The Cost Of Brewing.

[Dave70]

I've never actually bothered to number crunch my brews.
But today whilst preparing a grain bill, I bothered. I nearly always start from scratch unless I've a few hops in the freezer, and I don't buy anything in bulk.
I generally do 25L batches also.

My next hefe weigh's in just shy of fifty bucks, so round $1.90 per liter. Considering my favorites from DM's run just shy of six bucks a throw for 500 ml, it's another reason to smile.

That's me, how abut you?

 

[Malted]

I've never actually bothered to number crunch my brews.
But today whilst preparing a grain bill, I bothered. I nearly always start from scratch unless I've a few hops in the freezer, and I don't buy anything in bulk.
I generally do 25L batches also.

My next hefe weigh's in just shy of fifty bucks, so round $1.90 per liter. Considering my favorites from DM's run just shy of six bucks a throw for 500 ml, it's another reason to smile.

That's me, how abut you?

Lies, lies, lies and statistics....
Have you factored in the cost of your brewing equipment, gas & electricity costs, other consumables, your brew fridge & it's running costs, your keg or bottling system, the energy to chill the beer; you see where I am going? It's a slippery slope and has been debated on this forum a few times.
I don't think many people brew (good beer) to save money, they brew for the love of (good) beer.

But you are correct, it's not a bad price if you count just the ingredients.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

It's cheaper to brew a good batch of beer, than to buy a good batch of beer.

However, it is not cheaper to brew a good batch of beer, than to buy a regular batch of beer. If you like Euro lagers, it will be cheaper to buy a carton of Pilsner Urquell or even cheaper Oettinger.

However, if you want Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or to buy Stone & Wood Pacific Ale - it is cheaper to brew your own high quality beer yourself.

But! The sheer enjoyment of concocting your own beer is another non-financial enjoyment. I love certain beers, but I can brew it cheaper and to my taste.

Having said all this, it is only cheaper, if you don't drink more home brew, just because you can. Then it becomes massively more expensive.

Goomba

 

[petesbrew]

It's cheaper to brew a good batch of beer, than to buy a good batch of beer.

However, it is not cheaper to brew a good batch of beer, than to buy a regular batch of beer. If you like Euro lagers, it will be cheaper to buy a carton of Pilsner Urquell or even cheaper Oettinger.

However, if you want Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or to buy Stone & Wood Pacific Ale - it is cheaper to brew your own high quality beer yourself.

But! The sheer enjoyment of concocting your own beer is another non-financial enjoyment. I love certain beers, but I can brew it cheaper and to my taste.

Having said all this, it is only cheaper, if you don't drink more home brew, just because you can. Then it becomes massively more expensive.

Goomba

Hear hear.
Just start brewing belgians and start bragging to the missus how much you're "saving!".

 

[humulus]

Just take someone who loves fishing 20k+ for a boat then all the gear to fish with,not to mention the fuel bill!!!! and time
That one flathead you might catch could work out to be $500 a kg!!!! its the love of the sport or hobby!!!!!
but i really get your point when you can make a beer just as good if not better(and cheaper) than your favourite....... well who is smiling
Plus the rewards of our hobby taste a lot better than a fillet of flathead!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[djneli]

Lies, lies, lies and statistics....
Have you factored in the cost of your brewing equipment, gas & electricity costs, other consumables, your brew fridge & it's running costs, your keg or bottling system, the energy to chill the beer; you see where I am going? It's a slippery slope and has been debated on this forum a few times.
I don't think many people brew (good beer) to save money, they brew for the love of (good) beer.

But you are correct, it's not a bad price if you count just the ingredients.

Haha I made the mistake of working out what I have spent on my equipemnt and tools I've purchased to help me build my equipment - I burnt that piece of paper pretty quick so Nat didn't find it =)

 

[Deebo]

Just worked out the cost of ingredients for last batch to be about $18 (5.5kg grain, 50g hops, us-05, whirlfloc, starsan and nappysan) so it looks like I am doing a fair bit better price wise now than I was with k&k. I am buying bulk grain and hops now though also.
Any idea how much a 2400w element for say 2 hours would cost to run ?

..I did however buy an urn, a grain mill, a refractometer biab bag, temp controller etc which will probably take a few brews to pay off

 

[Cortez The Killer]

2.4kw * 2 hours * your rate per kw/h eg 25c

So say around $1.20

Cheers

 

[ben_sa]

I brew to make delicious beers that i can proudly say i made from scratch... Not so much the saving... My regular megaswill CPA is only $39-$42 a carton anyway which is cheap.

But one thing i have noticed, after working out my first AG, is the price difference between extract brewing and AG... Wowee!

I choose not to add up the cost of the equipment though :-/

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

One of the partners asked how I'd made a beer he'd tried over the weekend.

When you get to say "from scratch, I obtain the grains and malts and yeast needed, formulate my own recipe... " and so on. He couldn't understand the type of yeast - he just kept askign if it was like a coopers' yeast. I said that "no-one knows what's in cooper's yeast - I used a neutral, tolerant yeast that allows the other ingredients to come to the forefront in this instance".

He wandered away, shaking his head and saying it's a complex science.

Nice one.

Goomba

 

[brettprevans]

Huge thread on brewing costs somewhere. Cbf finding it though.

 

[mje1980]

Rule number one of brewclub, " Don't talk about ( the cost of ) brewclub" hahaha

 

[AndrewQLD]

It always costs, and costs, and costs.

Just recently started back into serious brewing after quite a few months break, first brew ready to keg, turned on my kegerator to find it's degassed and not chilling :angry: coil has corroded through.

Looks liking another few weeks with no Home brew while I try and find a suitable smallish chest freezer to convert.
The most annoying thing was the three days I spent finally setting up my Beer Engine for the Real Mild Ale I had brewed.

Andrew

 

[donburke]

Huge thread on brewing costs somewhere. Cbf finding it though.

this one

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ic=52947&hl=

 

[Dave70]

Lies, lies, lies and statistics....
Have you factored in the cost of your brewing equipment, gas & electricity costs, other consumables, your brew fridge & it's running costs, your keg or bottling system, the energy to chill the beer; you see where I am going? It's a slippery slope and has been debated on this forum a few times.
I don't think many people brew (good beer) to save money, they brew for the love of (good) beer.

But you are correct, it's not a bad price if you count just the ingredients.

Bahh.. a pox on your pricetaggery.

 

[DUANNE]

Just take someone who loves fishing 20k+ for a boat then all the gear to fish with,not to mention the fuel bill!!!! and time
That one flathead you might catch could work out to be $500 a kg!!!! its the love of the sport or hobby!!!!!
but i really get your point when you can make a beer just as good if not better(and cheaper) than your favourite....... well who is smiling
Plus the rewards of our hobby taste a lot better than a fillet of flathead!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i only disagree on one point here. beer does not taste better than a freshly caught fish,just different.
nothing on earth beats eating a fish youve caught yourself that day and washing it down with a pint of your own home made beer.

 

[yeastfeast]

I'm in Perth tonight on a work trip. Drinking pints of Kilkenny and Guiness @$9.50 a hit. Homebrew is definitely cheap!

 

[Thefatdoghead]

Yeah my wife has mentioned the $4000 bill for all my stuff more than once but when I take a sip of my own beer that I love and can't find anywhere else (locally anyway) the cost is the farthest thing from my mind. In saying that I do believe grain and yeast etc are all reasonable prices.
BREW ON!!!

 

[Bizier]

Time
Friendship
Sanity


The answer is definitely 'too much' though drinking expensive stale commercial beer gets me back to brewing every time.

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

i only disagree on one point here. beer does not taste better than a freshly caught fish,just different.
nothing on earth beats eating a fish youve caught yourself that day and washing it down with a pint of your own home made beer.

And when that fish is caught on a trip on some remote strip off the ningaloo, beer me! Good times