How is AG cheaper? Buying advice please

[Rwilts]

Now that I am moving to AG after christmas. 50L ss pot arrived today :thumb: i have a simple question.

I see everywhere people saying that brewing AG is cheaper / same as kit brewing. For my first AG brew i am going to buy a pre measured recipe from one of the sponsors. I know this wont be the cheapest way of doing it but seems like a sensible start - so about £18 for 40 pints ish...

AG brewers state that they can get a good brew on for about £6+.

So what are the basic rules of AG ingredient purchasing to bring the price down?

 

[wilsoa1111]

well to do so u need to buy a 25kg bag of malt(crushed) and all the adjuncts in a big order and get a good few brews out of every packet of yeast (can manage 2 easy), to avoid waste this needs planning-and lots of empty bottles, u can also save a few pennys by recycling dry hopped hops for bittering in the next boil...i also stretch my malt a bit by adding some dermera sugar where i can instead of munich malt... btw the maltmiller is probably first port of call for bag o malt as the crisps stuff is well good- might have to use worcestorhopshop nxt though as as expected the savings on hops if u like hoppy beers will be well worth while- btw
http://www.brewstore.co.uk/ is cheapest for a malt kit that ive seen-4kg of a good selection of malt plus 100g choice of hops and a packet of muntons yeast-like s-04 for a £10-also v reasonable for equipment like kegs...

 

[PD]

1 x 25kg sack of Crisp Otter £22 with the right choice of brew you can get 8 or 9 brews so say £3 a brew
say 2 x 100gms of different hops £6.50 ( you can use from 10gms to 75 gms in a normal brew so say £2 a brew
Yeast can be £2.50 a packet. 1 per brew, but you can go into growing your own sort of thing.

So yes £7-£8 a brew. can be more can be less...
Check out our site sponsor The Malt Millers prices and work out for yourself what it would cost you.

 

[calumscott]

The trouble with cost and AG is yeast, hops and postage, and your first brews always cost more because you'll have two or three hop varieties and they come generally in 100g packets so although you are only using maybe 50 or 60g you have to buy 300g.

I'm seriously lucky as I can just email a recipe to Rob The Malt Miller in the morning and pick it up at lunchtime so don't have delivery costs to worry about.

Beersmith tells me that this weekends brew (minus gas, water, steriliser and caps) came in at £12.

 

[Rwilts]

Great posts just what I was after :

 

[knottlaboy]

Try your local micro brewery for a sack of pale malt; i did this a few years ago and since then have been back a few times to restock, give it a go, worst that can happen is they so no!

 

[Loetz]

anyone that talks about saving money by homebrewing is just making excuses for their hobby
:

That said, SWAMBO is so happy that we're not spending so much money on beer now!

 

[PD]

Buying ingredients in bulk is just prudent, not a case of just saving money.
Forward planning and bulk buying enables me to put a brew on when I wish. Then again the scourge of this is the postal charges that can be quite hefty, so its a case of taking advantage of one lot of charges.
However buying in bulk does have its slight problems with storage etc, and not all folks have the available space. 25kg of malt is a big item. Hops are best kept in a freezer, 1 or 2 kg packs of speciality malts need keeping safe from rodents who can smell them a mile away.
So the choice is the brewers to make, but even buying the all grain kits as the OP said. £18 for 40 pints of GOOD beer is not to be sneezed at, and will make a pint of beer at 45p ish each

 

[daf]

What's the best way to store a sack of malt?

 

[PD]

A good HEAVY DUTY dustbin or Mango barrel.

 

[Baz Chaz]

To get the costs down it really is about planning and buying that 25kg bag of malt. £21.50 from TMM for a bag of Pale Ale Malt will get you 5 or 6 brews dependant on what else you might like to add, Crystal/Munich/Torrefied are my 'extras', 1kg of each total, say £5. Hops 4 or 5 varieties to play about with, total, say £17.50. Yeast total of 5 packs £11.50, pack of caps £3.50, plus carriage £7.

So that little lot would come to £66, which should make 6 x 5 gallon brews £11 per 5 gallon or a total of 240 pints ie a midges over .27p per pint.

Yes I know there's the initial costs of buying all the kit ... BUT, this is a hobby not just about saving £ on beer, thats a bonus, I know many people who have a hobby and it costs 'em a fortune, the only return they get is pleasure, brewing gives you the pleasure of a hobby ........ AND a return, bloody good ale at a very reasonable cost, win win :thumb:

.... I'm seriously lucky as I can just email a recipe to Rob The Malt Miller in the morning and pick it up at lunchtime so don't have delivery costs to worry about.

You're a very luck man :mrgreen:

 

[calumscott]

Yes I know there's the initial costs of buying all the kit ... BUT, this is a hobby not just about saving £ on beer, thats a bonus, I know many people who have a hobby and it costs 'em a fortune, the only return they get is pleasure, brewing gives you the pleasure of a hobby ........ AND a return, bloody good ale at a very reasonable cost, win win :thumb:

It's better than that - it's win win win...

The time to recoup the cost of equipment (unless you REALLY go for it) is actually pretty small if you brew regularly/drink a fair few beers/entertain a lot.

Before I bought my shiny and was still brewing kits I was running at around 76p a bottle including EVERYTHING! And if you consider that a few of those brews were weird belgians which if you bought them in the shops would cost a bit more, a 10.5% russian imperial stout (I'd like to see you buy those for less than a fiver a small bottle)... you get the idea...

So you get great beer, a free brewery, and a real terms cash saving by brewing your own! What a hobby!!!! :thumb: