Cost Per Brew?

[fishard]

g'day all,

Just wondering what would be your average cost on putting down a brew. It would be great to get an idea of whats the cost of k&k compared to AG. How much does it cost to get better beer?


My average for kits and bits would be $23.00
The most I spent is $27.50 so far

Its funny how at around 38c a schooner its still to dear to give away.....must be because its made with love...... :blink:

cheers

 

[nonicman]

hops (avg 100grams per brew) $6 (at $60 per kg, last kg was $30 thanks MCWB)
base grain (avg 5.5kgs) $11 (JW Pale Ale $50 per 25kg bag)
speciality grains (avg 0.5 kg) $4 (at around $8 per kg)
liquid yeast currently working out at around $2 per brew.

A.G. avg total: $23

With a grain mill, costs would be reduced further as I could store whole grain a lot longer than shop crushed, not to mention fresher beer The yeast costs will also reduce the more I brew, and smarter purchasing should see hop costs being reduced. However the difference between kit brewing and AG (in my experience), is the extra devices, tuns and bits and pieces you are collecting all the time, they cost but that also bring great pleasure, and IMHO a satisfying beer.

Its funny how at around 38c a schooner its still to dear to give away.....must be because its made with love.....

100% agree, though I have given a case worth away in the last week. Scored a large Guiness poster for a six pack, but the poster says "drink beer from a bottle, brilliant!", I don't think so, so I gave the poster away.

 

[SJW]

My last AG was a Oatmeal Stout and for all the bits including some Sanatise & bottle caps was $32. Not bad considering i ended up with about 25 litres of the best beer i ever had.

 

[Snow]

Anywhere from $20-30, depending on what's brewing. My most expensive so far was about $42, which was a tripel with lots of spices, hops and a ton of DME, which is pricey. I don't even think about cost anymore, as I'm not in the hobby to make cheap beer, but to express the left side of my brain a bit more while trying to kill it at the same time with the proceeds!

- Snow

 

[Justin]

Oh god I don't even want to think about it. I couldn't tell you for sure but it's not cheap. If I factored in all the money spent on ingredients, equipment, petrol, time, electricity, gas etc. I bet I could drink imported beers for less. Per brew it probably works out cheaper but if you add everything up

Another example of a sneaky additional cost. My keg fridge. Because of my kegs I run two fridges all the time, where really I could have got away with only one fridge in my house if I didn't brew. It sits there running all the time yet I only drink from it every now and then. A constant drain of $$. Then I also run a fermentation fridge on and off at various times.

And for what it's worth I haven't stopped buying stuff for brewing. A little while ago a naive little brewer thought once I get my all grain stuff sorted out I won't have to spend anymore money on equipment. She'll just be all on ingredient and I can just make beer. So wrong. I don't care anymore, I love it. It probably still works out as a cheap hobby considering how much time I put into thinking about it, planning and then actually brewing and drinking it.

Cheers, Justin

 

[pint of lager]

There will always be another bit of shiney gear, another book to buy, another subscription, another set of glasses, just one more keg, ooohh a 12 litre keg would be good, just a bit more glassware for the yeast farm, the list goes on.

But yes, when you are set up all grain, witha mill and buy your hops by the kilo rather than by 60 gm lots, all grain works out cheap. The cheapest I have done is 45 litres for $6-7. Most 45 litre brews are about $25, depending on strength and specialty grains.

 

[johnno]

With all the money you save on brewing your own its worth it. Imagine paying $60 -$70 for good microbrewery beer everytime?
It costs me about $15-$20 these days per brew.
Thats doing partmashes with about 3 Kilos of grain.

cheers

 

[Jase]

The cheapest I have done is 45 litres for $6-7. Most 45 litre brews are about $25, depending on strength and specialty grains.

Hi Pint,

I'm interested in how you did a 45 litre brew for $6-7. Any details?

Cheers,
Jase

 

[Snow]

When you think about it as a hobby, it is pretty cheap. My wife has a friend at work who is into collecting model trains. A few months ago, he paid over $2000 for a single train engine!! When she told me that, I immediately said "I want a kegging system!" and she said "well.....ok.." B) . Puts it all into perspective.

- Snow

 

[AndrewQLD]

Just did the numbers on my last brew 40 lt A.G pilsner
for the grains, hops and yeast including freight
$37.00 for 40 lt, that equates to 92.5 cents per lt B) .

If I bought a case of VB :blink: I would pay $3.60 per lt

And that is not anywhere near as nice as my Bo Pils, using all german malts and tettnang and saaz hops.

Andrew

 

[bradmcm]

Yeah, that's about right. I would average about $20 a 20L brew including LPG.

I bulk buy my grain and hops and that makes a difference.

 

[sosman]

Well my last brew (23L) had a grain bill of 6kg, I paid $30 for $25kg so say $8.

Yeast was propagated from stuff someone gave me using wort I drained from earlier brews. Lets say $1

Hops around $8 so we are at around say $17 for ingredients. Add gas etc so I will go with $20 for 23L brew.

If I divide the amount I have spent on home brewing gear (not including ingredients) by the number of brews I have made it works out to $106/brew. Now if I were an accountant I would probably say that these are assets and the expense is only the depreciation part so maybe that is somewhere more like $30-50/brew.

So lets say $50-70 per brew.

The good part is that I manage to pay for ingredients on the grocery budget.

 

[fishard]

An interesting read to see what you AG brewers spend on your beers, after you have your gear its more an investment in time than money to make great beers.

Lucky its a hobby (or passion) if you were to add you man hours.....wellllll :lol:

Cheers

 

[flanbos]

I'm not in the hobby to make cheap beer, but to express the left side of my brain a bit more while trying to kill it at the same time

hahaha BEST cal ever snow!!!!

 

[big d]

try road/train freighting 100 kg grain to darwin then sea freight to arnhemland and your grain becomes very expensive.lucky i love this passion of brewing.im not real game to try and work out the exact cost but im still better off i reckon than buying premium beer.


cheers
big d

 

[pbrandonvirg]

I recently purchased some discontinued stock from coles(wheat beer-$2.20 a can)
plus $2.68 for dextrose. It ended up costing me 0.18c per longneck!!!!!!!!

 

[JSB]

As they say ya pay for what ya get !!!

 

[J.W.B]

B) It usually costs me between $21 and $30 per brew depending on ingredients malts and hops etc. But a cost factor that I dont like is the cost of the Co2 ..$23 to fill and $9 a month rental. I dont mind the fill cost but I consider the rental as a rip off......I use bottled gas for heating during the winter and the same company that fills my gas charges $2 per month for heating gas bottles ....and they are huge...
When I complain they just say...pay it of dont use it....NOT HAPPY!!!

Cheers

JWB :chug:

 

[dreamboat]

I quickly ran the numbers for my next planned brew, an APA...
7.4kg of grain - around $16
50g cascade - $3.75
25g POR - $0.30 (purchased at $12/kg)
Yeast - reuse of whitelabs, say $2 per brew
Starter - say another $2 worth of dme...
Gas and Power $??? maybe four bucks?

Total around $28 for a 35 litre batch, and if my reduced gap on the crush gets me an efficiency increase, i could get 38 litres or more.


dreamboat

 

[sluggerdog]

It seems to cost me just under $30 per batch (kit and bits) howver I buy bottle water to go into it each time and that is a $9 cost. so without that maybe $20 ish.

I'm happy with that.