How Much Does Your Home Brewed Beer Cost A Litre To Make ?

[Screwtop]

Who bloody cares :beer:

Mine's better than any of the reasonably priced crap megaswill on offer, and good imported beer costs between $7 and $18 per bottle so I gotta be way in front. Why bother to cost it out :huh:

 

[enoch]

<Economic theory on>

I can't see it costs much more than 70-80 c/l for a nice all grain ale in ingredients (as a short run marginal cost)

My all grain setup is probably $1k (2k if you factor in the big fridge and the kegs) and has been going for 10 years with easily another 10 years life which gives $50-200 per year including toys and new plant.

I keg 300-400 litres a year which suggests the long run marginal cost is about 85 to 150 c/l. The more you brew the cheaper it gets!

This is engineer economics so apologies to any bona fide economists out there.

<Economic theory off>

Obviously I spend way too much time with models (of the spreadsheet kind) and should get out a bit more.

All that assumes that you ignore that this is a hobby for most of us which means we buy toys for the brewery because we like toys.

In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:

Edit: actually thats so cheap that I might just be able to justify a grain mill to make it cheaper still!

 

[peas_and_corn]

I certainly agree with you, enoch. My biggest ongoing cost is buying liquid yeast, which I am working on a remedy for- yeast harvesting. Additionally, my numbers does include how much my equipment has cost me, as well as cost of my gas cylinder.

It is getting cheaper as it goes on, but also I keep wanting to get new equipment

 

[HeXa]

I'm a lazy K&Ker... so about 60c per litre

 

[enoch]

My biggest ongoing cost is buying liquid yeast, which I am working on a remedy for- yeast harvesting.

I tend to use dry now days as it allows me to decide at short notice to do a brew. WIll then do another the following week onto the yeast cake - gives 90-100 litres of beer from two packs of dry yeast. Yeast ranching would be nice but it just doesn't fit in my schedule!

 

[boingk]

Depends what I'm doing - I'll be fully anal and write up a list of a few brews I've done to represent mid, high and budget spending.

Two-Row Lager

• $12.98 - Malt Shovel 1.7kg can [used the good kit yeast]
• $7.20 - 800g LDME [@ $9/kg]
• $1.20 - 400g Dextrose
• $3.50 - 30g Hops [$7/60g]

Total cost of $24.88, and bottled 22.5L for a cost of $1.11 per litre to the nearest cent. For the record, its one of the best brews I've made...nice and crisp with a balanced palate and excellent mouthfeel. The fruity flavours mixing around from Hallertau and Cascade hopping are very nice. Definitely do again.


Chilli Vanilli

• $22.60 - 3500g LLME
• $1.00 - 100g Jalapenos
• $2.55 - 10g Chipotles
• $5.10 - 2 large vanilla beans
• $5.85 - 50g Hops
• $4.00 - Yeast

Comes to a total of $41.10 for 22.5L, a cost of $1.83 a litre. Can't wait for it to be ready...


Toucan Farmland Draught

$16.50 - 2 cans of Farmland Draught

This makes for $0.73 a litre to 22.5L! People liked it, and it actually came out drinkable [and strong] so i can't complain. Would have been improved with flavouring hops for a total cost of around 83c/L.


So thats my costing for average, high-end, and budget brewing.

Cheers all - boingk

 

[user 1153]

In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:

LOL, see this is the problem. My multiple hobbies are the killer If I did that wifey would throw in the towel.

I do like the longevity argument though. I do churn out at least 25 brews a year minimum so it will work out quite reasonable in the long run. And it's not like the SS will go off.

 

[Barramundi]

I sort of agree with ham2k's rant - I don't know or really care that much about what it costs me to brew since I brew for the enjoyment of the process and the end results :beer:
cheers & good brewin'
HStB

what he said , im not really in in for the cost saving factor , i do it for the process of doing it an making a quality product that i can enjoy ... having said that i will one day do the sums and work out what it costs at present i dont bulk buy grains/hops etc so im paying more for what i do use ...

 

[FazerPete]

In the event that your other half is not an economist I suggest you start leaving some sailing, car, motor bike or other magazines around the house and say you are thinking about taking up a new hobby! :blink:

I've done the sailing bit and have the motorbike plus frequent golf and squash needs so I don't mention economics and hobbies together at home.

I reckon my brews vary between $1.20 to $1.60 per litre.

 

[bugwan]

I used to buy at least two (usually 3 or 4) six packs of micro/imported beer a week - that would set me back between $40 and $80!!

Now a brew costs somewhere around $30-40 and lasts me a month or more!! Can't complain.

 

[Kingy]

havent worked it out but its going to get cheaper with my marga mill on the way

 

[blackbock]

I estimate that even with the best ingredients I can find, it won't cost me any more than $1.50/l and that includes consumables like gas, whirlfloc, etc. etc.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Do you really know how much it costs for your homebrew a litre.

I think it costs me about 90cents -$1 per litre

what does it cost you ?

Pumpy :unsure:

I like the other angle. How much excise is the stinking rotten government losing every time I down a brew :angry: . Thats priceless . How many others turn to homebrewing everytime there is a excise increase. Yes I had a bad day at work and saw what tax I paid on my pay slip today.

BYB

 

[Kai]

I don't care in the slightest. It's far cheaper than buying it, an more importantly it's a lot more fun.

 

[microbe]

On a purely ingredients basis - it ranges from $0.25 per tallie (33c/L) for a ginger beer I did - (helped by Coles stuffing up the price labelling - free can for me!) to $1.21 ($1.61/L) for a three can stout. On average (including all consumables - caps, sanitiser etc) it works out at about $0.85 ($1.13/L)

I have never included equipment costs in my calculations because for the most part they're just one-off purchases.

In the long run though, I don't care how much because I like what I make and I've proved to SWMBO that it is cheaper than getting a carton every fortnight. Kegs and fridges and AG might change the expenses side of things if they ever eventuate for me, but if it gets to that it'll be because I won't be worried about the cost.

 

[Pumpy]

I don't care in the slightest. It's far cheaper than buying it, an more importantly it's a lot more fun.

Kai are you sure you are not in denial ?

have you been going over the top with those expensive ajuncts , the Begian Candy sugar at nine bucks a kilo , the sixteen dollar phial of exotic yeast , the imported malts and the fancy Ph adjusters and yeast nutrients . phew those alone would put a dollar fifty on a litre .

Pumpy

 

[razz]

I figure on $1 a litre, the only thing I don't count is electricity and hardware. About all I can do to reduce my costs further is to buy a mill and get a better deal on grain.

 

[MVZOOM]

I'm sitting here with a $1.20 p/l AG SNPA clone which I'm absolutely loving. It's priceless..

Aside from that, the equipment cost isn't a dead cost - you sell your kegging bits and pieces if you ever give it up and will re-coup a lot of the outlay. Same with mills, boilers etc.

Cheers - Mike

 

[johnno]

you sell your kegging bits and pieces if you ever give it up
Cheers - Mike

Dont swear here mike.

cheers
johnno

 

[domonsura]

Basic 50l brew with JW malt, carapils and Hallertau pacific hops and a dried yeast is around 80 cents a litre not including gas or equipment costs (last time I worked it out). Some brews are more costly than that, but I don't usually go over the top with more expensive ingredients so that keeps the costs down.



Edit: And I'll never sell my brew gear, if I have my way I'll be buried with it .......