Cost of your homebrew pint

[cask is best]

• [list:2yl30sck]

[/list:u:2yl30sck]
How much do you reckon it actualy costs you per pint to make your home brew. I have heard various prices from 20p per pint to 80p per pint. I have no idea but would be interested to know.
If you take an example. I was in my local h.b store and picked up a tin of coopers lager 40 pints for £11. a bargain it had a few quid knocked off because the tin was dented then i buy a bag off sugar for say 85p so that brings it to 11.85 then this is were it gets tricky you need gas or electric and water [I'm on a water metre]sterilizing rinsing washing then more sugar.
So £11.85 divided by 40 is for argument's sake is 30p per pint so with all the above to take into consideration would a price of 45-50p per pint be agreeable.
That of course is going by an £11 kit.
:

 

[graysalchemy]

It all depends on what and how you brew a high gravity beer will have more malt and more hops but for my average 5% bitter probably about 20p but that doesn't include what I have spent on equipment.

However home brewing isn"t just about the cost it is more about producing a decent pint and the satisfaction that brings. The fact that I can brew it cheaper than a tin of John smiths is a big bonus.

 

[Peapodmaster]

when i made myself a 40 pint kit (which can be made into 32 pints) of Youngs brewbuddy cider i made 32pints of 7% Apple Cider at 40p a pint.
11.50 for the kit and 1.50 for the sugar.

comes out at 40p a pint. a good deal for a strong cider but as graysalchemy said its about the taste that matters and the satisfaction. for example.. my cider was strong.. but very very dry. cheap.. but not the best. i've made things which are cheaper and nicer! but at the end of the day you dont need to really know how much it costs unless your gonna sell it (which is illagal without a license) or if your not sure whether it was worth the price it cost you.

 

[Runwell-Steve]

OK, here goes with my calculations.

Since I started brewing I have brewed 1,809 pints in total.

My outgoings have been

£243.00 - Grains
£74.00 - Hops
£50.00 - Yeast
£75.00 - p & p on ingredients
£35.00 - Sundries - Gypsum / CRS / protofloc etc..
£10.00 - Cleaning - Starsan + Oxyclean
£30.00 - Dispense gas (CO2)

£20.00 - Propane Gas
£15.00 - Electric = 150 KWh of electricity
£10.00 - Natural Gas (guessed this, I heat my HLT water and cleaning water in the combi boiler first)

I am not on a water meter so I don't pay for water usage specifically.

Total expenditure = £562.00
Total pints brewed= 1,809

This works out at 31 pence per pint, for really nice beer.

There are of course extras which are not included as I'm not sure how much they cost such as electric to run the fermenting fridges and kegerator.

I have of course spent almost £1,000 on buying the equipment and building the brewery in my garage. But that is all in place now and it shouldn't need any money spent on it for the forseeable future.

If you include that in the cost per pint it brings me up to nearly 86p per pint so far, however the more I brew on the current brewery this total cost per pint will decrease to the point the cost of the capital investment is neligible and all we are concerned with is the cost of the ingredients and consumables.

Of course, I don't brew to make cheap beer though, I brew to make nice beer and I enjoy it, it's a hobby. I have spent more in the last year on Mountain Bikes and diesel to get me to decent cycling places, what have I got to show for that apart from a few cuts and bruises.

 

[46.philh]

When did you start brewing Steve ?

 

[Wendy1971]

our brew works out around 29.9p per pint not bad when the pubs charging "£2.65

 

[Runwell-Steve]

When did you start brewing Steve ?

Not long enough ago to have drunk that lot healthily. About 18 months ago, but I do have about 350 pints brewed that I've not drunk yet.

 

[Wendy1971]

same here

 

[screamlead]

Worked mine out the other day and it comes out roughly at 28p a pint so about same average as you peeps in UK.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

I started out with kits etc so will agree to the 40p/ pint thoughts. I, like runwell steve have moved to AG and spent a few quid on bits and bobs.

Shopping about I am now buying grain at £15/ sack, but this is for maris otter pale malt, the other malts,hops etc, I am still buying from the local homebrew shops as it would take ages to get through 25 kg of chocolate malt etc.

You could reuse yeast etc, but I have found that to be consistent, use a fresh pack each time I brew. I bottle the lot, I asked the local pub for all their cast of Magners Bottles, they gave me loads and loads. So I do not have fridges and kegarators as yet

I recon that I am down to about 25-30p/ pint.

This is not the point though, its the fun of brewing, the excitement and anticipation of your newest brew.

More than all this...Its the look on friends faces when they try it.....priceless

 

[BigYin]

Last time I did the maths, including an estimated amount for power, it came out around 20p a ppint, or a few pennies more. On top of that of course is the cost of gas for the cornies, but all things considered it's still pennies per pint.

Since I very rearely drink in the pub these days, I prefer to compare my beer costs to the supermarket beers. Despite the odd offer on real ales, generally the supermarket is still averaging around £1.50 to £2.00 a pint, so I'm not really caring if my per pint cost rises, even doubles, it's STILL miles cheaper that a commercially produced (and taxed) beer :drink: :drink:

 

[Muddy Funker]

I'm generally paying under £5 for the ingredients to make 23-27 litres.

Even factoring in electricity ect it equates to pence, superb!

 

[dennisking]

Never worked out cost and never will. Brewing is not just a hobby to me more like a religion. Apart from my family there is nothing I treasure more. I know some people may find this sad but I believe each to there own. We all have our own passions and mine happens to be my beer.

 

[cask is best]

Seems to work out from the replies added all up and divided that our hobby works out at around just under 30p per pint then.
:

 

[paulpj26]

I worked out it cost me about 30p a pint, it also depends on how strong your beer is and whether you use liquid yeast or dry yeast etc

 

[snail59]

Dont forget to add the cost of all the equipment aswell.

 

[cask is best]

But that's just a one off apart from re newels. Well for me it is I'm just bucket barrel i got bottles from ale ihad in the house and re use them plus we need sterilising solution etc. But was trying to make the point of the cost of the kit and price per pint assuming you all ready have the equipment to make it.
It may be more or less for the more experienced brewer.

 

[dennisking]

I worked out it cost me about 30p a pint, it also depends on how strong your beer is and whether you use liquid yeast or dry yeast etc

Liquid yeasts, apart from giving you a better beer, can work out cheaper if split the vial to make several starters.

 

[prolix]

The cheapest I have brewed for was grain £20 a sack from local micro so 8p a pint, hops from my garden free, electricty about £2 a brew so ~2p a pint, yeast £1 so ~2p a pint

ingredients about 12p a pint.

equipment ~£2000 ( I have way too much shiney) brew about 1000 pints a year for last 5 years so roughly 5000 pints.

equipment about 40p a pint a reducing with every brew

so cheapest pint 52p a pint most expensive 64p

if I factor in time and pretended to pay myself for the time at minimum wage, you would need to add on another 60p a pint.

that makes it £1.12 to £1.26

 

[BigYin]

Dont forget to add the cost of all the equipment aswell.

no no no :nono:

Since brewing is a hobby, and a hobby was NEVER about an economic argument, you can basically spend whatever you can afford on it :thumb: