Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Discussion on brewing beer from malt extract, hops, and yeast.
Post Reply
Avocado232

Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Avocado232 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 2:03 pm

Hi guys. I am new to brewing, as well as the forum. I have almost completed my first batch of bitter using a starter kit from Love Brewing. This was great fun, but I am certainly ready to take on a more hands on approach using the extract brewing method. I am just wondering how to go about buying the ingredients needed for my next batch of IPA:

Should I buy some ingredients in bulk?
Do some ingredients last longer than others once opened?
Would I be best buying an ingredients kit? (http://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/india-pale ... art-grain/)

I do plan on keeping up this hobby and any guidance on this would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

User avatar
k1100t
Piss Artist
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:59 am
Location: Cambridge, UK
Contact:

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by k1100t » Wed Apr 26, 2017 3:50 pm

Hello!

I used to buy my extract greedy ants on an as needed basis from The Malt Miller. Cans of extract would get used in full, open bags of hops were sealed, as well as I could, and stored in the freezer. If you were going to brew regularly, then you could consider one of those larger 25 litre tubs of extract, but they do have a shelf life.

I brewed a few of the extract recipes from (an earlier version called An Enthusiast's Guide to Homebrew Beers) of Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. That gave me loads of ideas before I moved onto all grain brewing.

Cheers,
Last edited by k1100t on Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
I like beer --- Currently rebuilding the brewery, this time with stainless...

Avocado232

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Avocado232 » Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:07 pm

Thank you for the reply! Much appreciated. Any tips on buying specialty grains? - Bulk or per brew?

User avatar
k1100t
Piss Artist
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:59 am
Location: Cambridge, UK
Contact:

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by k1100t » Thu Apr 27, 2017 9:59 am

Depends on what you want to brew. If you're going to regularly brew brown bitter, then buying some crushed crystal in a larger amount is probably a good idea. If like me, you chop and change what you're going to brew as often and the wind changes direction, then just get the bag with the smallest amount for your brew. Some recipes will call for things like 50g of black malt, which can come in bags of 1KG, so you'll have plenty left over to use in other brews.

Pick a few recipes you'd like to brew, tot up the speciality grains and buy what you'd need to brew them.

Cheers,
I like beer --- Currently rebuilding the brewery, this time with stainless...

Avocado232

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Avocado232 » Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:43 pm

Okay that is great, thank you! Just one final question - would you consider ingredient kits to be overpriced? The IPA kit I was looking at is around £20 and the final volume is 20L. The ingredients included are:

3x 1.2kg LME
2x US West Coast 10g
200g Caramalt
Dextrose 500g
Herkules 15g (bittering)
Bravo 40g, Centennial 40g, Cascade 40g (Aroma)
Bravo 40g, Centennial 40g, Cascade 40g (Dry)

User avatar
k1100t
Piss Artist
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:59 am
Location: Cambridge, UK
Contact:

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by k1100t » Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:54 pm

Depends on your point of view, I haven't brewed a kit this century, so am probably the wrong person to ask! What price do you put on ease and the convenience of having just the correct amount of everything? Personally, I'd roll my own, but then I'm just like that...

Cheers,
I like beer --- Currently rebuilding the brewery, this time with stainless...

Manngold
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 769
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:45 pm
Location: Bromley

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Manngold » Thu Apr 27, 2017 5:34 pm

In terms of price point, I would say no. Although I don't extract brew, you are getting a good amount of hops and the yeast in that pack. I also like ingredients packs as it means I am not tied into having quantities of things I might not use for a long time. Delivery charges are normally expensive, as to be expected, so buy a couple.

Avocado232

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Avocado232 » Thu Apr 27, 2017 7:06 pm

Okay, thanks for the advice guys. I will be sure to compare the price's of ingredient kits with the cost of buying separately or in bulk. And of course take into account the convenience.

Cheers for the warm welcome too!

Avocado232

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by Avocado232 » Tue May 09, 2017 2:12 pm

Okay guys so I have done a little research and I just want to run something by you. I have totalled up the cost of all the separate ingredients needed for my next brew (which I have now decided is going to a black IPA) and the amount has come to around £50. Does this sound right to you? It's just that the cost of most ingredient packs for standard IPA's is around £25. I am looking to follow a recipe found in Greg Hughes' "Home Brew Beer"...

Black IPA -

Steep:

170g Carafa Special III
225g chocolate malt

Extract:

3.15kg Dried Malt Extract

Hops:

120g Citra
30g Apollo
45g Amarillo

Yeast:

Wyeast 1187 Ringwood Ale

This all comes to just over £50 on The Home Brew Shop (including postage).

monkeyboy
Piss Artist
Posts: 252
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:07 pm
Location: Edinburgh

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by monkeyboy » Tue May 09, 2017 6:43 pm

My advice, based on my own brewing 'journey' is not too buy too much, perhaps just enough for a couple of brewdays. Because I'll be willing to bet that by then you'll be looking at coolbox conversions and going all-grain. It's inevitable.
£50 sounds a lot for a single batch of beer, even assuming you have a few things left over. Probably a lot of the cost is two packs of Citra. Depending on the recipe you might be able to tweak that to one pack of 100g and just a little more amarillo/apollo instead. That'll bring it down a little. But it still seems pretty steep. Take a look at www.themaltmiller.co.uk and price up on there (I'm not affiliated in any way, just a happy customer).
Fermenting: AG#22 San Diego IPA
Drinking: Probably.

User avatar
k1100t
Piss Artist
Posts: 223
Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:59 am
Location: Cambridge, UK
Contact:

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by k1100t » Tue May 09, 2017 6:49 pm

Got to agree with monkeyboy, it seems a bit steep. You'll probably find that LME is cheaper than DME as well:

Premium Grade Liquid Malt Extract Light 3.5kg for £15.50
Spray dried malt extract light 3kg for £16.50

Cheers,
I like beer --- Currently rebuilding the brewery, this time with stainless...

binnster

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by binnster » Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:04 pm

Agreed that £50 sounds steep for a single brew. As cost seems to be your issue rather than convenience, you might want to give BIAB a try (you likely have all the equipment you need, except the bag). I started off with kits, then extract, then partial mash, then full AG BIAB and I haven't looked back. You'll notice the cost per brew goes down and the number of recipe tweaks you can make to improve the quality of your final beer goes up, with the minor inconvenience that your brewday is an hour or two longer. I normally get about 18L of well-hopped final beer for about £30 including postage (£6 less if I recycle my yeast).

marcinstopa

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by marcinstopa » Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:02 pm

So I have done a couple extract kits, and they are resonable priced at roughly $25. I found a nice recipe I wanted to try for my next batch so I could graduate from the basic extract kits. I priced out all the ingredients on AHBS and it was about $40-$50! I didn't thinkt he recipe was anything special, it was the Blue Moon clone I have seen floating around.

My question: is this a typical price to pay for ingredients for a batch? I was under the assumption once I started buying my own ingredients it would be cheaper. Does it only get cheaper when you start buying in bulk and weighing out enough malt (for example) for your batch?

ericnikki1

Re: Buying ingredients for extract brewing...

Post by ericnikki1 » Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:34 pm

Hello!

I am Eric Nikki from (Haltom city) USA.

We really care about making good beer and wine. And when you have the equipment, what else do you need other than practice? Great ingredients! And we have them in our large inventory. Which includes everything for beer and wine making from over 100 different types of grains and yeasts to the flavorings and additives that will help you create your masterpieces of fermentation.

And we’re adding more regularly! So if you need ingredients, then you came to the right place. Visit at https://www.txbrewing.com/

Post Reply