menoetes
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 19/5/13
- Messages
- 837
- Reaction score
- 311
Hi Guys,
I've been brewing for a little over a year now; starting with the standard tasteless Kit and Kilo and progressing with many mistakes, hours of reading and much help from people on this forum through to kits and bits, then extract brewing and then finally to my first partial/mini mash brew a few weeks back.
Now I have always enjoyed the process of brewing and for the most part I have enjoyed the products (ie. Beer) of the aforementioned process. I've even come across some really nice recipes in my constant searching and experimenting
However home brewing hasn't always been as cheap as I had originally hoped, especially when beginning extract brewing I noticed a real jump in my brewing costs with the expense of added ingredients such as fresh hops, specialty yeasts, specialty grains and extra equipment.
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge the extra expense. Home brewing is a true example of the old adage; "You get what you pay for" or even; "You only get out what you put in" both ring true in this case IMHO. But it did get me to thinking... what was the best beer I think I could make for a budget price?
Now it couldn't just be any old swill; it would still have to be something I could enjoy on an evening after work or be willing to serve unashamedly to my friends. So I finally settled on a Kit & Bits and here she is...
1 x Homebrand Lager Kit from Woolworths - $9.05
1 x 500g Jar of Chinese Rice Malt - $2.60
1.5kg of Pilsen Liquid malt extract - $6.90
250g Carapils grains (cracked) - $0.98
60g of Vic Secret Hops - $3.60
150g of Dextrose (for bulk priming) - $1.00
Recycled yeast from last brew (Wyeast 1272 in this case) - Free
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total - $24.13 (or approx 40c a stubbie)
All for a about 2 1/2 cartons worth of beer... it's going down tomorrow and I have high hopes for it. Hopefully it will stand as a testimony to the fact that you don't have to spend a fortune to make an enjoyable beer. Only time will tell...
I've been brewing for a little over a year now; starting with the standard tasteless Kit and Kilo and progressing with many mistakes, hours of reading and much help from people on this forum through to kits and bits, then extract brewing and then finally to my first partial/mini mash brew a few weeks back.
Now I have always enjoyed the process of brewing and for the most part I have enjoyed the products (ie. Beer) of the aforementioned process. I've even come across some really nice recipes in my constant searching and experimenting
However home brewing hasn't always been as cheap as I had originally hoped, especially when beginning extract brewing I noticed a real jump in my brewing costs with the expense of added ingredients such as fresh hops, specialty yeasts, specialty grains and extra equipment.
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge the extra expense. Home brewing is a true example of the old adage; "You get what you pay for" or even; "You only get out what you put in" both ring true in this case IMHO. But it did get me to thinking... what was the best beer I think I could make for a budget price?
Now it couldn't just be any old swill; it would still have to be something I could enjoy on an evening after work or be willing to serve unashamedly to my friends. So I finally settled on a Kit & Bits and here she is...
Tight-Ass Vic's Secret Ale
23 lt batch
Ingredients1 x Homebrand Lager Kit from Woolworths - $9.05
1 x 500g Jar of Chinese Rice Malt - $2.60
1.5kg of Pilsen Liquid malt extract - $6.90
250g Carapils grains (cracked) - $0.98
60g of Vic Secret Hops - $3.60
150g of Dextrose (for bulk priming) - $1.00
Recycled yeast from last brew (Wyeast 1272 in this case) - Free
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total - $24.13 (or approx 40c a stubbie)
All for a about 2 1/2 cartons worth of beer... it's going down tomorrow and I have high hopes for it. Hopefully it will stand as a testimony to the fact that you don't have to spend a fortune to make an enjoyable beer. Only time will tell...