What Are Your Costs (or Savings) In Home Brewing?

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michael_aussie

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In one of the threads today I saw someone describe home brewing as an expensive way to brew cheap beer.

I wondered exactly where I stand dollars wise. Not that I would ever go back to the dark side of buying commercial beer now that Im hooked.

I did a rough add up of my capital costs so far:
3 fermenters, 10 kegs, a freezer, 2 fridges, 3 taps, a gun, and various bits and pieces..
This comes to around $1,300 although I estimate I will need to spend another $400 to make my freezer a keezer.

Ive been brewing for 18 months now.

Each batch including cleaning consumables and gas would work out at around $30.

I have made 43 batches in that period, at a total operational cost of 43 x $30 = $1290.

So my total home brew cost has been $1290 + $1300 = $2590.

Using 21 litres beer drank per batch, this equates to 21 x 43 = 903 litres.

A commercial slab = 24 x 375ml = 9 litres.

Therefore 903 litres is equivalent to 903/9 = 100 slabs.

At an average of $40 per slab, this equates to $4,000 of beer not purchased.

Therefore, in pure dollars terms I am $1,400 ahead, over an 18 month period = nearly $18 per week.
I have purchased most of the capital items I will need for the next 10 years.
Therefore in the future this saving will be even more (roughly $35 per week).

.. and I get the satisfaction of tap pouring MY beer in MY lounge room.

Is this better than sex???
 
In one of the threads today I saw someone describe home brewing as an expensive way to brew cheap beer.

I wondered exactly where I stand dollars wise. Not that I would ever go back to the dark side of buying commercial beer now that Im hooked.

I did a rough add up of my capital costs so far:
3 fermenters, 10 kegs, a freezer, 2 fridges, 3 taps, a gun, and various bits and pieces..
This comes to around $1,300 although I estimate I will need to spend another $400 to make my freezer a keezer.

Ive been brewing for 18 months now.

Each batch including cleaning consumables and gas would work out at around $30.

I have made 43 batches in that period, at a total operational cost of 43 x $30 = $1290.

So my total home brew cost has been $1290 + $1300 = $2590.

Using 21 litres beer drank per batch, this equates to 21 x 43 = 903 litres.

A commercial slab = 24 x 375ml = 9 litres.

Therefore 903 litres is equivalent to 903/9 = 100 slabs.

At an average of $40 per slab, this equates to $4,000 of beer not purchased.

Therefore, in pure dollars terms I am $1,400 ahead, over an 18 month period = nearly $18 per week.
I have purchased most of the capital items I will need for the next 10 years.
Therefore in the future this saving will be even more (roughly $35 per week).

.. and I get the satisfaction of tap pouring MY beer in MY lounge room.

Is this better than sex???

Definitely cheaper than sex!!

I bottle beer, used an 'off-the-street' fridge (great commercial glass unit), plastic fermeters (cheap place close to caulfield at a third the price of home brew stores), bulk buy bought grain and standard gear(bottler, capper, etc).
I still buy commercial (Brew Dogs rock), but savings from HB would be huge. I was given converted kegs by a generous guy on this site, however have used cheap IGA pots for small batches.

When hops mature, more savings (and currently greatest expense as I am a hop head). Experimenting with storing yeasts will result in much greater savings.
 
It has crossed my mind, 2 things I would add:
The beer is better quality then what you would get for $40 a slab, more like $50-$70. But also, would you have drank as much if you didn't have the taps and hobby to go with the beer? You need to take into account how much more beer you drink :p
 
its like restoring cars. never add up the total.
 
Is this better than sex???

Not sure but a nice dark ale on tap can certainly remove the need!

HB will always save you money in the long run if you stick with it... If you've got the bug though then the only question is how long is the long run? The more you spend on captital outlays the cheaper the consumables get. e.g. a mill means you can bulk buy grains with a lot less storage hassle and probably halve your grain costs. Working out how to reuse yeast cut my per brew yeast cost from about $5 for a dry packet to fractions of a dollar by recycling multiple portions for several generations. An AG rig upgrade that increases efficiency will save you a small amount of grain.

On the downside you've got to take into account that there is natural tendency to consume more because the product is better.

The real hidden cost though is the opportunity cost of time spent of forums gawping at other peoples tap bling and brewhouse porn.
 
.

Ive been brewing for 18 months now.

Each batch including cleaning consumables and gas would work out at around $30.

I have made 43 batches in that period, at a total operational cost of 43 x $30 = $1290.

So my total home brew cost has been $1290 + $1300 = $2590.

Using 21 litres beer drank per batch, this equates to 21 x 43 = 903 litres.

A commercial slab = 24 x 375ml = 9 litres.

Therefore 903 litres is equivalent to 903/9 = 100 slabs.

At an average of $40 per slab, this equates to $4,000 of beer not purchased.


Is this better than sex???

Micheal some really good arguments here mate, I'll give you the tip, never show the books to the minister of war and finance. If she does find them the sex will no longer be a problem :ph34r:
 
At an average of $40 per slab, this equates to $4,000 of beer not purchased.
I dunno about anyone else but if my beer was turning out like $40 per slab beer I'd stop brewing.

For me a more relevant comparison is this: every time I go to Slowbeer/Purvis (pretty much they only way I buy beer) I buy a dozen bottles (varying sizes between 330ml and 750ml bottles) and only very rarely walk out having handed over less than $100. So do similar calculations based on yours above and I'd be streets ahead even though I regularly brew very hop-heavy beers (i.e. expensive).

And we can ignore the fact (like most people seem to do when they do these calculations) that I drink more homebrew than I ever drank commercial beer because it is inconvenient to our premise.

Hobbies generally aren't cheap and there's probably not much point in looking for fiscal value in them. Do you enjoy it? Can you afford it? If you answer yes to both questions then you're winning.
 
you forgot there's no preservatives in home brew....and the excerise we do,when we are brewing a batch,and home brewers are environmentally friendly(recycling)..its bit off topic
 
I used to drink two slabs of Carlton a week, so figure $80 X 52 = $4160
Now I brew those 2 slab worth of MUCH better beer for about $30 with Gas, water etc factored in. So $30 X 52= $1560

I have spent a grand total of around $3200 for everything, including my Keg Fridge with 6 Perlics, a chest freezer with temp control for storage, and 2 temp controlled fridges for fermenting in. Plus all of my AG gear, Mill etc. SO I saved this amount in about 16 months of brewing.

So, if I don't factor my time into it, I am saving $50 per week, every week, and I am making a LOT more styles of beer than I can purchase (at any price), and I have the satisfaction of knowing I made the beer.

Sure beats my last hobby (remote control car racing) where I spent THOUSANDS that will never be gotten back.

The last thing to consider is if I decided to get out of brewing, I can get most of my money back for the equipment that I have bought.
 
I brew gluten free beer. A kit from brewers choice costs $55 and makes up 2 cartons. A carton of billabong brewing's APA (my favourite) is $80 plus about $25 for shipping to brisbane.

And to top it off, I really enjoy the beer I brew.

My only regret is not starting this hobby sooner.
 
I really only drink on weekends, and probably only 16 to 18 'schooners' total anyway.
Or about 2.6 beers a day.
So until I get a dedicated habit I'm running at a loss.

But you cant put a price on personal satisfaction can you?
For me it's all about sticking it to the man.
 
My brews work out at ~ $1/L - including gas & electricity.

I dont think about the equipment cost as it is a lifetime purchase, and can be written down to $0 over time.

So for a slab, that = $9.
 
Brewing beers I'd never buy is always a positive, especially when it comes to volume produced (read in to that whatever you want)
Better rate of return then having shares in a commercial brewery.
Stopped doing the maths back in the K&K days because the numbers were becoming too scary to justify as i went to AG (read in to that whatever you want too)
 
I've never tried to work out the exact cost of brewing. It's a hobby so I want to enjoy it.

I always get worried when the power bill comes in and think how much is all my brew fridges adding to this.
1 x main fermenting fridge - always got something in it - but 3/4 of the time set to around 18c
1 x backup fermenting fridge - only switched on as needed
1 x keg maturing fridge & hop storage
1 x keg serving fridge
1 x drinks fridge (maybe I should not put this against homebrew)

Overall the main thing is it's a cheap hobby and I get to drink the rewards.

My boat & caravan & fishing gear has all cost me heaps more to setup..



QldKev
 
Small costs, awesome beer, fantastic hobby. I dont think Id mind if the cost were around $40 a slab because it would produce fantastic beer. However recently purchased Beersmith and been using the inventory list to add up the price of ingredients. WHen you use your yeast more then once its an instant saving and brings the batch price down so on average its around $1 a Litre.

Soon as some space is free in the garage Im going start a kegging setup.
 
Now factor in the hours you spend brewing and your hourly rate at work.

Yup - it's not cheap at all. If you make $50 an hour at work, and work long hours, homebrewing is foolish - buying cases of Chimay is cheaper.

Unless you love doing it. Which we all do. So close your response textbox and all the whinging at me you were about to do. :D
 
The best thing about brewing is you can start out on the cheap - get up and running for under a 100 bucks and brew great beer and get all the sense of satisfaction that it brings. You don't need to go beyond this.

But what normally happens is your love for the sport grows, and you want to start doing things differently, easily, better etc - and a bit more equipment can help you achieve your dreams...

And it is a slippery slope.
 

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