Discuss the cost of AG, Extract and Kit brewing.

[Aleman]

Ok so if you buy in bulk presumably you bits left over, How long do these last? Do you find that you manage to use it all eventually or do you wind up throwing some away.

I store my grain in Bins in a dry area, each of the bins has 500g of silica gel taped to the lid to absorb moisture. ATM I buy grain crushed and find that I have no problems with it stored like this for 12-18 months. I also tend to plan my brews for the next 12 months so that having grain hanging around doesn't really happen too often

If you are brewing smaller batches (25L) then you are probably best buying the ingredients for a couple of brews at a time, so that your ingredients are fresh.

[Calum]

Just keep things dry and cool and you will be fine. The using things up brews are often the most fun

Also, if you do buy in bulk make sure you have somewhere really secure to keep your supplies. I have found that mice are extremely partial to a bit of grain. I now have rodent proof cupboard in the garage where I store my malt and hops..

[RabMaxwell]

I have always bought all my grains in bulk in the whole uncrushed form & have found you get good storability with whole. But since Muntons in Kirkcaldy shut i have sourced a supply from a local micro for 2 or 3 bags at a time but crushed. I might enjoy the convenience of not having to crush for a little while but when the malt barley crop improves i may go back to bulk purchases & picking up my yearly supply myself as i am a tight jock. I just bought some dark crystal with an order to Hop & grape it brought a tear to my eye for what i paying compared to when i bought a 25 kg sack whole for about £13

[anomalous_result]

Lets say you spend £20 for every 23L batch. This then gives some wiggle room for pricier brews, water and electricity, failed attempts etc. 23L is the equivalent of 46 shop bought bottles of beer (them usually being 500ml for your average bitter). They cost, what, £1.50? I've seen some at more, some at less. So shop bought would cost you 1.5 x 46 = £69

That's roughly £50 cheaper every brew. So if you spend £200 on kit it will have paid for itself in only 4 brews.

Obviously the numbers change if you're brewing a higher gravity beer sold in smaller bottles, or spend less on your kit but the benefits of being able to craft your own recipe to your taste and regularly drink fine ale at a fraction of the cost it would otherwise be seem overwhelming.

[Madbrewer]

.....That's roughly £50 cheaper every brew. So if you spend £200 on kit it will have paid for itself in only 4 brews.

I budget on a per pint basis which is usually around 26p per pint. However to be honest I hoard loads of kit so although both my set up's have been paid for many times over, clearly I am not foresaking everything else to get the price per pint down they way some breweries do

But .... presently it (seems) to cost me (excluding electricity) 26p per pint.

What's a kilowatt Hour? Under 10p still? Say 3kw to bring up to required temperatures the boil twice half an hour each time = 30p. 90 Min boil for 45p so add 2p per pint for elec = 28 - 32pence a pint. Sounds like I can expect the ingredients to go up a little soon though? Any Idea's how much by?

[MightyMouth]

Well now you all have talked me into going AG who is going to invite me round to watch them brew one?

[Aleman]

Well now you all have talked me into going AG who is going to invite me round to watch them brew one?

Come on up, more than happy to have someone around to laugh at my brew day antics

[MightyMouth]

Aleman,

Thanks Loads for the invite but as much as I would love to come laugh at your antics I don't think I could face a 2 1/2 hour drive to watch someone brewing

[erebus]

Well now you all have talked me into going AG who is going to invite me round to watch them brew one?

Well if you fancy seeing an inept brewer swearing at his hop filter as it falls off yet again during the boil, I'm up in Markfield (J22 of the M1). But I've got no idea when I'm next doing a brew.

[Aleman]

Aleman,

Thanks Loads for the invite but as much as I would love to come laugh at your antics I don't think I could face a 2 1/2 hour drive to watch someone brewing

And when you consider that my brew days normally start around 6am

[AT]

Think were all in the same boat, there's always something that goes wrong, the last two times i brewed the fermenter leaked from the thermometer even after i fixed it . I brewed inside Saturday instead of the shed and it was so much easier and warmer. I used the hob on the cooker to boil cause my gas burner is pants and i'm so confused by all the burners and gasses that i don't know which one to buy anyway i'm rabbiting on a bit. The point i started out to make was it all went very smooth and there was a lot less lifting (something i need to work on) and just when i thought all was good i realised i made a mess of the hops and i'm looking at 88 IBU instead of i think 36 Should be interesting

[MightyMouth]

Well if you fancy seeing an inept brewer swearing at his hop filter as it falls off yet again during the boil, I'm up in Markfield (J22 of the M1). But I've got no idea when I'm next doing a brew.

Again, thanks but I could watch myself make a hash of it. I think I am going to do a mini-mash and see how it goes then step up unless someone knowledgeable near Hinckley is doing a brew before then. Ill probably do it in the next week or 2.

[andyp]

Going against the grain An Extract brewer here and I reckon I don't spend much over a tenner for a standard 40 pint brew. You do need to get bulk DME tho'

edit: That should be LME not DME

I've 5 galls of a Landlord clone giving me the come on in the garage. Don't think you can quite do that with kits.

[MightyMouth]

Could you break that cost down? Where do you get your DME?

[andyp]

Sorry LME not DME

15Kg Paines Maris Otter Light Malt Extract - 32.99 (4 to 5 40 pint brews) from Leyland Homebrew

So for a 5 gall brew £6 - 7 LME plus standard hops - £2? and steeping grains - 50p?, Yeast £1, maybe some Wheat DME