Perfect way to keep price per pint down.

[OldSchoolSi]

Like most people I have often assured myself that one of the major attractions of my new found hobby is the vast amounts of money I'm saving.

I've found the most effective way of feeling good about this is too only actually take the price of the kit and divide by the number of pints achieved.

I found that this method is infinitely better than including the cost of all the other stuff such as bottles, brewing equipment, carbonation drops, spare stuff (just in case) etc etc.

 

[labrewski]

Yep but once u have it u have it and u constantly find ways of bringing your cost down like swap carb drops for normal sugar found in your press and maybe moving to extract or ag by doing DIY jobs

 

[Hanglow]

The pro tip is to never include labour, you should always be ahead then. Otherwise, never pay yourself more than slave wages

 

[labrewski]

Look at your kits ingredients buy them throw them in a pot 20 bucks fine beer to be had

 

[OldSchoolSi]

Yep but once u have it u have it and u constantly find ways of bringing your cost down like swap carb drops for normal sugar found in your press and maybe moving to extract or ag by doing DIY jobs

I'm worried that I've found a new rabbit hole to disappear into!

 

[OldSchoolSi]

Look at your kits ingredients buy them throw them in a pot 20 bucks fine beer to be had

I've been really enjoying hunting the ingredients in different amounts to see which is cheapest, but still high quality. Good malt extract seems to be hard to buy much cheaper. Any tips with this?

 

[OldSchoolSi]

The pro tip is to never include labour, you should always be ahead then. Otherwise, never pay yourself more than slave wages

I'm especially not including 'research' time

 

[Clint]

After a year I think you should totally dismiss the cost of your reusable kit such as pots and fermentors..even bottles.

 

[Horners]

Lockdown for me has been the perfect opportunity to justify extra spends on this hobby. Everyones circumstances are different but for me - commute into central London from zone 4 is £15ish a day - month of that is a SS brewbucket with change. Bacon butty and a coffee another £5 a day. Lunch another few quid. And then the real cost - pub pints, lunchtime/ way home lets say 5 a day at London prices thats another £125 a week. Suddenly makes it easier to justify paying £5 plus for a bag of citra etc.

 

[cushyno]

I haven't quite wrenched myself out of the ingrained and indoctrinated habits of "waste not, want not" of my forebears and the thought that a plastic HLT boils water just as well as a stainless one. Though I am becoming tempted to dive into the corny keg bottomless pit.

 

[Viamphie]

With out doubt once I’ve bottled the 70bottles of wine and 40 pints of ale that are brewing, the kit will have paid for itself. I’ve already had a dozen bottles of wine.

 

[Clint]

Cornys....I wonder...the "cost" if you bought bottles...19l ...38 X 500ml bottles...the absolute PITA... cleaning,sterilising,storing...38 bottles...how many bottles does the average bottler own?..I'm on a mission to fill all my empties as I never want to run out of HB again...today I've got 200 full....there must be at least 100 empty hiding in the shed...

 

[samale]

I really don't understand the fascination with breaking it down to cost. I brew because I enjoy it and I can brew beer that's not available locally to me.

 

[fury_tea]

Buy in bulk if you want to keep the cost down. There's a group buys section on this forum that's worth looking at from time to time. That's pretty good when you are getting low. I got hops last time and I won't have to buy more for ages.

 

[Horners]

Cornys....I wonder...the "cost" if you bought bottles...19l ...38 X 500ml bottles...the absolute PITA... cleaning,sterilising,storing...38 bottles...how many bottles does the average bottler own?..I'm on a mission to fill all my empties as I never want to run out of HB again...today I've got 200 full....there must be at least 100 empty hiding in the shed...

Clint you are in denial. As you rightly pointed out on a previous thread this is not a rehearsal. Not sure if you still bother with your pressure barrels but actually the cost differential between those and kegs is relatively small. Get fully reconditioned ones rather than new- maybe a couple to start with from that website in Ireland and I reckon you will be all over it

 

[Gerryjo]

I really don't understand the fascination with breaking it down to cost. I brew because I enjoy it and I can brew beer that's not available locally to me.

Some people just don't have the extra cash not to worry due to other financial outlays.

 

[Gerryjo]

Cornys....I wonder...the "cost" if you bought bottles...19l ...38 X 500ml bottles...the absolute PITA... cleaning,sterilising,storing...38 bottles...how many bottles does the average bottler own?..I'm on a mission to fill all my empties as I never want to run out of HB again...today I've got 200 full....there must be at least 100 empty hiding in the shed...

I have about 100 bottles and I hate having to clean, sanitise, fill and cap except the fliptops whereas the kegs are easy cleaned, filled and 19l of beer with less hassle.

 

[OldSchoolSi]

I haven't quite wrenched myself out of the ingrained and indoctrinated habits of "waste not, want not" of my forebears and the thought that a plastic HLT boils water just as well as a stainless one. Though I am becoming tempted to dive into the corny keg bottomless pit.

It's hard not to feel drawn to the shinyness of the stainless steel!

 

[OldSchoolSi]

I really don't understand the fascination with breaking it down to cost. I brew because I enjoy it and I can brew beer that's not available locally to me.

I have to be value conscious to a degree, large family and work restrictions due to Covid means that we are about £650 a month down on the income.

 

[OldSchoolSi]

With out doubt once I’ve bottled the 70bottles of wine and 40 pints of ale that are brewing, the kit will have paid for itself. I’ve already had a dozen bottles of wine.

So far I'm reasonably pleased that as a hobby it's really good value. I doubt I've spent more than £175 and have got two brews on the go and had a lot of fun doing it. If I compared it with my other hobbies, it's crazy cheap (mountain biking, kayaking)