On Tue, 12 Jun 2007, Gonz wrote:
> Homebrewing could be alot of work, depending on how "fanatical" you
> are about it. But it could also be pretty easy. I still buy most of
> the beer I drink. I homebrew mostly for fun, not to supply me with
> beer. Its not economical, unless you buy cheap ingredients. The
> taste can be phenomenal however, even in some instances, much better
> than anything commercial I have ever had. The downside is that it can
> be time consuming, take up alot of space, and stink up your kitchen
> with a strong hoppy smell. Oh, of course, it can also make you buy
> expensive gear, much like photography. ;)
>
I'll agree with that to some extent, but I think it deserves
further clarification. It's one of the strange hobbies that costs less
the more you spend. If you keep it simple and cheap, then the cost of
making a good extract homebrew is probably about the same as cheap
commercial beer. If you buy/build enough equipment to make an all-grain
homebrew, it's often significantly cheaper per batch. Of course there's
more equipment outlay, but it's not necessarily *that* expensive.
Crude approximations based on the prices I've seen around here
Inexpensive extract:
- Basic equipment for fermenting, racking, bottling: $150 (carboys,
racking/airlock equipment, 5 gallon pot, bottling equipment)
- Ingredient cost for 6% beer: $35-$45/5gal (50 bottles) (7-9 lbs extract,
2-4 oz hops, yeast)
Inexpensive all-grain equipment:
- Additional equipment over extract: $150 (bigger pot + malt mill + mash
tun)
- Ingredient cost for 6% beer: $15-$20/5gal (10-12 lbs grain, 2-4oz hops,
yeast)
I routinely brew 7% IPA's for $10-$15 per batch. You can't even
buy one case of megaswill beer for that.
-Cory
--
*************************************************************************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
*************************************************************************
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