Does it get expensive?

[Twostage]

It is an interesting question. I did the sums a while back, in order to convince myself it was OK to buy a G40. At current prices it costs me about £20 for a 20 litre batch, ie 50p a bottle (£6 for 5kg Golden promise, £1.50 for 500g crystal, £3 yeast, £8 for hops, £1.50 odds and sods).

A nice beer in the supermarket is typically around £2.00 a bottle, £1.50 saving, means that after 600 bottles I have broken even. That is 15 batches, which for me is about 18 months. I've had it that long already.

It is a hobby, and it is fun, and that is why most of us do it. But it is nice that - unlike the vast majority of hobbies - you recover any investment fairly quickly.

I honestly don't know how it compares for price with kits or extract (which I guess was the actual OP question - oops sorry), as I went all grain 30 years ago, but I do know I wouldn't want to go back to kits or extract.

Cheers!

Good bit of homework that .

 

[Nicks90]

140 all grain brews in (and a good number of headgerow wine batches) using some free to me plastic fermenting buckets and a £60 cheap Chinese tea urn.
Glass bottles were free ( well the liquid inside originally wasn't :-) )
Only things I have bought additionally were a set of plastic bottles and some ancillary stuff like hydrometer, bottle capper and a heat belt

 

[Agentgonzo]

It is an interesting question. I did the sums a while back, in order to convince myself it was OK to buy a G40. At current prices it costs me about £20 for a 20 litre batch, ie 50p a bottle (£6 for 5kg Golden promise, £1.50 for 500g crystal, £3 yeast, £8 for hops, £1.50 odds and sods).

A nice beer in the supermarket is typically around £2.00 a bottle, £1.50 saving, means that after 600 bottles I have broken even. That is 15 batches, which for me is about 18 months. I've had it that long already.

It is a hobby, and it is fun, and that is why most of us do it. But it is nice that - unlike the vast majority of hobbies - you recover any investment fairly quickly.

I honestly don't know how it compares for price with kits or extract (which I guess was the actual OP question - oops sorry), as I went all grain 30 years ago, but I do know I wouldn't want to go back to kits or extract.

Cheers!

Nice sums! .

I think there is also a few quid worth of electricity on brewday. Quite a bit more as well if you have a fermentation fridge. Plus CO2 if you use that

 

[marshbrewer]

I've no idea really, but the way I look at it is that it's not the most expensive hobby in the world, is enjoyable, and unlike my other hobby, it gives me free beer.

 

[Bzee]

My kit is fully stainless and shines in the sun but didn't cost too much in the scheme of things, 2 50 litre saucepans both with taps one with a false bottom as a mash tun plus 2 stainless milk churns. If any of my offspring ever got into brewing this kit would probably last thier lifetime

 

[Madhouse]

It's as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.

It's a hobby, so for me it's about enjoying the process as well as enjoying the final result. Yes, I end up with some great beers at a fraction of what I'd pay in the shops (let alone in the pub!) but if I was in it for that I probably would have stayed with a 1 pot system rather than going to a 3 vessel HERMS one.

 

[Dark Arts]

I did a spread sheet to convince a friend not to use 1of the novel home brew systems, because he'd spend a fortune on his first brew(£9+ a pint) and it would take approx 10 brews to get to the point where it was just the cost of the kit and it would still be £2.5ish a pint and if he went down the kit n kilo route or even a mini AG, he'd almost certainly be making beer from the get go sub £1 a pint

 

[GhostDoggyWoofWoof]

My AIO cost £170 ish, my SS Fermenter about £120, seems cheap compared to golf clubs and membership. The downside of brewing my own is that although I now rarely buy randon cans of IPA, I now buy very expensive gueuze and barrel fermented beer eg Holy Goat, Siren and Vault instead. So no money saved :) Clearly I need to invest in some barrels.

 

[Twostage]

Just ordered the ingredients for my next three 20 litre brews. Admittedly I had a few ingredients already but the ones I needed I bought double or quadruple quantities. Cost around £60. I liked (or I will) marshbrewer's comment that it is the only hobby that gives you free beer .

 

[jambop]

It really depends on what you term expensive. I have seen some "home brewing kits people are using or have used and are selling " and these are what I would call eye wateringly expensive, we are talking of the order of 10k $ . I have a very modest set up consisting of a GF S40, two brewmonk 32L SS conical FV's and two secondhand fridges and one chest freezer with inkbird controlers plus a gorilla grain mill and other small items the whole lot has been probably less than €1250 . I think it works great but some would rightly say you do not need to spend that much to make good beer. Now I have to say like others it is a hobby but the beer I make is excellent IMO and I can make a 750 ml swing top bottle for about €2.00 but the bottles are a reuseable one off and cost about 1€ . Of course it is all about opinion but I think my own beer is better than most of the "craft beers" I can buy here in France and most of those are up at €4.50 for a 750 ml ST bottle. However I have always thought the latest trends in homebrewing to be like HiFi is in home entertainment, in that people start chasing their tail trying to make excellent and better beer and end up spending a lot of money. This makes their hobby very expensive and in the process complicating it so much they eventually lose interest and end up flogging it off at a huge loss . People have been making good beer by simple means for a long time but it appears that today everything has to be shiny SS and beer mast be made oxygen free, which as we all know is total nonsense but it does hook some into spending a fortune.

 

[dad_of_jon]

This post got me thinking..



That's a very interesting point.....

I honestly believe you get a massive taste improvement.

But expensive not sure.
I purchased a BM20 more that 10 years ago, it has made many bottles. If I total them up vs the cost am I ahead? Probably. My house beer is cheaper than coke!

Does anyone think all grain is expensive?

It can be. Just as cycling can be. and i've never done full grain only. only a partial mash, equally i've never participated in a cycling event.

 

[Twostage]

It really depends on what you term expensive. I have seen some "home brewing kits people are using or have used and are selling " and these are what I would call eye wateringly expensive, we are talking of the order of 10k $ . I have a very modest set up consisting of a GF S40, two brewmonk 32L SS conical FV's and two secondhand fridges and one chest freezer with inkbird controlers plus a gorilla grain mill and other small items the whole lot has been probably less than €1250 . I think it works great but some would rightly say you do not need to spend that much to make good beer. Now I have to say like others it is a hobby but the beer I make is excellent IMO and I can make a 750 ml swing top bottle for about €2.00 but the bottles are a reuseable one off and cost about 1€ . Of course it is all about opinion but I think my own beer is better than most of the "craft beers" I can buy here in France and most of those are up at €4.50 for a 750 ml ST bottle. However I have always thought the latest trends in homebrewing to be like HiFi is in home entertainment, in that people start chasing their tail trying to make excellent and better beer and end up spending a lot of money. This makes their hobby very expensive and in the process complicating it so much they eventually lose interest and end up flogging it off at a huge loss . People have been making good beer by simple means for a long time but it appears that today everything has to be shiny SS and beer mast be made oxygen free, which as we all know is total nonsense but it does hook some into spending a fortune.

I want to get into 750ml bottles so me and the missus can share but the sediment I get from bottle conditioning means I have to do a single pour. Maybe I need to do keg transfers into 750s so it is clear ?

When I was showing my daughter's BF how to do AG we were talking about 'simple means for a long time' and how they could make beer without digital thermometers etc. and no real understanding of how it works. How did they do strike temperature? Amazing.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

I want to get into 750ml bottles so me and the missus can share but the sediment I get from bottle conditioning means I have to do a single pour. Maybe I need to do keg transfers into 750s so it is clear ?

When I was showing my daughter's BF how to do AG we were talking about 'simple means for a long time' and how they could make beer without digital thermometers etc. and no real understanding of how it works. How did they do strike temperature? Amazing.

Re single pour - you can decant beer into a jug before pouring into bottle

 

[MashBag]

Yup, exactly how I do half's. Much cheaper that the stainless omg setup

 

[Sadfield]

Do what a Belgian would do. Once tilted, lay it down.

 

[jambop]

I want to get into 750ml bottles so me and the missus can share but the sediment I get from bottle conditioning means I have to do a single pour. Maybe I need to do keg transfers into 750s so it is clear ?

When I was showing my daughter's BF how to do AG we were talking about 'simple means for a long time' and how they could make beer without digital thermometers etc. and no real understanding of how it works. How did they do strike temperature? Amazing.

Swing tops are good BUT they are finicky when cleaning as the seals need special attention. What I have found best practice is top crown cap and then fix a swing top seal so you can seal the bottle if not finished . The reason is basically for speed of cleaning and then bottling. I think with regard to yeast being disturbed when pouring a lotdepends on what methods you use and the yeast type. I tend to chill my beer prior to bottling for four days at about 10C this removes most of the yeast but not all of it I then bittle and have little problem. You are correct that you can decant the beer into a suitable jug in one go and split and this does avoid cloudy beer BUT you know what? I think that a little yeast in your beer make little difference to the enjoyment of drinking it, although it may look a little different in the glass. I am by chance at this exact moment drinking a ST of my TT's clone and have poured two 25cls the first was crystal the second very very slightly tirbid and ... just pouring ... a little more tirbid but still acceptable and tastes wait ... great and not much different to the first glass

 

[Wigglebutts Brewery]

Hobbies are not about cost-benefit….
I really enjoy the diy equipment aspect! Started Propane BIAB, next E-BIAB, added PID, recirculation and plate chiller .. Still thinking about 3V. Over time I’ve scrounged old frigs so there the tap, cold conditioning and FV versions. Most of my equipment is scrounged/repurposed stuff.
Beer improves but is it the equipment or the practice? I’ve got about 10 folks on bottle exchange. Their empties for my fresh ones. At some point they all ask if they can chip in which is “no thank you”. I appreciate their consumption so I can brew 3-4 times a month.
in the end, it’s Fun!

 

[Dark Arts]

This post got me thinking..



That's a very interesting point.....

I honestly believe you get a massive taste improvement.

But expensive not sure.
I purchased a BM20 more that 10 years ago, it has made many bottles. If I total them up vs the cost am I ahead? Probably. My house beer is cheaper than coke!

Does anyone think all grain is expensive?

In my defense I'm currently on a steep learning curve and expensive is relative to what little I know of kit, yeast, hops and grain prices etc, and at first glance AG has a steep initial equipment cost Vs kit n kilo or even partial mash, but I can see that over the course of several years the equipment would have paid for it'self and you would be producing better beer for equivalent price of a kit n kilo or there abouts.

I can see myself with a fermentation fridge and grainfarther or brewzilla in a couple of years time.

 

[jambop]

One thing that I will say about my grain costs is compared to the UK I think I am paying a hell of a lot less for malt than you do in the UK. I can buy a 25kg sack of Crisp pale malt for €31 whereas The Malt Miller are wanting £42 so €48 or Dingemans pale for €32 a sack The MM want £42 . When you get to Weyermans malts the price difference is scarey getting on for 50% more.

 

[MashBag]

Yeah. I know what you mean my last sack was £25. VAT and delivery really affect the price in the UK.