Cost Of Brewing

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Sprungmonkey

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Quick question just out of interest.

How do the ingredients in a batch of extract brewing compare in cost to a simalar (obvoiusly not quite as tasty) all grain brew.

I realise the quality of extract doesnt quite compare to AG, just trying to get a feel for AG batch cost?
 
Depends on how big the brew is (batch size and amount of grain) and what amount of hops you are bittering with.

Say for your average 23 L batch of AG you would use 3.5 - 5 kg of grain (landing you somewhere between the 3.5 - 5.0% mark) and 90 g of hops and it would cost you $21 - $27 mark. But thats just for the grain and hops, you have to factor in energy costs for the boil and other process costs.
 
I've seen a few threads on this and the answer is 'it depends'. There's too many factors to give a blanket answer.

For an example though, I would suggest you go to one of the sponsor's sites with a recipe and price both the AG and extract versions. That'll at least give you a starting point.

Cheers,

microbe
 
As others have noted - it depends. All things being equal, a big IPA with a tonne of hops is going to cost more than a wheatbeer. You can also buy cheaper brands of grain and more expensive brands of grain. You can also bulk buy ingredients and swap yeasts :blink: with friends to save money.

I reckon you could probably make a batch of wheat beer for less than $17 if you used Joe White malts bought in a bulkbuy. Of course you could also use premium malts, buy new liquid yeast etc and be paying at least twice that amount for the same recipe.
 
Here's a typical batch for me - 23 litres

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Extract SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 0.10 kg. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.001 2
51.9 2.60 kg. JW Malted Wheat Australia 1.027 2
41.9 2.10 kg. JW Vienna Australia 1.021 6
4.2 0.21 kg. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.002 55

$11.75 - 4.7kg base malt @ say 2.50/kilo (Obivously cheaper or more expensive - based on bulk buys / type of grain)
$1.50 - Specialties 0.31kg @ $5.00/kilo

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 12.1 60 min.
20.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 15.1 25 min.
20.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 7.9 10 min.
10.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 0.0 Into Cube
10.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 0.0 Keg

$5.50 - Hops 70g - @ $7.50/90grams

Yeast
-----
US-56

$4.00

Allow other additions eg whirlfloc / salts / sanitisers etc
$1

About $4 gas for the burner

Total = $24

Obviously this is gonna change based on recipe / where you buy ingredients / efficiencies / bulk buys etc

Hope that helps

Cheers
 
Sprungmonkey, Cortez has given you a great example of the costs for an everyday easy drinking beer.

Rook
 
Here's a typical batch for me - 23 litres

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Extract SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 0.10 kg. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.001 2
51.9 2.60 kg. JW Malted Wheat Australia 1.027 2
41.9 2.10 kg. JW Vienna Australia 1.021 6
4.2 0.21 kg. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.002 55

$11.75 - 4.7kg base malt @ say 2.50/kilo (Obivously cheaper or more expensive - based on bulk buys / type of grain)
$1.50 - Specialties 0.31kg @ $5.00/kilo

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.00 g. Centennial Pellet 9.90 12.1 60 min.
20.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 15.1 25 min.
20.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 7.9 10 min.
10.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 0.0 Into Cube
10.00 g. Amarillo Pellet 8.90 0.0 Keg

$5.50 - Hops 70g - @ $7.50/90grams

Yeast
-----
US-56

$4.00

Allow other additions eg whirlfloc / salts / sanitisers etc
$1

About $4 gas for the burner

Total = $24

Obviously this is gonna change based on recipe / where you buy ingredients / efficiencies / bulk buys etc

Hope that helps

Cheers

Then you've got to put aside say $26 a brew to pay for the extra equipment, but you get 2 1/2 brews out of that. So you've only paid $50-55 for around $150 worth of beer. And it will be of better quality than most commercial beers.
 
Excellent Cortez - thats exactly what I wanted to know.

I guess it is very comparable to that of extract brewing if not cheaper - espeically buying in bulk.

Im aiming at getting into AG by around next year and was interested as to if (other than equipment) it was more expensive than extract brewing. One would think it would be cheaper (if not the same) since the grain itself is less processed (ie supplier don't have manufacture malt extracts, etc.).

Thanks
 
I roughly worked out some time back that I was averaging around $8 per slab/9ltr. Keep in mind that I purchased my ingredients(malt) in bulk when possible which helps keep the cost down considerably. I also tend to buy discounted yeast and split the cultures so I can get about 3 brews out of the one packet/vial.
 
By the time u get to the level of doing All Grain you are not, or should not, be brewing for cost reasons. I understand that was not your question, so I can't tell u how much it cost's me to make an AG brew because I DONT CARE.
But thats just me.

Steve
 
Totally agree SJW but unfortunately I have a budget. If each batch of AG was significantly less than extract brewing then I would see no point in continuing to extract brew and would start looking at getting together some AG gear.
 
Totally agree SJW but unfortunately I have a budget. If each batch of AG was significantly less than extract brewing then I would see no point in continuing to extract brew and would start looking at getting together some AG gear.
Buy in bulk, reuse yeast and you're looking at less than $20 easy. Alot more of a startup cost though.
 
Buy in bulk, reuse yeast and you're looking at less than $20 easy. Alot more of a startup cost though.

It's all about long term savings. Eventually, you'll have all the gizmos and gadgets you need and the ability to use them well. You can spend anywhere between $50 and $5,000 for brewing gear, kegging gear etc depending on .. well, depends on you.

The area where I find the extra brewing costs comes when I decide to brew something different. So I need 5kg of a grain I don't ordinarily have, some specialist crystal malt, a flash liquid yeast and bingo, with all the freight, that can be $30 - $40 easy. But what I'm aiming to do to to make something I can't buy commercially (especially since where I live I don't have the convenience of local HBS or a Dan Murphys). But as they say, the joy of a good beer, made by myself ........ priceless.

If you really don't care about what you drink (ie you make your own version of megaswill) you can make good brews with kits and adjuncts. But I think I speak for a lot o blokes out there, its not the costs that count, its just the joy of brewing ...........
 
By the time u get to the level of doing All Grain you are not, or should not, be brewing for cost reasons. I understand that was not your question, so I can't tell u how much it cost's me to make an AG brew because I DONT CARE.
But thats just me.

Steve

I'm the same but I found that most non home brewers always insist on asking the "how much" question in some vain attempt to discredit your hobby. I love to see the look on there faces when i give them the answer followed up with the "govt makes approx $12 in excise on every slab of VB" remark..
 
Agree completely with the brewing-for-the-love-of-it sentiment; particularly with AG. If you looked at cost, the time you spend would easily swamp the ingredients anyway.

But you can get a rough idea from the above "typical" recipe - brewing basic and using dried yeast, or recycled yeast, etc will give you a 5 gal batch (nearly 2 slabs) for somewhere around $25, all grain.

Buying a decent quality kit and maybe some specialty grains, a fresh yeast might cost a few bucks more. All grain is typically a bit cheaper for comparable beer, just for ingredients. If you're trying to put a financial argument past the missus you should have no problem.
Don't tell her about all the extra gear you'll have lying around though. :rolleyes:
 
Well The differences are:


Grain
5.5kg of Grain vs Can of Extract and Bag of Sugar/Crystal (Grumpy's Masterbrew)

5.5 @ $4.50 (approx) = $24.75 vs $14.25 Grain + $ $16.25 = $30.50

Water = negligable. Water is so cheap.

35 litres + cleaning vs 25 litres + cleaning

Gas

1.5 hr burn (1.5kg @ $2.80kg) = $4.20 vs .5 hr burn = $1.40

Mash Water

1 hr heat element
approx $3.00 vs $0


Everything else is used in both. As far as i see it, at worst case its about the same with far better results.

The only difference i find is the time taken, however, for me its all about the beer.
 
If each batch of AG was significantly less than extract brewing then I would see no point in continuing to extract brew and would start looking at getting together some AG gear.
Well I would have to say that it still depends on what u are making. A Coles no name kit and a kg of sugar is a lot cheaper than a Premium Muntons Kit, 1.5kg of DME, some specialty grain and a Wyeast. Same goes with AG. You can do a CAP with 3kgs of Pils Malt and a bag of Rice and a std Dry yeast that would cost way less than doing a Dopplebock. But this diff with AG is, as has been mentioned, a fully pumped micro brewery like mine would be around 1 or 2 grand then these fermentation fridges temp controlers, a mill, kegs, taps, gas, back handers to keep the Mrs happy ect.
Its an interesting topic. But by the time you build up to AG your too far gone to worry about cost, so I would sudgest stay doing kits and build up slowly.
I always laugh at these blokes (not u) that have never brewed a beer in their life but want to put together a fully pumped AG set-up to brew great beer.
Anyway keep it simple.

Steve
 
I found extract and grain brewing to be the most expensive.
Having stepped through all the stages, kits & bits, extract, AG I found extract to be quite expensive. In fact the rising costs, my lHBS would no longer stock bulk extract, were one of the major reasons I pushed getting into AG.
I was very happy with the beers I was producing, and was happy to slowly get together my AG equipment.
I still believe that for many people extract with a mini-mash will provide the best result vs time for brewing.
The cost can really add up though.

I love AG but I do believe it isn't for everyone.
It is most certainly, discussions on time and bling aside, the cheapest per batch method out of extract and AG.
 
I love AG but I do believe it isn't for everyone.
It is most certainly, discussions on time and bling aside, the cheapest per batch method out of extract and AG.
Agree, the cost of the grain ect is not the issue, or even the equipment, when it takes, on a good day, 5 hours to do a 25 litre batch, my time on weekends is worth at least $50 per hour so $250.00 worth of labour alone would tell you we dont do it to save money.

Steve
 

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