AG! Worth it or not?

[livo]

Why did I restart HB (again)? Quite simply it was the cost. $60 for 30 cans of mid strength V $20 - $25 for 30 longnecks! (Just over 3 years ago now, I think.) I used to tell people it was less than $1 per bottle or $0.50 for a schooner.
What is it costing today? Not too different to be honest. Shopping around the LHBSs for Out-of-Date reduced-price cans and bulk buy discounts, tarting up WW Lager and doing bulk buys through Big W (when on Special) or 6 packs of Cooper's concentrates from Dan Murphy's, I can still make beer for under $1 / bottle, or now that I keg, about $25 / 19 Litre keg. I do 6 cans of Coopers Dark Ale for my mate in 5 kegs at $133! 6 cans for $75 and 4 X BE3 or similar for $48 in 2 X 50 litres. By all accounts, cheap beer.

I'm currently setting up to revisit AG. I've done it before with pretty primitive homemade gear, which was fun to build, but I'm in a better place now and I've been able to score some pretty good equipment. Let's not consider the cost of the equipment but just look at the cost of brewing ingredients. Also, I won't quibble about whether the beer will be better or worse, as both myself and my mate are more than happy drinking what I'm producing from tin cans and boiled water. It could go either way and I end up with really good beer or utter garbage.

I have used a very simple SMaSH recipe I found for a basic Australian Summer Lager to compare with making a batch of Cooper's Lager swapping out to the same Lager yeast, ie: W34/70).

22 (23) Litres yield. 60 minute boil.
4.55 (4.5) kg of German Pilsner Malt (1.6'L) 100%
29 grams Hallertau [4.7 AA] 60 minutes
flocculent 10 minutes
2 packets W34/70.

Malt at $4, $6 or $9 / kg is $18, $27 or $41 per batch, + delivery for online. LHBS is $6 milled.
Hops for around $3
2 packets of yeast costs nearly $16, giving a total either $37, $46 or $60 / batch.

Cooper's Lager with replacement yeast is $43 at full price or $38.50 buying by 6 pack. This includes a $10 packet of BE2 or comparable sugar.

Cost reduction options.
Buying bulk grain and the full complement of hops and yeast from Kegland, including delivery, is just under $190 which will give 5 batches or again around $38 / batch. This is using their cheapest grain.
The only ingredient where there is potential for savings is in the yeast. Reducing from 2 packets to only 1 will cut $8 off each batch. The same applies to the Cooper's.
Money can be saved by buying only 1 or 2 packets of yeast and using methods to stretch it out to 5 or 6 batches. I recently made a 60 litre batch using less than 1/4 packet of US-05 by doing a 600 ml 48-hour starter and I often wash and re-pitch.

So, Kegland grain, hops and 1 packet of yeast plus delivery is just under $150.00 for enough to brew 5 batches, or $30 / batch. I haven't checked the cost of these ingredients at the local HBS yet, but I doubt it will be much different. This buying bulk grain also requires storage and the purchase of a mill. I can do 6 batches of Cooper's for the same $150.00.

My conclusion is that aside from the experience of making beer from scratch and playing with shiny toys, even buying ingredients in bulk, AG is generally a more expensive exercise than kit beer.

Am I missing something?

 

[MHB]

It’s probably cheaper to buy a shake and pan cake mix than to build from scratch.
Not why I bake, or brew as the case may be. It’s all about flavour

If your only reason to brew is to get pissed cheap - well my sympathy.
If I wanted to brew a 23L batch of something like St Bernardus Abbot 12 on my system with a Wyeast I would be up for something like $120.
This beer sells for around $12/330ml bottle
3 X 23L X $12 is $828
I could knock up a pretty convincing clone of Delirium Tremens for about half of that.

Home brewing gets relatively cheaper as the beer you are brewing gets better. If you’re so tight you can sharpen pencils in your arse, go to Aldi and get the cheap Port.
If you like good beer, well welcome back...

Mark

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Couple of things, you can make a bigger variety of beers with AG, you can tailor them to your tastes better and you will make better beer.

 

[Meddo]

I could knock up a pretty convincing clone of Delirium Tremens for about half of that.

Got any reading/reference material for this one Mark?

 

[MHB]

There is a bunch, Huyghe (the brewery) will give you the basic parameters, most recipe software has a recipe included.

It’s a really simple beer, just don’t get too carried away with the spice additions.
On the yeast they use a blend of yeasts, I found1388 Belgian Strong, T58 and SO-4 worked fairly well.
The bottle yeast is a pure lager yeast (probably 34/70, great bottling yeast) so no reculturing.

When I first put a recipe together I used Weyermann Premium Pilsner, Next time I'll try the Floor Malted Pilsner.
Needed a hint of the biscute that Floor Malted throws.

White sugar will work fine, no need to use the expensive Candi Syrup. Normally I would add sugar part way through the ferment, in this case some or all at the start might be a good idea, the extra stress on the yeast should encourage more esters (this beer reeks of them).

Grains of Paradise are an important part of the flavour profile, worth looking for.
Mark

 

[bradmcm]

A can of Coopers Lager + a bag of Enhancer #2 is $27 at Big W.
A single dollar more expensive at my local homebrew store.
A bag of Joe White pilsner malt is $65/bag where I am, so 4.5kg costs me $12.
Yeast and finishing hops is the same cost everywhere usually so no need to take it into account.
Even if I bought Weyermann pils malt like you suggested @$110/bag, it would be $20 for the grain. Still cheaper.
If I go to a pub, I'm spending >$20 per litre of good craft beer.
If I go to Dan's I could buy 24 cans of Coopers pale ale for $59 or $6.5/L

I know you need to take into account freight, as I guess you don't live in a location with a homebrew shop.


Of course, if you want to take into account the hundreds of dollars invested in a grain mill and an all-in-one electric brewing system as well as the extra hours out of your day, it takes a long time to recoup the savings.
For me though, it's a "making" or "creating" hobby and if I wasn't doing that I would need to be doing something else creative and making something. And that will be costing me money, like any hobby.