Cost of Beer Kits

[stephen1546]

Plus, you can offset the money you would otherwise spend in the pub against the cost of the kit. You might even be in profit!

Exactly!. Taps nose.

 

[woody1959]

Good stuff mate but please try one of the Beerworks kits for £20 or a Young’s or Festival kit for around £22
You get all you need with these kits, sugar, hops and double the liquid malt extract, you will see a big difference

Just did a Young's Harvest pils a few weeks back, TBH I wasn't that impressed with it.

 

[pms67]

Just did a Young's Harvest pils a few weeks back, TBH I wasn't that impressed with it.

I think that’s a 1 can kit though, sorry, I meant their Premium range, the Amber Ale, IPA etc

 

[labrewski]

I fell for the craft beer taste from the first pint I would happily pay a tenner for 4 bottles of decent tasty beer in tesco so when I pay 25 plus 5 for delivery and sometimes a little more it still works out at just under 1 quid a bottle and as for time spent I enjoy but I also hope to progress to extract or ag just because I love the whole brewing buisness and the thought to be able to say u can make beer from just grain really appeals to me

 

[Drunkula]

I also hope to progress to extract or ag just because I love the whole brewing buisness and the thought to be able to say u can make beer from just grain really appeals to me

You'll do it. When I first did it I was clueless (steady). I just bought some grain on a whim, took it home and thought what the bloody hell do I do now? I already had some hops from dry hopping kits, then realised I didn't have any speciality malts or anything. I didn't know how much to water to mash in with, what temperature it should be - and this was as I was DOING it. I was just googling as I went.

The beer? Fantastic. 8/10 all across the board and we have this tell the truth because if you don't I can't get better policy. "Oh, that's really nice." is not something I can work with. I need to know what about it makes nice, what could make it better (hard) and if it's bad what's bad.

Beer to me is 50% process, 50% data, 50% bad mathematics. Only joking - it's 150% about getting pissed up, it is.

 

[Pablosaurus]

This is a great discussion. I'm 'kit only' at the moment and, if possible, would like to stay that way. Time is my most valuable commodity, so if I can minimise time invested and still get a great result with a kit, that's what I'll do. Having picked up brewing again after a decade's hiatus, I've been hugely impressed by the quality uplift delivered over that time by two brands in particular: Beerworks and Mangrove Jacks Craft Series. The Festival kits don't seem to have got any better since I stopped brewing (sweeping judgement alert: that's based on one kit only - the Old Suffolk Strong Ale, which was a big disappointment). My aim over the next 12months is to find the best of the best kits, swallow the expense, and then take a considered view on AG. BW & MJCS (with the additional LME) come in at roughly £30 a pop (inc delivery) which, for me, is acceptable. They create genuinely great beer! MJ Juicy IPA & Raspberry Berliner Weiss plus BW Golden Rocket Strong Pale have all be pleasantly surprising. Quality brews like these make me question the time/value ratio of stepping up to AG.

Interestingly, @terrym, I am hesitating over the BW DIPA, which is next on the list and, if bought in isolation, would be £37+ because of the delivery charge for the extra weight. Ouch. Also, for me, this one is an experimental kit which I might not like...(8%+ and a 'hop profile to rip your tongue out'!) That said, I'm curious, and wouldn't have the feintest how to brew it via AG. So, I'll probably swallow hard and buy two kits to max the value of the delivery uplift.

All told, I'm OK with the cost as long as the quality is there. Setting the bar this high has made me exclusively brand-loyal to St Peters (for the cream stout), MJCS and BW, with the possible addition of Tiny Rebel (I haven't tried the cwtch yet, but will). I don't rate the Youngs AIPA as in the same league. Fortunately, there's lots to go after from these suppliers so, for now, I'm happy.

 

[labrewski]

This is a great discussion. I'm 'kit only' at the moment and, if possible, would like to stay that way. Time is my most valuable commodity, so if I can minimise time invested and still get a great result with a kit, that's what I'll do. Having picked up brewing again after a decade's hiatus, I've been hugely impressed by the quality uplift delivered over that time by two brands in particular: Beerworks and Mangrove Jacks Craft Series. The Festival kits don't seem to have got any better since I stopped brewing (sweeping judgement alert: that's based on one kit only - the Old Suffolk Strong Ale, which was a big disappointment). My aim over the next 12months is to find the best of the best kits, swallow the expense, and then take a considered view on AG. BW & MJCS (with the additional LME) come in at roughly £30 a pop (inc delivery) which, for me, is acceptable. They create genuinely great beer! MJ Juicy IPA & Raspberry Berliner Weiss plus BW Golden Rocket Strong Pale have all be pleasantly surprising. Quality brews like these make me question the time/value ratio of stepping up to AG.

Interestingly, @terrym, I am hesitating over the BW DIPA, which is next on the list and, if bought in isolation, would be £37+ because of the delivery charge for the extra weight. Ouch. Also, for me, this one is an experimental kit which I might not like...(8%+ and a 'hop profile to rip your tongue out'!) That said, I'm curious, and wouldn't have the feintest how to brew it via AG. So, I'll probably swallow hard and buy two kits to max the value of the delivery uplift.

All told, I'm OK with the cost as long as the quality is there. Setting the bar this high has made me exclusively brand-loyal to St Peters (for the cream stout), MJCS and BW, with the possible addition of Tiny Rebel (I haven't tried the cwtch yet, but will). I don't rate the Youngs AIPA as in the same league. Fortunately, there's lots to go after from these suppliers so, for now, I'm happy.

I found buying lme and dme with various yeast and hops gave me some tasty beers when u run out of kits to try

 

[dad_of_jon]

The original post was to just test how much people felt comfortable with spending on a beer kit and against that what they expected in return. Different people will have different perceptions as we are starting to find out.

I bought 2 cans of brewferm impy stout because it does a shockingly small amount, I pimped it up of course. So that wasn't cheap but was acceptable. A great time saver. I have done 50/50 brews 50% grain/50% extract and find the mashing etc really adds more time than I usually have. So I only do those once or twice a year.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Although I've had good results tweaking cheap Kits ( at the moment fermenting a basic Bulldog IPA made with dextrose/light DME which I'll shortly be dry hopping with Chinnok ) by the time you add up all the extras there's little difference in buying a premium kit.
Looking forward to an American pale ale partial mash from Malt Miller as my next brew though.

 

[Ezza]

I buy single can kits to pimp up because I get a sense of achievement from creating a nice beer from an improved single can,
I make premium kits as well for a nice drink and to give me ideas for my next attempt at turning a single can into a perfect ale,
I wouldn't spend more than £30 on a premium kit but probably have spent near that amount on hops and malt improving a 1 can kit.
its Fun!.

 

[Flan]

I’m a real newbie at this and I’m only on my 2nd brew now, my first kit was a youngs aipa that came with the starter kit, which turned out very very nice despite several noob mistakes. i paid around £68 for the youngs starter kit with a pb, fv, hydrometer and thermometer airlock and a couple of other little things for starting a first brew. I’ve since added a brew fridge with inkbird regulator and heat mat as well as other small things I’ve added such as extra grommets, airlocks, bottle filler, capper and caps so i reckon my outlay has been around £140-£160 up to now. AG brewing is a bit of a way off for me i think as i would need the extra equipment for mashing, sparging, boiling and such as well as the extra 3-4 hrs needed on brew day so kits are good for now. My next brew will be 2 packs of MJ malt enhancer 2 x 1.2kg-£9.90, 500g muntons spraymalt-£3.40,1kg dextrose-£1 ish, and a bavarian lager yeast M76-£4.50, with some saaz hops for dry hopping so all in all around £20 for ingredients. i don’t know if this is classed as extract brewing or just copying a kit as I won’t be doing any kind of boil up, and i have no idea how this will turn out but I’m looking forward to finding out. AG brewing is a bit daunting for me at the minute, the more i read about sparging and temperature control the more i get cold feet to jump in.

 

[GhostShip]

I bought a kit today - MJ Pink Grapefruit IPA and 1kg of DME to go with it. With delivery (which was £3.95), it came to £28.85.

That would be around the usual amount for me which would work out at around 72p a pint. To be honest, I don't worry too much about the cost. It's a hobby I enjoy and if I can make decent quality beer, then I'm happy!

 

[aamcle]

It's almost two threads :-

Cost per brew.
Cost of hobby.

They are linked we all like to think we're making a great saving against bought beers.

If cost alone is a factor it's hard to beat a cheap 1 can kit and a bag of sugar, I couldn't beat that even brewing a BIAB SMASH although the taste would be better.

I have just come across a pre weighed AG kit for £38 a huge price for an AG batch. I was stunned even though the price includes expensive hops and a liquid yeast.

The biggest financial danger of AG brewing is Shiny Fever, the love of all things Stainless. Stainless doesn't really make better beer our skills do that.

But like all hobbies there is a drive to buy "better gear" even when the "better" is just better bragging rights.


Aamcle

 

[hughjamton]

You can't possibly include the cost of your time when you're working out how much it costs to brew beer, or any hobby.
You wouldn't do it for golf, or painting or stamp collecting, why brewing.
I go metal detecting, if you count labour that must be the most expensive hobby in the world.
I know the thread is about kits but the cost of all grain equipment has been mentioned.
I'm new to brewing, I did intend to start a couple of years ago and bought a couple of s/s pots and odd bits off eBay but never got around to it.
I started in October and I've just done my 10th all grain, but not with the s/s gear I already had.
I bought 10 30ltr plastic buckets with lids for £30 delivered. I bought 2 kettles for £14 and fitted the elements in one of the buckets and a stainless ball valve for £10 from the bay. I spent another £6 on a bag. That's £60 and I've got 9 fv's lol.
There's other costs of course, but you'd need the spend that no matter how you brew, thermometer, cleaner, sterilizer etc but my all grain extras is 60.
I pay less than 16p a kilowatt for electric so a lot less than £1 a brew.
So, I'm brewing to bottle 25litres a time, I'm reusing my yeast, I opened my 3rd pack today.
25 litres of beer is costing me less than £15, add the cost of the gear on so far and that's an extra £6, that will of course go down with every brew.
I think my beer is fantastic, in fact when I tasted my first brew I was shocked.

 

[chrisbardell]

Novice here, so still learning and exploring. But max £25ish seems appropriate for premium kits, maybe a few quid more if it sounded unique or really interesting. Rationale: I've now made a few surprisingly decent one-canners, pimped with spraymalt/dextrose/hops, totalling £20-22ish per batch, so that gives me a bit of a yardstick.

BTW, there's one p!ss-taker on eBay selling premium 2-can kits (Woodfordes, Muntons, St Peters) for a staggering £99.99 each. I won't link to them.

 

[Merkin]

Good stuff mate but please try one of the Beerworks kits for £20 or a Young’s or Festival kit for around £22
You get all you need with these kits, sugar, hops and double the liquid malt extract, you will see a big difference

Definitely try the Beerworks kits - excellent value and quality products. I buy 3 at a time and avoid paying for postage.

 

[Tim Wilkes]

I’m a real newbie at this and I’m only on my 2nd brew now, my first kit was a youngs aipa that came with the starter kit, which turned out very very nice despite several noob mistakes. i paid around £68 for the youngs starter kit with a pb, fv, hydrometer and thermometer airlock and a couple of other little things for starting a first brew. I’ve since added a brew fridge with inkbird regulator and heat mat as well as other small things I’ve added such as extra grommets, airlocks, bottle filler, capper and caps so i reckon my outlay has been around £140-£160 up to now. AG brewing is a bit of a way off for me i think as i would need the extra equipment for mashing, sparging, boiling and such as well as the extra 3-4 hrs needed on brew day so kits are good for now. My next brew will be 2 packs of MJ malt enhancer 2 x 1.2kg-£9.90, 500g muntons spraymalt-£3.40,1kg dextrose-£1 ish, and a bavarian lager yeast M76-£4.50, with some saaz hops for dry hopping so all in all around £20 for ingredients. i don’t know if this is classed as extract brewing or just copying a kit as I won’t be doing any kind of boil up, and i have no idea how this will turn out but I’m looking forward to finding out. AG brewing is a bit daunting for me at the minute, the more i read about sparging and temperature control the more i get cold feet to jump in.

Your temperature control is already taken care with a heat mat and Inkbird. Sparging is just irrigating the mashed grain to get the last of the sugar out. I dunk sparge in a separate FV (and by that I mean I put the grain bag in the other FV and literally dunk it for a while).

 

[trummy]

Re kit delivery cost - always seems expensive so I usually visit my local brew shop (pre covid) about 30 mile round trip on my motorbike, so it still costs £5 - £6 no saving there, but I do enjoy the ride!

 

[Flan]

Your temperature control is already taken care with a heat mat and Inkbird. Sparging is just irrigating the mashed grain to get the last of the sugar out. I dunk sparge in a separate FV (and by that I mean I put the grain bag in the other FV and literally dunk it for a while).

I take it by dunk sparging you put the amount of sparge water the recipe calls for in a separate tub at the same temp as the mash water, dunk it for a bit to rinse out the grain then transfer it to a boiler with the rest of the wort for the boil up, does that sound right.

 

[Gerryjo]

Currently have a Woodforxes Wherry cold crashing but TBH I only bought it as it was down to £20 in Tesco and it was a complete beginners kit as I do AG and although it would cost a fortune if I was to buy it outright it's been gathered over a few years and have enough stock to get me through the year. I have brewed kits in the past and they are so handy but I like the challenge of building recipes, water calculations, tinkering as it's a hobby and I as well as others reap the rewards.
I try to bulk buy to keep down costs but use birthdays and Christmas to help for special items and have the missus be my tester...