So much for cheap lol

[ScottM]

Ok so far during my Grolsch extract brew I've bought the following....

4kg Extract - £26
Grains - £1.60
Hops - £10
500g DME - £4
Yeast - £6.50
Delivery - £8.90

Grand total £57


Out of the above I will have left over grain and leftover hops to use in further brews. But it's hardly the inexpensive hobby that I started out with lol.

The one stand out cost is the yeast. It is just ridiculous how much it costs to make a viable yeast for a lager. The 500g bag of DME is for the yeast starter alone, that will be dumped down the drain. Total cost of the yeast starter is £10.50, I hope it's worth it.

Given how much this costs I'm thinking that I REALLY need to keep the slurry at the end of the primary fermentation in order to use again. Is my best method for doing this just to pour it into a sterilised container and freeze it?

 

[joe1002]

I'm farily new to playing around with yeast but I believe you are best to 'wash' it first. There are plenty of videos on youtube and a guide in the how to section of this forum.

Regarding freezing, I understand you need to protect it from temperature flucuations (ie when the freezer does a deforst cycle) and you are best to mix with glycerin - see here :thumb:

 

[ScottM]

I'm farily new to playing around with yeast but I believe you are best to 'wash' it first. There are plenty of videos on youtube and a guide in the how to section of this forum.

Regarding freezing, I understand you need to protect it from temperature flucuations (ie when the freezer does a deforst cycle) and you are best to mix with glycerin - see here :thumb:

Ahh so the glycerine is to stop it from freezing, didn't realise that.

Having read through that thread one of the members suggests storing the yeast in the fridge is fine for extended periods. I wonder what the thought is on this process.

I had pondered it earlier but no one really made any references to storing yeast in the fridge.

I have to add though, the vials of yeast that we buy are stored in the fridge for months on end with no ill effects.

 

[Moley]

I would suggest that you buy or make a mash tun and make the next step to AG.

Extract is probably the most expensive method of brewing, and AG is the cheapest (if you ignore equipment costs and don't mind spending 5-6 hours on a brew).

 

[PD]

People have the wrong idea of the cost of beer making...It is NOT cheap.
Not taking into account equipment...
Yesterdays bill
25kg of Malt £24
4 packets of hops £12.25

Total £43.70 with VAT and postage and packaging

That will make me around 7 x 23 Lt brews that's £6.25 per 40 bottles = 14 p per liter bottle of beer.

Of course theres then the great expense of yeast to buy Sa04 ( a very decent yeast )is £3 per packet,if I used 1 packet per brew that would be a whopping £21


Total per brew would be upped to £9.25p for a brew of 23 litres = A WHOPPING 23p per bottle.

figures a approximate but near enough

Yep it will pay me to reuse the yeast, perhaps making say 7 samples from one £3 packet that would be enough till the next order....

Of course playing with figures is an idle past time...and it means the more I drink the more I save.... :party:

 

[ScottM]

I would suggest that you buy or make a mash tun and make the next step to AG.

Extract is probably the most expensive method of brewing, and AG is the cheapest (if you ignore equipment costs and don't mind spending 5-6 hours on a brew).

If it wasn't for the expensive yeast starter and the fact that I bought 300g of hops along with a premium extract then it would be fine. I don't mind 30 quid per premium batch, it's the yeast costs that I need to sort out.

If I can get 10 batches out of a vial then I'll be happy :)

 

[pittsy]

scott if i was you i'd make a couple of liters of a base malt around 1030 ish and use that for your starters , i don't but i only use 70/80g at a time (dme) .

 

[ScottM]

scott if i was you i'd make a couple of liters of a base malt around 1030 ish and use that for your starters , i don't but i only use 70/80g at a time (dme) .

Would I not need to biab for that though?

Lager starters require fairly large volume, this one is 5l, hence why it's been so expensive.

I'm going to try washing the yeast and keep it in the fridge. If I can get away with that a few times then I'll be happy.

The thing is though, if I get a high quality beer at the end of all this I will be happy regardless. Dumping the yeast down the pan just feels wasteful considering the costs to make it.

 

[RobWalker]

I would suggest that you buy or make a mash tun and make the next step to AG.

Extract is probably the most expensive method of brewing, and AG is the cheapest (if you ignore equipment costs and don't mind spending 5-6 hours on a brew).

at that price for extract, certainly. I used to pay £2.30 for 500g dme, that's only £11 in malt for most beers...hops from the worcs hop shop about £2 a pack, you're away! but yes, at £57 a brew, it's certainly going to be much more cost effective to switch to all grain quickly :lol:

 

[Cyclops]

scott if i was you i'd make a couple of liters of a base malt around 1030 ish and use that for your starters , i don't but i only use 70/80g at a time (dme) .

Would I not need to biab for that though?

Lager starters require fairly large volume, this one is 5l, hence why it's been so expensive.

I'm going to try washing the yeast and keep it in the fridge. If I can get away with that a few times then I'll be happy.

The thing is though, if I get a high quality beer at the end of all this I will be happy regardless. Dumping the yeast down the pan just feels wasteful considering the costs to make it.

what some do is make a beer the same before with say 10 litres then use the yeastcake off this for your brew :)

 

[PD]

As an aside to this... I ordered my grains yesterday morning from Rob. Delivered at 0845 today..Great service again