Cost Of Doing An Ag?

[citizensnips]

I look at it as $20 a case but the quality is twice that of a $40 case of extra dry so you are getting 4 times the value of buying that crap!

Im pretty much the same as you Moad. My 27L batches cost about $60 each, working out to about $19 a case, I doI pay $20 in shipping everytime from craftbrewer becasue I'm in Melbourne. Not that I'm complaining, its my choice and I love the service there. But yeah the quality and enjoyment you get out of it is easily worth it, not to mention your still saving money drinking great beer.

 

[joshF]

Probably varies a few bucks here and there, depending on grace prices at your LHBS. An average batch costs me about $32 for grain, $12 for hops that i can probably get 2 batches from, and yeast is pretty much $6 for dry or double it for liquid. All up around $45 for a 24L batch that gets you close to 3 'cartons worth'.

The cost savings compared to purchased cartons or pub beer is huge (ignoring all-grain equipment costs ). Plus at the end of the day, why go to the pub if you can bring the pub to you.

 

[sponge]

For a single batch of an APA (for example, since it has a few hops in there), I normally look at around $2/kg grain ($10 total), $3-4 for hops, and $3 for liquid yeast (for say 3 generations of a smack pack). Throw on a few $'s each for gas and electricity (gas for kettle, element for HLT, fridge for fermenting) and you've got yourself to $1/L. Might go up to $1.50-$2/L for a 'bigger' beer.

Definitely helps buying grain and hops in bulk, and re-using liquid yeast.

I don't work on cost though, I brew because I love the process and end results.



Always helps showing the minister of finance those figures if need be..

 

[Diesel80]

A/G is dear when you use Liquid yeast, only if you don't
A) split a pack and grow it up
B) repitch
C) combination of A&B

$14 a pack now lasts me until i am bored of using it. So about $2/brew.

Without trying very hard to keep costs down i can make a 27L of 1.045 wort / 21 L packaged beer (yep fair bit of wastage i know) for $25 or near enough including Gas / Elec.
This is working on a 25Kg bag of grain costing $80 here in Perth, though it varies in reality from $65 to $85 depending on what you need.

This is not a 150g / batch APA though. Heavily hopped beers do cost more.

So for ingredients I agree about $1.0 - $1.20 /L basic single batch,

BUT

add in the 5 hours of time spent on each batch (includes tending to fermentation, making starters, brewing and kegging) at my hourly rate and it is definately cheaper to buy it from BWS or the local Thieving Baron.

Cheers,
D80

 

[sponge]

add in the 5 hours of time spent on each batch (includes tending to fermentation, making starters, brewing and kegging) at my hourly rate and it is definately cheaper to buy it from BWS or the local Thieving Baron.

That's all part of the enjoyment though. It's not just the (material) cost savings and end result that I enjoy about brewing, its the process and involvement that comes with it also.

 

[JDW81]

, I doI pay $20 in shipping everytime from craftbrewer becasue I'm in Melbourne.

why don't you get your stuff from G&G? Not trying to take business away from ross (I've bought stuff from him before and service was excellent), but to me it just seems like a waste of money to get stuff shipped from Brissy when you can get it in Melbourne.

 

[Nibbo]

Was speaking to a mates brother at the Geelong Beer Fest the other week and he started asking about my home brew.
"How much does it cost a batch to make" he says.
"On average, $1 a litre give or take"i says.
"Gee's that dear" He says again...
"Ummmm, OK. How much you usually pay for a pint at a pub" I says to him
" Yeah, I spose" was the response.

Had his cynic shoes on that day.

I'm stoked with a $1 a litre...

 

[Diesel80]

That's all part of the enjoyment though. It's not just the (material) cost savings and end result that I enjoy about brewing, its the process and involvement that comes with it also.

It's an "Opportunity Cost", thus must be considered.
However it is a cost I would happily pay week in, week out

Cheers,
D80

 

[lmccrone]

It seems the cost question has been well and truly dealt with but can I just add that I made the switch from brewing from a kit about 12 months ago and the beer is much, much better. I'm not sure why that is, but I did a brew from a can, along with some specialty grain, the other day and it was just not as good as one done completely from scratch.

Go for it

 

[mikec]

I have grain, hops and yeast already so my next few brews will cost me NOTHING!

 

[Nick JD]

This one costs $6.50 for 20L or 33c a liter.

That's $3 a carton of stubbies.


XXXX Silver
Australian Light Lager

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 2.750
Total Hops (g): 17.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.035 (°P): 8.8
Final Gravity (FG): 1.009 (°P): 2.3
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 3.44 %
Colour (SRM): 3.8 (EBC): 7.5
Bitterness (IBU): 14.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 80
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
2.700 kg Pale Ale Malt (98.18%)
0.050 kg Caramalt (1.82%)

Hop Bill
----------------
17.0 g Cluster Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 14°C with Wyeast 2042 - Danish Lager


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[warra48]

Real cost about $1 a longneck on average.

BeerSmith costs my beer at $0.00, nil, zilch, zip, nada, nothing, gratis, free......
How so?
Simple, set your ingredient costs in BeerSmith to $0.00.

 

[joshF]

Definitely going to put all my costs in beersmith at $0.00 to show the girlfriend....

Ask her how much her most recent pair of shoes cost and all I hear is "Not much, they were on sale" yet she wants to know every cent that gets spent on beer. Somethings not right here..... :lol:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Definitely going to put all my costs in beersmith at $0.00 to show the girlfriend....

Ask her how much her most recent pair of shoes cost and all I hear is "Not much, they were on sale" yet she wants to know every cent that gets spent on beer. Somethings not right here..... :lol:

Yep, your girlfriend wears the pants without even wearing the ring

 

[hsb]

5 hours of time spent on each batch (includes tending to fermentation, making starters, brewing and kegging) at my hourly rate

This is all time you aren't spending money on anything else though. Assuming you aren't sat watching the mash whilst buying bespoke morris dancing equipment online of course.
My time is free, my brewing is pro bono work.

 

[Nick JD]

I enjoy brewing. Found K&K a chore because there was no "art" in it - no creativity, and no variation.

Whereas with AG you tweak and you get to use new ingredients and new recipes all the time.

Last week I used Victory malt for the first time, and 1272 and Waimea.

It's quite exciting getting a new batch of ingredients and experimenting. Then there's decoctions and infusing and ramping up and starters that are like a little yeast experiement on the kitchen bench. Fire, YA little BITCHES!

And then there's the best bit: the two hours (1 during the mash and 1 during the boil) where you get to watch sport or a movie or play xbox and do some hop chroming.

And you're actually making beer like breweries do. Something very impersonal in emptying ingredients into a fermenter and adding some water.

 

[joshF]

Gotta agree Nick.
Don't know what it is, but brewing triggers something in all of us i'm sure.

I drove 20kms from work the other day during shitty lunchtime traffic just to pick up a $4.50 packet of yeast then drove 20kms back and the traffic didn't phase me, yet the 15 minute drive home from work in decent traffic is a pain in arse!!! Funny how beer makes the brain prioritise things :drinks:
Oh and gametime, 75 minute mash gives me ample time to go nuts on Call of Duty. Another 30 minutes gametime for the sparge, 60 for boil etc. Needless to say, not much cleaning gets done on saturdays at my joint. Just a whole lot of couch surfing and 'real' beer making.

 

[chefeffect]

Just saw 10kg bags of long grain rice at ALDI for $10, now that's gotta bring the cost down.

 

[bignath]

And then there's the best bit: the two hours (1 during the mash and 1 during the boil) where you get to watch sport or a movie or play xbox and do some hop chroming.

HAHA! It's not a brewday unless you do heaps of that...