Cheapest brew

[zippy40]

Hi All

Newbie here. I usually use the single can kits with either DME or brew enhancer. However recently been experimenting with 2 can kits and DME/Bru bags. These are slightly more expensive which got me thinking - what would be the cheapest way to brew - is it with the kits, doing a DIY with DME/hops/yeast or AG brewing??

Just interested what you all would think.:drink::drink:

 

[Fil]

ignoring equipment and power costs then Ag brewing with a simple hop profile costs least,
@ circa £4-5 for the grain and £3+ for the hops (assuming a smash brew)
though if a brew calls for lots of different hops not already in your freezer stocks @ £3-£8 per 100g pack it can get quite expensive still.

imho dont waste cash on brew enhancer its mainly thinning glucose with a small (compared to cost) proportion of dme. so will have little benefit above cheap white sucrose.

extract brewing using lme or dme is the most expensive (ingredient wise) method of brewing but gives you the freedom over recipe makeup of AG brewing with the convenience of kit brewing.


You can equip yourself up for a biab brew for about £50
£0 -£15 Ex mango chutney barrel
£10 2 x budget kettles for the elements
£5-10 grain bag
£10-£15 plumbing bits n bobs, copper tube, compression valve, tank connector etc
(off the top of my head values...)

a small scale stove top AG brew with your kitchen pots n pans is worth doing to see if ag brewing is up your street or not is worth while before taking the plunge and discovering you would rather brew kits or extract beers :)

 

[Bigjas]

Like Fil says, once you are set up, AG is the cheapest per brew. I have recently put together a little spreadsheet to see how much each of my AG brews costs. It is working out at about £13.50 for a 40 pint brew on average (depending on the style of beer) which works out at about 35p a pint for all the ingredients. This doesn't account for electric costs or cleaning/sanitization etc.

 

[zippy40]

I think I might be tempted then to start AG brewing! I always liked the idea of it but thought it would be more expensive per brew.

I don't mind the initial outlay for brewing.

 

[Fil]

Just be aware with an AG brew your looking at a 5-6hour elapsed time brewday when you have got the process sussed and perhaps a lot longer while learning and correcting or simply when things dont quite go to plan.. I spent 10 hours @ the brewface over the weekend due to a never ending string of hic-cups. compared to the 20 minutes it takes to dilute a kits tins..

it is however the most rewarding way to brew imho..

 

[simon12]

Like others have said all grain once you have the equipment is much cheaper than kits or extract but takes most of a day to make. The other expense is you always end up wanting more equipment.

 

[Sandimas]

Keep an eye open for sales.

Tesco Online have them occasionally with the Coopers kits down to a tenner, HBC had one back in the summer with their full extract kits (everything in there, DME, grains, hops, yeast) down from 18.00 to 14.40 and then 13.68 with 5% forum discount - they might just be the cheapest quality brews I've ever had.

I occasionally do AG brews but have gone back to doing more extract, just due to the time AG takes.

 

[Jon75]

Keep an eye open for sales.

I picked up a blonde ale extract kit from HBC for £14.40, last time I checked it was still at this price. That worked out at 35p per bottle and is by far the nicest beer I have made so far. The only extra kit I used was a 5l stockpot.

 

[zippy40]

Re AG brewing and the time to do it, is there a piece of kit that will do several jobs at once to save time or something on the market that is semit-automatic that I can fire the grain into and leave it for a while??? I know it might sound daft to some of you seasoned brewers but I have never done it so really don't know what would be involved in AG brewing. I might have to consult youtube tonight lol

 

[Fil]

you can buy brewing machines, the most established being brewmiesters avalablie in 10, 20, 50, 200, 500,.. litre brew versions.
http://www.vigoltd.com/Catalogue/Braumeister-brewing-system

and the more reasonably priced grainfather http://www.grainfather.co.uk/

there is a US Pico brewery that you buy AG cartridge kits for https://www.picobrew.com/

and a number of kickstarters still in the vapourware stages too

a good few homebrewers have installed their own aoutomation systems lots of arduino bassed projects too most notably the Matho Controller which has been embelished and repackaged a few times if that rings you boat check out the iot chip esp8266 for future brewery automation builds..

there is a big difference between the time elapsed during a brewday and the time applied to brewing tasks. Once your familiar with your kit even the most basic, you will have plenty of time for other things.

for example once you know how long it takes to heat your strike volume upto temperature, you can flick the on switch and dissapear for that length of time.

Similarly once the mash is in and insulated against temperature loss you can disappear for another 60-90 mins.

thermostatic controllers or pids even can be used to ensure you dont overshot strike or sparge temps. but without it an overshoot of temp can be sorted by exchanging a litre or 2 of hot liquour with cold water from the tap if needed..

 

[Sandimas]

there is a big difference between the time elapsed during a brewday and the time applied to brewing tasks. Once your familiar with your kit even the most basic, you will have plenty of time for other things.

That's true, however you still need to be around the house and keeping a track of progress.....and some of us blokes struggle to multi-task

 

[Fil]

How much non brewing time you have is totally upto you to disclose to any significant other, personally i would negotiate the whole day and keep shtum imho its an ideal sampling and assessing opportunity. 8 hours, a brew to do, and your choice of radio station/music = Bliss.

 

[mike77]

The cheapest and probably the easiest thing I've ever brewed was cider. Buy the cheapest apple juice you can find e.g. Aldi. Make sure it's 100% concentrate with no sweetners and then add some champagne yeast and some sugar to bump up the alcohol content. Pretty potent stuff and is actually pretty good served chilled.

 

[Grizzly299]

I'm doing AG and I pay about 60 pence a pint for brews with a fairly busy grain bill and 85g of hops and maybe 35-40 pence for a simple bitter or something similar.

You can cut costs by buying grains in bulk, but it's not worth it unless you have good storage or can brew regularly enough to use them quickly.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Like Fil says, once you are set up, AG is the cheapest per brew. I have recently put together a little spreadsheet to see how much each of my AG brews costs. It is working out at about �£13.50 for a 40 pint brew on average (depending on the style of beer) which works out at about 35p a pint for all the ingredients. This doesn't account for electric costs or cleaning/sanitization etc.

a 60 minute boil for 30 litres AG would use much more energy than 8 litres at 15 mins for extract but I suspect the cost difference would not be enough to close the gap.

 

[aamcle]

AG but AG practitioners usually suffer from shiny fever and I can tell you it costs. Plastic and BIAB keeps the cost down.

aamcle

 

[zippy40]

what do any of you think of this brewing system here? http://bulldogbrews.co.uk/products/bulldog-brewer.html
http://bulldogbrews.co.uk/products/bulldog-brewer.html

It seems to be quite cheap for what it is offering???

 

[aamcle]

You can build Biab very cheap and it works or go with a counter top brutus 20 ( google it) I can recommend that.

For cheap go Biab but in the end it's quality/price if cheap n err horid is good enough then a bottom of the range one can + sugar is hard to beat. Cheap n easy - nasty but do you care?


aamcle

 

[Fil]

what do any of you think of this brewing system here? http://bulldogbrews.co.uk/products/bulldog-brewer.html
http://bulldogbrews.co.uk/products/bulldog-brewer.html

It seems to be quite cheap for what it is offering???

ive seen a few vids of the european version brewing, its a bitsy version of the grainfather, even less sophisticated controller, and temporary silicone tubing instead of solid SS transport tubing, It seems to work but if brewing on the floor get used to kneeling down with your head at ground level to set n read the thing..

the major weakness of the Grainfather is the stc200 controller employed, however there is a One vessel brewing system Upgrade for the popular stc1000 V1.0
https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p/blob/master/ovbsc/README.md

i will admit to bias being an early Grainfather adopter and fanboy, so take my point of view accordingly. I have just upgraded to the stc1000 controller which simply slips into place replacing the original stc200 unit in the control box, and tbh am having a few teething issues, BUT it is a way more sophisticated control system, and very good vfm as the basic stc1000 is a �£10 component add another fiver to cover the cost of an arduino uno clone to reflash/reprogram and the solder/program headers and go full details and step by step guide to be found here along with all the other possible upgrades including the ever popular brewfridge flash.
https://github.com/matsstaff/stc1000p.



Which gets me in a roundabout way to brewfridges.. If your into brewing and have any spare cash to invest the best VFM and bang for your buck can be had investing in a way to control the fermentation temperature, brew too cool and the yeast can slow down and go dormant, brew slightly too warm and the yeast can speed up and work too hard and produce flavours you may not want in your beer.

before plunging into the AG deep end you can improve the quality of even the cheapest most basic 1 can kit by fermenting it at a stable optimum temperature to get the very best performance from the yeast.
After all its actually the yeast that do all the brewing all we do is put them in the same bucket as the best food we can prep for em.

a freecycled under the counter fridge fitted with an stc1000 atc800+ or similar suitable controller and the addition of a small tube heater and air circulation fan can provide a perfect fermentation chamber for a few quid assuming a free fridge �£30-�£40

 

[Lesinge]

How much non brewing time you have is totally upto you to disclose to any significant other, personally i would negotiate the whole day and keep shtum imho its an ideal sampling and assessing opportunity. 8 hours, a brew to do, and your choice of radio station/music = Bliss.

I agree :grin: