New To The Game Of Brewing

[paddys]

Hi guys, am new to the brewing scene, I purchased a little starter kit and in the process of brewing my first ever batch, I am very intrested in brewing from scratch, Am just wondering what the costs are to brew from scatch, will need the director of finances approval before i go out an buy lol, just a ball park,
many thanks
Patrick

 

[vicelore]

Hey Paddys welcome to AHB!

There has been 2nd hand full AG breweries sold on here for around the $200 mark recently, But you could spend thousands.

watch the 4 sale section and the Ebay thread on here. Lots of bargains.

Cheers Vice

 

[PostModern]

Low budget home breweries built from bits and bobs are great and can make superb beer. I spent all up about $300 with found tanks, an old esky, bits of copper pipe, new 3-piece ball valves, bimetal thermometers and such... Also look into Brew in a Bag (BIAB) for one pot brewing if you want to take the fast track. Plenty of info on the board.

Cheers and welcome to AHB.

 

[chappo1970]

Ok I'll bite.

Welcome BTW

"Scratch" (pfft!) I take you mean "All Grain" or "AG" as we like to put it can very expensive to very cheap it depends on your wallet and how resourceful and practical you are. I would suggest that you spend the time learning from doing kits first, as it's a great platform to learn the basics of the trade, before steeping into AG. See if home brewing turns your wheels before investing a great deal of time and money into this great hobby. By all means dive in if your that way inclined but you must have the basics down pat for AG brewing IMO. Anyway here's some picture of expensive and cheapish?

Expensive if you can't weld and fabricate (Onya Jonno!)


Cheap-ish no frills version with the milk crates of death and bar stool of hell

You can also Boil in a Bag (BIAB) which produces great beers as well.

Edit: Spelling

 

[Katherine]

Ok I'll bite.


You can also Boil in a Bag (BIAB) which produces great beers as well.

Edit: Spelling

Hey Chappo you taking the piss there or what... LOL.... Brew in a Bag...

 

[Snow]

G'day Patrick,

welcome to the obsession!

All grain (doing it from scratch) can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. I suggest you give partial mashing a go before you go the full hog. Search for "partial mashing" and "brew in a bag" (or BIAB) and read a lot. Do a few extract beers first, with some fresh hops and good fresh yeast, and learn the mechanics of fermentation and hopping before you worry about grain selection, mashing, etc. Read John Palmer's "How to Brew" - google it and you can read it on his website. When you're ready, try some partials and see if you like it. Sky's the limit from there

Consider joining a brew club and attend a members' brew day.

Most of all - drink plenty of homebrew and have fun!

Cheers - Snow.

 

[chappo1970]

Hey Chappo you taking the piss there or what... LOL.... Brew in a Bag...

:icon_offtopic: Maybe? Wanna a fight? Been a sloooow day today at work. BIAB is good (if your a heretic and wanna burn in hell!)

 

[Katherine]

:icon_offtopic: Maybe? Wanna a fight? Been a sloooow day today at work. BIAB is good (if your a heretic and wanna burn in hell!)

tell me about it im in between projects.... spider solitare is just not doing it for me at all.

 

[raven19]

Welcome aboard indeed!

If the director of finances poses a huge issue, start basic and work your way up by slowly growing your brewing apparatus.

An urn (for BIAB) can then later on become your HLT in an AG rig, etc...

Costs can be from under $100 using recycled parts for AG brewing, into the $1000's.

Large kitchen pots, stove, collander and a few other bits and pieces can get a partial beer happening for you.

Soooo much good info on this site, read all the Wiki topics that are relevant for a solid grounding to the world of brewing.

Beers!

 

[MarkBastard]

every garage should have a random useless tyre in it. Chappo you've got plenty, good work brother

 

[matti]

Welcome.
Linky

+talk, discuss, taste, practice and formost Plan.

Have fun

 

[chappo1970]

Come on Katie and bite would have been good! I baited the hook an' all?

every garage should have a random useless tyre in it. Chappo you've got plenty, good work brother

They aren't useless or random tyres they hold up my shelves and empty bottles.

 

[jeddog]

Hi guys, am new to the brewing scene, I purchased a little starter kit and in the process of brewing my first ever batch, I am very intrested in brewing from scratch, Am just wondering what the costs are to brew from scatch, will need the director of finances approval before i go out an buy lol, just a ball park,
many thanks
Patrick

You poor bugger,you'll be broke in no time..so many thing..... so little money... :lol:

Don't let the director of finances read this thread h34r:

 

[manticle]

Homebrewing, even at it's most expensive end, will most likely save you money, unless you stop drinking altogether.

You can do a basic kit with a few extras (hop teabag, non-kit yeast) for under $20.

You will get close to two slabs worth of beer for that + a bit of work. Two slabs = $40+. 12 odd L of even the cheapest wine will cost more too.

If you move through the steps from kits to kits and bits to extract to extract + specialty to partial to All Grain you will probably find it goes up in price as it reaches extract. Partial and AG expenses I believe are mainly in the set-up as the ingredients are generally cheaper than extract (particularly if you're doing liquid extract).

I'm kind of fiddling with the beginnings of a partial stage but I've recently been spending a good deal of my non-disposable very small income on new stockpots, 100gm bags of hop pellets, various grains, liquid extracts etc.

However you can make it cheap - DIY as much as you can, anyone you know moving house and getting rid of a small fridge?, second hand advertised here or ebay or trading post, Kmart for stock pots or something to crush grain (I use a coffee grinder - pain in the arse and wouldn't do for a full AG boil) but thinking laterally within your budget until you can afford something is good.

Start small. Work Up. Learn. Drink.

 

[Gavo]

Welcome aboard.

As others have said, the price of doing AG can vary incredibly. How long is a piece of string? I tend to do a few brews then buy some new piece of equipment. It tends to keep the balance between costs outlaid and money saved.
The first more expensive thing I bought was a tempmate, then esky and fittings for a mash tun, then a 60lt stockpot, Burner and so on and so on. I am now thinking of a mashmate for the HLT. I would call my system basic but I can make a good beer with it.
What you can spend on a system depends on what you want to spend, what you can justify spending and how much patience you have to build your gear up. You will always be adding to the system no matter what you spend at first.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[Pollux]

I spent under $400 to move from extract to all grain....

 

[RobB]

Hi guys, am new to the brewing scene, I purchased a little starter kit and in the process of brewing my first ever batch, I am very intrested in brewing from scratch, Am just wondering what the costs are to brew from scatch, will need the director of finances approval before i go out an buy lol, just a ball park,
many thanks
Patrick

One of the best things you can do straight away (and it's free!) is fill in your location on your personal profile. You'll be networking with the locals in no time, finding out where the best deals are and probably attending a brew-day or two.

 

[reviled]

My 2 cents, BIAB cheapest and easiest way to get set up and go from there, $200 or maybe less if you can scrounge some free stuff from somewhere..

I spent $150 cos I allready had fermenters, looking back I could have spent about $100 if I shopped around and wasnt impatient

 

[gava]

I very recently went from kit to AG and I spent upward of $600 for AG kit then around another $600 to $800 on the kegs/co2/fridge/fridgemate tempcontroller all the goodies.. and Im still not done.. so it can be very dear.. although I could't be stuffed searching around for bargains on ebay so i just went out and brought stuff.

 

[paddys]

Many thanks guys for all your comments, it has given me a better understanding, thanks again,
Patrick