Cost of All Grain compared to kit brewing

[Mulberry]

I ma thinking of moving over to all grain and was wondering what the cost of the ingredients are likely to cost me approximately.

I am currently spending around 18 -20 pounds for a premium kit.


Many thanks.

[jamesb]

I ma thinking of moving over to all grain and was wondering what the cost of the ingredients are likely to cost me approximately.

I am currently spending around 18 -20 pounds for a premium kit.


Many thanks.

Roughly?

5kg of malt - £3 to £7.50
50g to 100g of Hops - £1.50 to £7
Electric - £1.50
Various bits (irish moss, etc) - £1 max.
Water -pass

[booldawg]

Definitely comparable to, maybe even cheaper than kits. Pricing tends to be all over the place as sometimes you buy a bag of hops for a particular brew and only use a third of it. Then sometimes a 5 gallon brew can cost nothing due to using 'leftovers'. Some brews using a plethora of different grains and hops can seem expensive (anything Belgique )at the time but then again ensures plenty of spares for the 'leftover' brew.

You do use alot more water and electricity on AG due to the boiling/chilling but its maybe less than a few quid on each brew.

[adm]

From around 20p a pint to around 80p depending on how crazy you go.

20-25p for a standard 4% simple bitter, 80p for a monster 10%+ ABV Imperial IPA or similar brew with 100+ IBU of exotic hops shipped from the other side of the world.

Of course, no equipment prices factored in here - just ingredients.

Even if a standard bitter was £1 a pint....it'd still be worth it as it just tastes SO GOOD!!!!!

(and is a lot of fun to make)

[NickK]

Spread the cost of a boiler, IC and MashTun over the brews - say 20 brews payback.

[adm]

Much less than that if you compare it to the price of a pint in a pub!

(of course, if you start spending cash on big shiney things and corney kegs, it might take a little longer to pay back..... I just tell my wife these are heirloom articles that our children will hand down to their children....)

[Robdog]

I think on average not factoring in equipment and cornies or water or electricity it costs me about 30-35p a pint.

As ADM says though id still do it if it cost a pound a pint or more as its enjoyable and alot less expensive than drinking in the pub and the beer is some of the best ive ever tired.

[Subsonic]

I don't think the price per pint comes into it, really. When it is all grain its honest and clean. Its the way real beer should be. I sometimes kill an animal and I never think, 'how much would that be in a supermarket'. We are beyond that. How much? When you are all grain its irrelevant, its honest,

[Subsonic]

Sorry, that may seem an assey post. I reckon my all grain costs 15p a pint. Thats my GOOD stuff! Go for it. Once you have the infrastructure you are laughing.

[adm]

Sorry, that may seem an assey post. I reckon my all grain costs 15p a pint. Thats my GOOD stuff! Go for it. Once you have the infrastructure you are laughing.

I thought that was an excellent post!

Good honest beer. Bring it on!

[mysterio]

The cost of the ingredients doesnt really matter. Once you get started, the cost of your time, neverending upgrades/extra pieces of kit, failed/infected batches, running costs that you dont factor in like CO2, sanitiser etc, it becomes hard to quantify after a while. While I encourage you to go into all grain whole heartedly, don't look at it as a cost saving exercise.

[garwatts]

Grain Costs Per Pint
Cotleigh Barn AG 28 Feb 09
Pale Malt 4300 £4.30
Crystal Malt 230 £0.32
Chocolate Malt 93 £0.13
Fuggles 7 £0.28
WGV 35 £1.40
Total £6.43 £0.16 per pint

Archers Best Bitter 02 Mar 09
Pale Malt 3840 £3.84
Crystal Malt 200 £0.28
Fuggles 27 £1.08
WGV 39 £1.56
Total £6.76 £0.17 per pint

[Northern Brewer]

About £13.50 per 23 litres batch of 1045 for me, including malt, hops, yeast, electric, sanitiser, salts. Equipment costs need to be amortised over time.

As others have said though, there's no going back, and once you've sampled your first AG, you'll be wondering why you ever dithered. Moreover, you will then have the power and the ability to produce exactly what you want, instead of settling for whatever it says on the tin

[Mulberry]

Thanks everyone for your replies they have given me an excellent steer. Whilst the move to AG is not a cost saving excercise in itself its good to see what to expect.

[softlad]

Brewing beer by any method dosent seem to ever work out as a cost cutting excercise.

I started out with a fermenting bucket and budget barrel which turned into 6 king kegs and a few fermenting vessels over time. Then came a place to brew which meant digging up the drive and supplying mains water and drainage to the outbuilding.

Last year all grain came along with an initial outlay for the H&G kit and a few other bits. Now, six months on I am replacing parts of the equipment. I can hear the sound of stainless in the distance.

I then decided to set the bar up that was left in the outbuilding by the last owners so along came beer taps and dispense chillers. Last week I parted with some of my hard earned and sent it Norms way for the first of many Cornies and a 3 x gas regulator.
I am already justifying my next 3 cornies with the cash I get from selling my king kegs. Who am I kidding ? Its not about saving money. The cost per pint is a consideration but the main reason for brewing is that its a hobby and has a rather pleasing end product.