On 6/13/07, Cory Papenfuss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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) >
My costs are higher, I dont use tap water (chlorine), and I buy the best beer style specific yeast I can get my hands on and dont re-use it. There are also incidentals: malt sugar to make a yeast starter + hops for that, cleaning and sterilizing supplies, propane, ice for chilling the wort down (double exchange), etc. > 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 * > ************************************************************************* > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
