Cost of BREW...Kits V AG.

[guest5234]

I will hopefully this year join the "darkside" after the expense of the initial set up to go AG what is the average cost of a 40 pint brew?
I can make a very good brew using coopers IPA £8.25 1KG SPRAYMALT £4.50 TOTAL £12.75 for a decent 40 pint brew, what would the equivalent AG mash cost?

[delboy]

I could knock out an IPA for about 7-8 Quid, that includes yeast and hops (bought a kilo of cascade for about a tenner from slurp the apprentice).
Its certainly cheaper, but the big benefit is that you can tailor recipes to your own tastes and create something that is entirely of your own making whereas with kits you can only really tinker.
Also in my experience there was always a 'kit twang' which disappeared the moment i moved to all grain

[BarryNL]

If you're just looking at grain, I use around 5kg of grain in an average brew which costs around £4.50. Of course, this is only a minority of the cost of brewing, you also need to add in:

Yeast - say £1.50 as I tend to split a Wyeast over 3 batches.
Hops - say £2.00 on average per brew.
Sanitizers,nutrients,clarifiers, bottle caps, etc. say £1.50 per brew.
Electricity for boiling - £1.50 per brew
Spray malt for starters, £1.50

So, we have about £12.50 per brew. I've probably missed a few things, so call it £15. For this I probably get to bottle around 16 litres, or 30 pints so 50p a pint.

Of course, doing all-grain is not about the money. It's about being able to make really good beer the way you want it.

[BarryNL]

As an extra, let's get all 'accountanty'. My AG equipment cost roughly £350 - if I write that off over 5 years assuming a brew every 3 weeks I need to add in about another £4 per brew for the cost of the equipment.

So, let's call it £20 per batch. To buy equivalent quality beer I figure would cost me £35 for the same amount so over time I'm actually saving £15 with each batch I make.

What a great hobby

[bitter_dave]

.... you don't need to spend very much at all getting the equipment together. When I started AG brewing I spent about £30 on a boiler from leyland hombrew, and made a mash tun for about £20 using two buckets and a tap. (A coolbox mash tun shouldn't cost any more than this either I would have thought.) I made some nice beers using this set up, and the only substantial things I've added are an immersion wort cooler (which I got second hand) and a spinny sparge arm.

As for the cost of a brew, depending on where I've got my ingredients I would say it costs me up to about £7 for a 1040ish brew.

[guest5234]

I will hopefully this year join the "darkside" after the expense of the initial set up to go AG what is the average cost of a 40 pint brew?
I can make a very good brew using coopers IPA £8.25 1KG SPRAYMALT £4.50 TOTAL £12.75 for a decent 40 pint brew, what would the equivalent AG mash cost?

If you are after cheap hooch, stick with the kits, the outlay for all grain can be never ending, there's too many shiny gadgets and widgets available to stop at the basics

If you want a hobby to become involved in and thoroughly enjoy where you can design your recipes entirely from scratch and have complete control over the finished product and not only that but have the satisfaction of converting dusty grains and leaf debris into tasty beers then all grain brewing is the way forward. It's much like alchemy only more fun

I just wondered if it was more expensive than good kits, which obviously it is not after reading the last few posts , I have no problem laying out money for a good brew, as I am always the first up the bar when I go for a pint or two or three with my mates.

[BarryNL]

.... you don't need to spend very much at all getting the equipment together. When I started AG brewing I spent about £30 on a boiler from leyland hombrew, and made a mash tun for about £20 using two buckets and a tap. (A coolbox mash tun shouldn't cost any more than this either I would have thought.) I made some nice beers using this set up, and the only substantial things I've added are an immersion wort cooler (which I got second hand) and a spinny sparge arm.

Yeah, it can certainly be done cheaper than I managed. Though, the main item was my Barley Crusher - damn expensive to get hold of in Europe, but a lovely piece of equipment.

[ColinKeb]

if you brew regularly you can get the cost down even more, I now get my pale malt in 25kg bags and hops I got in 1 kilo bags. split your yeast starters and clean with thin bleach and soda crystals as well and youre laughing . good luck anyway youll love it

[steve_flack]

Barley Crusher - damn expensive to get hold of in Europe, but a lovely piece of equipment.

Should have bought it direct from the maker in the US. I got mine shipped from the US for well under £100.

[prodigal2]

My first 2 AG brews have been done with little extra kit.

I mashed in a unmodified coolbox
Sparged in a FV with tap and a grain bag
boiled in a 16l stock pot
used a 5l plastic jug
stiring impliment
sieve
scales
thermometer
hydrometer
a couple of other assorted pots for the extra wort

the only thing we did not have in the house was a grain bag, £7.
On my first AG I chilled overnight. On the second I used a large plastic bowl with ice bottle and water to chill my stockpot.

links to the 2 brewdays:
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

simple and cheap, though not out of choice, but it was fun and I have beer for my troubles

So in reality if you are a kit brewer all the extra kit to get started is a stockpot(you don't need to modify it at first just syphon of the wort) or a cheap electric boiler(or a converted FV with tap and a cheap kettle element) and a grainbag. For £40 you could be start brewing AG, though you will get hooked on getting little bits and pieces as you progress.


HTH

[guest5234]

My first 2 AG brews have been done with little extra kit.

I mashed in a unmodified coolbox
Sparged in a FV with tap and a grain bag
boiled in a 16l stock pot
used a 5l plastic jug
stiring impliment
sieve
scales
thermometer
hydrometer
a couple of other assorted pots for the extra wort

the only thing we did not have in the house was a grain bag, £7.
On my first AG I chilled overnight. On the second I used a large plastic bowl with ice bottle and water to chill my stockpot.

links to the 2 brewdays:
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=
http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

simple and cheap, though not out of choice, but it was fun and I have beer for my troubles

So in reality if you are a kit brewer all the extra kit to get started is a stockpot(you don't need to modify it at first just syphon of the wort) or a cheap electric boiler(or a converted FV with tap and a cheap kettle element) and a grainbag. For £40 you could be start brewing AG, though you will get hooked on getting little bits and pieces as you progress.


HTH

Thanks, will give it a go very soon

[torchwood brewery]

cost of brewing is a factor i never look at because the results are priceless IMHO.
However this question always seems to rear its ugly head on the craftbrewing front and forums WHY?. I tend to think that its because we are always buying ingrediants to make our brews.
But if you look at it from a hobby point of veiw it tends to fair quite well. for example if your major hobby was to fly radio controlled planes that would cost a fair bit more every time you crashed while learning and then upgrading evertime you got better.
look at stamp collecting coin collecting or antique collecting you can really spend shite loads there to get the result you want.that one off penny black or that illusive spanish debloome or that louie the 14th china cabinet. (kenny everett).
i think it all comes down to what you are prepaird to pay rather than how much you pay . some spend small and build there equipment some spend bigg and buy there gear .some will spend little and make beer that is good and some will spend lots and make beer that is crap. so at the end of the day its not what you spend it more like how much your budget allows you to spend.or SWMBO for that matter.
it funney that as an ex smoker i was spending 3000 dollars a year to kill myself and didn,t care .
it is how ever a valid question but it cant really be answered correctly .its up to you and your situation to the costs and is it the only hobby you have ? my fag money now gose into brewing so i look at it as .i would rather pay for something i enjoy rather than pay to kill myself but then again if i kill myself from beer drinking at least i wont have ever worried about the cost because it was a worthwhile experience to that of fagging on.


richard

[Barley Water]

I agree with Torchwood, cost is really not the issue although you probably do save money making your own beer. Actually, the major problem with producing your own is that your intake will almost surely increase, especially if you get a nice draft set up going. In our homebrew club, we have very few thin brewers (and who can trust a thin brewer anyway).

I have been engaged in this hobby for many years and I rarely buy commercial beer anymore. Of course, in the US, we tend to drink more beer at home than in the UK because we sadly don't have the "pub culture". For about $20 give or take, I spend the better part of 8 hours to produce a normal batch of beer. I can think of few recreational activities which burn funds at such a low rate (and that does not count the time spent enjoying the fruits of my labor).

By the way Torchwood, I assume you are referring to smoking when you use the phrase "fag on". I never really thought of smoking as a hobby but rather more of an addiction type of thing but your are correct, you can go through money in a big hurry engaging in that activity.

[torchwood brewery]

hi barley water

yes when i say fagin' on i do mean smoking and you would be right about the fact that there are lots of hobbies out there that do cost alot more .
it is a priceless hobby ,relaxing, enjoyalble and it tends to bring out that creativeness we all have.

richard

[torchwood brewery]

mmmmm cherry cavendish pipe tobacco havent seen that in 20 years i love the smell of a pipe .

richard