My First HomeBrew Boiling Away
I’m not sure how many of you have picked up on it, but I like to drink(alcohol, that is). I don’t spend my weekends binge drinking, but I love to enjoy a glass of wine while I’m cooking or a nice cold beer after a long day of work of exercising. I’m probably the furthest thing from a beer snob though, since I’ll drink everything from Natty Light to Corona. But if I had my choice, I’d probably go with a nice microbrew like Fat Tire or Sierra Nevada.
I was lucky to live in San Diego for 10 years since it’s probably one of the top cities for microbrews. I think only Portland, Oregon compares when it comes to quantity and especially quality. There are some amazing breweries in the San Diego area and some of my favorites include Ballast Point, Mission Brewery and of course Stone Brewery. My house was about 5 minutes away from Ballast Point so I was always filling up growlers there.
MicroBrews Aren’t Cheap Though
The great thing about a Bud Light is it costs around 75 cents a can. Once you step up to the big leagues though and start drinking microbrews, you start paying anywhere from $1.25(if you’re really lucky) to nearly $2 per beer. I like beer and all but paying $2 per beer is just way too much for me. And one thing I’ve noticed is that the retail(supermarket) price of beer is very close to the business price. I can usually go out and get a pint of microbrew for $4-$5 at a bar but that same exact beer will still cost around $2 at the grocery store, not much of a difference. Compare that with beverages like sodas, which you can buy for 25 cents a can on sale and usually cost nearly 10x that at restaurants. That makes buying beer at the grocery store kind of seem like a rip-off.
Inspired by LivingSocial
I didn’t start brewing my own beer to save money though. I saw a LivingSocial deal for a beer-making starter kit from Midwest Home-brewing Supplies and I thought it would make for a fun hobby. The living social deal was $64($126 value) plus $12 for shipping and included the Brewing Basics Equipment Kit for, a 5 gallon recipe kit and a $25 voucher for a future purchase. That deal is expired as of today but you can still get the Brewing Basics Equipment Kit for $69.99 plus shipping. A 5 gallon recipe kit is only $26.99 more. Here’s everything that’s included in the starter kit:
– 6.5 Gallon Fermenter and Lid
– 6.5 Gallon Bottling Bucket with Spigot
– 4 Oz. of Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
– Airlock (Keeps air out of the fermenter)
– Hydrometer (Determines alcohol content)
– Bottle Brush
– Twin Lever Black Beauty Bottle Capper
– Bottle Caps
– Liquid Crystal Thermometer
– Bottle Filler
– Racking Tube with Bucket Clip
– Siphon Tubing
The only other thing you’ll need in addition to this kit to brew your first batch is a brewing pot. The one thing I learned from all my brewing research is that you want to avoid boilovers at all costs during the brewing process. Most people do a 2 or 3 gallon boil so I would highly recommend getting a much larger pot. That way, you can pretty much just let it boil for an hour and not have to hover over it the whole time. I ended up buying a nice 32 qt(8 gallon) aluminum pot that has worked out perfectly. It’s pretty big so I never have to worry about boilovers and at the time it was only $30 plus free prime shipping on Amazon.
I also bought an auto-siphon for $10 to make the process of transferring the beer from the fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket a little smoother. This product is optional but I think it makes things a lot easier.
Cost of the Kits
Most of the kits I buy on Midwest Supplies are priced in-between $20 and $30. You can spend a lot more but I’ve found that you really don’t need to in order to get the high quality taste you want. I usually spend around $30 per kit including shipping and it makes around 45-55 beers. If we conservatively assume an output of only 45 beers, that’s only 67 cents per beer. My only recurring costs are bottle caps, which are very inexpensive at around 3 cents each bringing my total cost per beer to 70 cents.
The nice thing about the starter kit that I bought is it includes everything you need. There’s a whole bunch of other crap you can buy like carboys and wort chillers, but if you just like drinking your own beer like I do and giving it away, this kit is perfect. The only problem I’ve had is collecting beer bottles. I can’t seem to drink them fast enough and every time I need to bottle I have to go scrounging around for beer bottles. This might not be a problem for some of you 🙂
The Results
So far I’ve made three different batches and they’ve all turned out great. It’s kind of a long process since you have to let them ferment for a few weeks and then leave them in the bottles for another few weeks but once you get going, it’s pretty addicting. Brewing isn’t too time intensive either since the brewing portion only takes about 2 hours and the bottling portion takes just over an hour.
I actually like brewing my own beer and find it to be a fun and rewarding hobby. The fact that it also saves me money is just an added bonus. I also think it’s a lot cooler showing up to a party with a six pack of homebrew as opposed to something you bought at the store.
Readers, have you ever though about brewing your own beer? Did you know that you can actually save money by brewing your own beer and they will taste pretty good too?!
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We just started brewing too! It’s a bit expensive to get going (we got our starter kit from Northern Brewer and then, like you, bought the 5 gallon pot separate… so maybe $110 in startup costs?) but once we use it enough, I think it will totally save us money!
We’re on our 3rd batch and next time are contemplating buying the grains/hops separately instead of choosing a recipe kit. That might save some money too!
What kinds have you brewed so far?? We started with a brown ale, then an IPA, and now we have another IPA fermenting!
Yea it is a bit expensive, but if you look at brewing more like a hobby it’s easier to write off those initial costs(mental accounting haha). That’s also why the living social deal was so awesome, since the free recipe kit and the $25 coupon for another one almost negated the cost of the kit.
I just cracked open my third batch(an amber ale) and it was pretty good, had a very nice reddish color. I’ve done an irish red ale, imitation fat tire and now an amber ale and they’ve all been really good! The only complaint I have is they’re very similar in taste. I checked the gravity on my last batch and the alcohol content came in at 3% btw 🙂
I think I’m going to make an IPA next time, brewing is awesome.
Welcome to the brewing club Harry! I have been doing it for years and it is really fun. I like trying different flavors and types. While the upfront cost can be a deterrant for some, the overall costs of each beer are much less than what you can buy. I can brew over 60 bottles of beer for only $32. Now, do that at the grocery store.
Thanks Grayson. Yea I can’t believe it took me so long to get going especially considering I’ve loved beer for so long. 50 cents a beer is pretty awesome!
I’ve been most surprised by how good the beers actually taste. You could put a label on it and sell it at the grocery store and I don’t think many people would know it’s a homebrew.
I’ve helped out with friends’ brews, but we’ve never brewed ourselves. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is something we look into more seriously after our garage renovations are done so we have places to store everything. =)
Yea it’s a little messy at times doing it in the kitchen. But you also need a sink handy to wash and sanitize. Either way, it’s fun and very addicting.
Sounds awesome! I’d love to make my own beer, as I go through a lot too but here it is hard to find the supplies, and beers are under $0.5 so it is hard to beat if you factor your time and effort.
Ah 50 cent beer would be awesome! I like brewing as a hobby and the fact that it saves you money is pretty cool too. It’s also kind of neat to show up to a party with a 6 pack of your own beer instead of a store bought pack too!
This is definitely something husband and I want to get involved with. In fact, I think I might get him a kit for Christmas. Outside of the start up costs, it seems this definitely pays off in the end, especially with getting good beer for a cheaper cost. I’m not a beer snob either but I do enjoy microbrews.
Have you ever tried brewing with snap-top bottles (like in Grolsch beer) as opposed to capping? a friend of ours uses those type (he still uses brown ones of course) and the beer he made was fabulous.
Yea I wouldn’t necessarily start brewing to save money on beer but it is definitely a fun hobby. A lot of people get really into it and buy up a ton of extra equipment which can get expensive.
I actually don’t mind bottling, it really doesn’t take much longer than using Grolsch style bottles and I use a combination of 24 oz and 12 oz bottles to speed things up.
I’ve never made my own beer, but I love the idea of making my own beer. I’m going to have to consider buying bf a kit for Christmas. I think it’s really cool to show up at a party with beer you made, plus you can’t beat $0.70 a beer!
Yea it’s definitely a great gift. Do it and you won’t regret it, plus you’ll get a certain benefit out of the gift too if the beers are good!
I enjoyed brewing my own beer back in the day and was quite good at it. There’s nothing finer than when a friend or loved one samples your output and is amazed at how good your homebrew tastes. I no longer drink but still get the itch to cook. I started homebrewing in case there was an actual apocalypse. Making suds would be a great skill to have.
I would recommend that you ditch the aluminum pot and get one made of stainless steel or copper as the acid in your wort could leech aluminum into your brew.
Be careful with this hobby. Before you know it you’ll be planting your own hops!
Yea I know what you mean. Everyone who I’ve given a bottle to has been really surprised how good it tastes. All I do is follow the recipe haha.
Haven’t noticed any Al taste in the beer but I’ll keep that in mind. I definitely want to plant my own hops some day – that would be awesome.
Hey PFPro: I just drank one of your beers. It tasted as good as a Sierra Nevada IPA! For 70 cents a bottle, that’s quite a deal, man.
And I am an old guy, so believe me, back in the day… I drank quite a few home brews that tasted terrible! It seems that brew technology has improved quite a bit. The key factor, I think is to keep everything super-clean and to follow a recipe. And to use good ingredients. Don’t skimp. So, I guess that’s three key things. My wife used to make her own, and she lowered costs by roasting her own barley. That sure made the apartment smell lovely, believe you me.
But let me verify for all of the Naysayers out there. You can brew beer yourself that is as good as you can buy and for a lot cheaper. Way to go, PFPro. Drink responsibly everybody.
Love,
Uncle DC
Yea you do have to make sure everything is super clean and that’s what I was worried about most with the first couple brews. Now that I’ve got that down though, I’m starting to refine the brewing process: make the beer clearer, more flavor, etc. Glad you liked it 🙂