone would put a dollar fifty on a litre .
> 
> Pumpy



Dollar fifty a litre? Needless extravagance! My adjuncts come from the hippie store, my sugar from CSR, my phials are milked across many brews, my pH adjusted through prayer and my yeast fed with love.


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## Thommo (20/6/07)

Sometimes under a dollar per litre...but never over two. I'm happy with that.

Thommo.


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## Uncle Fester (20/6/07)

troywhite said:


> The BIG cost is the equipment. I've just put together the worlds most tight arse All Grain setup and I've still spent over a hundred dollars on the equipment so far.




A little OT, but I beat $100 bux.

Mashtun $5.00 from Revolve. False bottom made up from crap I had in the shed

50lt Electric Kettle (doubles as HLT) $50.00 inc delivery from Evilbay

Sorry to black-cat though....

Fester

Ps: Hope to have developed and deployed a RIMS for the $5.00 mash-tun for sub $40 as well - will post results if worth posting...

Fess.


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## Tony (20/6/07)

ok

50 liter batch

average 10 KG malt @ $1.70/kg 

about 180g hops @ $6/90g

yeast....... i get a good 3 brews from a liquid yeast so $5/brew worst case

gas: $4

elecrtricty for firmentation, water, ect :$2 at the most

thats:

17 + 12 + 5 + 4 + 2

$40 for 50 liters

thats 80 cents / liter

Thats $7.20 a carton (80c/1000ml=0.08c/ml
0.08c*375ml=30c/stubby
30c*24= $7.2 / carton
$40/50 liter keg

cheap in my books

premium beer at $45/careton is $168/50 liter keg

thats 1/4 price

yeah and little johny cuts taxes....... mmmmmm

he needs something for his 6.8% pay rise with no loss of entitlemants

prick

sorry......... back to beer

its definatly cheaper

cheers


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## Uncle Fester (20/6/07)

Tony said:


> yeah and little johny cuts taxes....... mmmmmm
> 
> he needs something for his 6.8% pay rise with no loss of entitlemants
> 
> prick




Don't forget the Super scheme as well.....

(Wish I could retire after 8 years with an indexed pension)


[I would love to upgrade the reference of "Prick", but I don't want to offend Braufrau]


Fester


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## matti (20/6/07)

I spent $36 a LHB for the last ingredients.
this was with a $11 sediment tap for my cube.
That is 25 $ for 23L .
If I decide to dump next brew one current yeast cake, that will be another $8 saved.
It would equate to $17/23L= 74c/L.

Thats called fiddeling with the number LOL
give me a pay rise I'll save you


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## mika (21/6/07)

Never run the numbers (too scary) but I split liquid yeast about 6 ways to bring it down to the cost of dried yeast. That said not fac toring in capital equipment costs we're talking ~$40 for a 20L batch and that's buying the malt crushed from the LHBS, so potential saving. If you work it out, 20L or a keg is fairly close to two cartons. So if we're looking at 2 cartons of LCPA at between $50-60 each, and I'm making an equivalent for ~$40 (say $50 per brew to capture all the costs I'm not thinking of) I'm still in front.....and I'm having fun doing it, where I'd otherwise be spending money doing something else. Think the real saving can be calculated from the "hidden" expenses of NOT brewing beer.


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## andreic (21/6/07)

I reckon around $1.50 - $1.80 / L for me give or take including gas and postage for ingredients. A grain mill and buying bulk ingredients sometime in the future will shave a large portion of my per-brew costs. I think a grain mill is now next item on the wish list... But its such fun and the beers are getting better and better so the cost is irrelevant...

cheers,

Andrei


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## DJR (21/6/07)

$10 to $16 bucks per 23L batch here depending on ingredients used including gas, yeast etc

That makes between $0.43 per L and $0.69 per L :beerbang:


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## blackbock (21/6/07)

Chris Taylor said:


> How do you guys keep the costs so low!!!
> 
> With just one smack pack ($15) and gas for the burner (~$6) I'm already up to 90c/l.
> 
> Usually costs me at least 1.80/l even if I reuse the yeast 5 times.



Chris, you're obviously not brewing BIG ENOUGH batches!


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## Lukes (21/6/07)

I do 50 L batches @ under a $1.00 / L.
I try to bulk buy base malt & split yeast.


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## Stuster (21/6/07)

I'm with the don't care to think about it too hard crowd. It's not that I have money to burn or don't care about the cost, it's just that worrying too much about the cost can be dangerous. Your main cost in brewing (especially AG) is your time. If you take 5 hours to make a brew, worrying over the cost too much might mean you decide not to add a particular ingredient in case it adds a couple of bucks to the cost. But if that ingredient adds to your enjoyment of 50 beers, then would you be glad when you are drinking it that you have saved those few cents per beer?

Quality over quantity. :super: 

Or is it quality in quantity I get confused.  :lol:


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## SpillsMostOfIt (21/6/07)

Stuster said:


> Quality over quantity. :super:
> 
> Or is it quality in quantity I get confused.  :lol:



Quality *and* quantity - when I want it, where I want it (dammit!)  

Another reason why this pursuit is so good, it can be pretty much whatever you want it to be.


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## boingk (21/6/07)

Stuster & SMOIT - now we're talking! I mean, with 180 longies of delectable beer around...I find its the best of both worlds! :beerbang:


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## Adamt (21/6/07)

I'm on the "don't really care" bandwagon. As long as it's costing less than the $50 a carton that decent beer costs (which I'm sure I'm well under), nothing else really matters.. and gives me a reason to waste an entire afternoon brewing and edumacating my beer tasting palate.


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## Pumpy (21/6/07)

Stuster said:


> I'm with the don't care to think about it too hard crowd. It's not that I have money to burn or don't care about the cost, it's just that worrying too much about the cost can be dangerous. Your main cost in brewing (especially AG) is your time. If you take 5 hours to make a brew, worrying over the cost too much might mean you decide not to add a particular ingredient in case it adds a couple of bucks to the cost. But if that ingredient adds to your enjoyment of 50 beers, then would you be glad when you are drinking it that you have saved those few cents per beer?
> 
> Quality over quantity. :super:
> 
> Or is it quality in quantity I get confused.  :lol:




Stu , you just get carried away,

bet you have the Mag wheels on your highly polished red racing car ,Chromed rocker plate cover , chequer plate border behind the rego plates , Bright fluffy die hanging from mirror .

Affluence its called when you dont count the cost , 

not effluent , 

Affluence . B) 


Pumpy


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## Stuster (21/6/07)

Pumpy said:


> bet you have the Mag wheels on your highly polished red racing car ,Chromed rocker plate cover , chequer plate border behind the rego plates , Bright fluffy die hanging from mirror .



Yep. That's my sort of car as anybody from the ISB crowd can tell you.  

Here's a picture of my pride and joy, Pumpy.


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## SpillsMostOfIt (21/6/07)

Stuster said:


> Yep. That's my sort of car as anybody from the ISB crowd can tell you.
> 
> Here's a picture of my pride and joy, Pumpy.




I've got a big dent in the back of my car that matches that exactly!


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## Stuster (21/6/07)

Oops. Knew I shouldn't have posted that. The cheque for the damages is in the mail, SMOI.


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## reVoxAHB (21/6/07)

So the wife sends me into the city this evening to purchase pillows for our bed (yeah, I know... If I had $1 for every AHB post that started with, "So the wife sends me into the city to purchase pillows" I'd be a rich man beyond my years :blink

I test drive the $50 synthetics, the $70 synthetic foam cores, the $90 goose feathers, the $150+ latex... and 6 minutes later I'm over it. I grab 2 of the $8.99 specials, and I'm outta there. Probably not the best long term investment, but if she's happy for the next 90 days, I'm happy.

And I do what any of you good brewers would do: make a B-line for the nearest brewery (in my case, the Portland Hotel on Russel St. / home of Squire)... was specifically after the Hop Thief on tap for a job well done. 

I get there, and the kid behind the bar tells me the Hop Thief hadn't been on in like years (not true)! and in the same breath tells me he's only been working there for 30 days. He's juggling the 5 o' clock crowd, clearly under staffed.. doesn't offer a beer menu, etc. etc. I don't want to bother him and order something I hadn't tried: the Portland Pale.

$8.40 (pint)

I sit down, facing Russel street, grab the first sip and am overwhelmed by the fact that I brew far superior beer. That's not to say that it was bad or off by any means, or that I'm all cocked over with ego and my brewing (none apply). It was just average, which is fine.

And then it dawned on me: I paid less for my pillow ([email protected] Myer 30% off sale) something which I'll use for the next 3-6 months, having spent time in travel to the city, time for selection, etc. than I did for a 6 minute pint of average beer at the local whatever.

Good god. Made me think of this thread. 

I'm a chef. And I make a damn fine burger. That doesn't stop me from having a burger when I'm out and about, knowing I can make a "better burger" for less. It's when I wander into these dens where I'm suddenly ordering a $22 burger (I've seen far worse) that my sensibility hits the goddamned wall. 

Beer is like that. I don't care what it costs me (actually thought about it tonight, and I'm on par with the $1/L scenario). Time is important, but I enjoy my time spent in brewing so is a win.

PP point on par tells me to keep brewing and keep drinking, irregardless.

reVox


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## tangent (21/6/07)

i'm amazed at the partial crowd.
paying more for inferior beer.
$2 a litre for a partial  do you want to buy a bridge? 

buy a whole bag of cheap malt and some high a/a whole hops.
I got given (that means free) some pride+ whole hops (13%a/a) and bought a #uckload of whole nugget for about $5. Culture some yeast or use a cheap packet of dry, AG brewing is waaaaay cheaper, and better beer hands down.

Some people still use excuses though  
"Mumsy says I can't brew in the garage whilst the Mercedes is parked in the Sunday position. Since Father has taken up his new mistress I'm not allowed to leave fermenters in the guest room. Whoa am I and my spoiled friends." 
Yeah, life is hard Paris  

Make some beer, drink it.


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## Tony (21/6/07)

reVox said:


> Beer is like that. I don't care what it costs me (actually thought about it tonight, and I'm on par with the $1/L scenario). Time is important, but I enjoy my time spent in brewing so is a win win.
> 
> reVox



very true. and well said.

I have refined my costs by brewing larger batches, good efficiency and maxamising the efficiency of my system.

I source the cheapest gas, i dont just get swap bottles at the servo, i source my ingredients fron different places that offer great quality and price.

I do brew to save money....... thats why i started in the first place, but it has developed into something so much more for me now. 

If malt went up to $4 a kg, i would keep brewing cause i enjoy the process, the smell, the edventure of formulating a recipe...... making the beer and seeing peoples faces when they try something new and like it.

I like tasting new things too 

I like the gadgets as well. mmmmm the gadgets have me hooked.

cheers


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## Darren (21/6/07)

**** all (am I allowed to sat that)

Toughen up Australia

cheers

Darren


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## Tony (21/6/07)

:blink:  

darren did you no chill................

do you have a bacterial infection.........???

that reminds me of a coment an engineer i used to work with made once. 

HE was a practicing cathlic churchie..... didnt drink, smoke or swear.

if he split his finger with a hammer he yelled "FRIG IT"

one day he was standing around with us in the workshop and he must have had a rush of blood and deciced to try to be "one of the boys"

He picked up a 500mm long temperatrure probe and proudly stated at the top of his voice

"how would you like that shoved up your arse"

well............. all went quiet in shock ans just stared at him.

we all looked at each other and then burst out laughung.

he went red as a beetroot and left quickly

ahhhhhhhh i love moments like that.

cheers

:lol:


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## winkle (21/6/07)

If I can work up the courage I'll try the "A mill will make it even cheaper "to a very cynical SWMBO, that'd push my costs under $2 the way I see it. (I could just go to the Belgian Beer Cafe and buy 8 different beers whilst casually stating I could make these at home if I had a grain mill - mmm, that could work wonders  )


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## Darren (21/6/07)

Tony said:


> darren did you no chill................
> 
> do you have a bacterial infection.........???
> cheers




Hehehehe Tony, always the comedian,

Yes I do have bacterial infection in ALL of my brews, just like you  

Fortunately, none of mine are pathogenic  

If you are storing "no chill" beers then you are asking for trouble.

As a suggestion to you, go to work tomorrow and wire all your electrical connection negatives to the positives and see what happens  

Brewing science is 100's of years advanced to electrical science. Maybe you could make some revelations  

cheers

Darren


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## Darren (21/6/07)

winkle said:


> If I can work up the courage I'll try the "A mill will make it even cheaper "to a very cynical SWMBO, that'd push my costs under $2 the way I see it. (I could just go to the Belgian Beer Cafe and buy 8 different beers whilst casually stating I could make these at home if I had a grain mill - mmm, that could work wonders  )




Winkle,

Just go to your local Vinnies and buy a cheap food processor (dont use the "owners" food processor if you like your testies).

Nothing wrong with crushing your malt to pulp and flour. Many of the best brewers double mill and have alot of flour anyhow. The savings will help to sneak a mill in anyhow.

If you do use a food processor, just add grain and turn the whole unit on its side. Stop when it is mostly "crushed"

cheers

Darren


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## warrenlw63 (21/6/07)

Darren said:


> **** all (am I allowed to sat that)
> 
> Toughen up Australia
> 
> ...









Warren -


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## KoNG (21/6/07)

Darren said:


> **** all (am I allowed to sat that)
> 
> Toughen up Australia
> 
> ...



Agreed,
i actually think thats funny...!!! Dazza, you've amazed me.! :lol:


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## ant (22/6/07)

Long as it's cheaper a L than petrol, it's all good. Isn't it??? Guess this philosophy makes brewing in the UK look dead cheap, eh?

This is not a good thing to consider if one includes acquisition of gear h34r: I pay what I need to pay to get the gear I want once, without having to consider replacing it down the line.

The only way I can rationalise it is to weigh up 5 hours in a pub drinking beer at exorbitant prices per pint to 5 hours at home brewing beer over a pint or two, and I feel muchas better.


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