Saving Money Making Homemade Beer

**jIM_Ohio** · 03-31-2010, 03:50 PM

Originally posted by alternateme View Post

Has anyone here made homemade beer before? We were talking about ways that we might save some more money and my boyfriend suggested that he should start making his own beer. I see this as a financial disaster waiting to happen. I'm guessing he will buy all the equipment for a lot of money, try it once and find out how difficult it is and how it doesn't taste as good and then go right back to buying beer having wasted all that money. Can someone with experience convince me that it won't turn out this way and we will save money?

I don't brew my own beer to save money... I brew it because it tasted MUCH better.

If DH drinks bud light, stick to buying it in a store...
if DH drinks sam adams, guiness or similar (real) heavier, full bodied beers, its possible brewing could save money, but its probably savings of about $1 per 12 pack- unless he brews a lot and has enough supply to bottle that much, then the savings won't be real.

Costs-

Mr Beer kit is probably about $30-40
Bottles to use with it will be another $50 (you can bottle cheaper if you only cap used bottles, I prefer to use the special bottles with reusable caps). The type of bottles I use cost more.
Each mix is about $5-10 including shipping.

One Mr Beer batch for me is 12 20 oz growlers worth (240 oz of beer). If I have 2 beers a weekend, that is a lot, so I can brew some, then have it last 4 weeks. I have a friend which samples some of them, and my parents will also try it if they are in town.

It takes about 3 weeks for me to make one 240 oz batch. I have to clean and make my wort in 2-3 hours one day, bottle, then let beer ferment for 2 weeks, then chill for secondary conditioning. If you only have one set of bottles (which I do) that means there is a period of time where I cannot drink the beer I make myself. If I doubled or tripled my bottling capacity, I could make much more.

If none of that makes sense, Mr Beer can teach you.
Make beer to have fun, not to save money.

**kork13** · 03-31-2010, 05:56 PM

My cousin made his own beer for a while, and loved it from everything he ever said of it. I don't know alot of the details of it, but as jim said, he always raved that it tasted better than most other beers. He also was able to experiment with his batches, often changing his 'recipe' to try different tastes. I can't speak to the cost/savings factor, but he was definitely proud of his little garage brewery, and really enjoyed the beer he made.

**ktmarvels** · 03-31-2010, 06:00 PM

DH makes beer. I wouldn't say it's really saving any money though. The biggest two factors into if it will be a cost savings is #1 how much the beer you buy now costs and #2 how inexpensively you are able to find the supplies to make the beer. If you buy micro brews and higher end beer, the beer you might might be comparable, but if you drink some of the more commercial beers like Budweiser or Miller, it will never be less expensive.

DH's kit cost about $100 and it had a glass carboy, a bottling bucket, tubing and an airlock. We didn't have a pot large enough to boil 5 gallons and I didn't want him doing it inside so we bought a propane turkey fryer for about $60. Lastly the beer supplies themselves cost between $30 and $50 for about 48 beers. You might be able to find some used equipment or have some things on hand that would make the initial outlay less.

As far as making the beer, it isn't that difficult. If your boyfriend can follow a recipe he can make beer. The trickiest part DH has had is sanitizing all the equipment. It involves bleach and lets say we've made some "beer making clothes" before learning the lesson of an apron or wearing grungy clothing. He's made 3 beers, a cider, and getting ready for his 4th. So it's still new, but he really enjoys it.

**jIM_Ohio** · 04-01-2010, 07:17 AM

Originally posted by ktmarvels View Post

DH makes beer. I wouldn't say it's really saving any money though. The biggest two factors into if it will be a cost savings is #1 how much the beer you buy now costs and #2 how inexpensively you are able to find the supplies to make the beer. If you buy micro brews and higher end beer, the beer you might might be comparable, but if you drink some of the more commercial beers like Budweiser or Miller, it will never be less expensive.

DH's kit cost about $100 and it had a glass carboy, a bottling bucket, tubing and an airlock. We didn't have a pot large enough to boil 5 gallons and I didn't want him doing it inside so we bought a propane turkey fryer for about $60. Lastly the beer supplies themselves cost between $30 and $50 for about 48 beers. You might be able to find some used equipment or have some things on hand that would make the initial outlay less.

As far as making the beer, it isn't that difficult. If your boyfriend can follow a recipe he can make beer. The trickiest part DH has had is sanitizing all the equipment. It involves bleach and lets say we've made some "beer making clothes" before learning the lesson of an apron or wearing grungy clothing. He's made 3 beers, a cider, and getting ready for his 4th. So it's still new, but he really enjoys it.

I will second the sanitizing comment. The key is following a recipe and keeping the place where fermentation will occur clean- this means keeping EVERYTHING which comes into contact with pre-fermented beer clean.

The bottles and caps
the container you mix the wort in over the stove

I don't have beer making clothes, yet I have never made a batch naked either... my kit is not that messy (the toughest part is bottling, and I can put a towel over floor to soak up what does not go into bottle).

My cousin made his own beer for a while, and loved it from everything he ever said of it. I don't know alot of the details of it, but as jim said, he always raved that it tasted better than most other beers. He also was able to experiment with his batches, often changing his 'recipe' to try different tastes. I can't speak to the cost/savings factor, but he was definitely proud of his little garage brewery, and really enjoyed the beer he made.

To Kork's comment above, Budweiser, Coors and Miller (for example) are Pillsners, and they are filled with preservatives. They can bottle beer today, and someone might drink it 10 months from now (it is usually consumed sooner, but because of the preservatives they can last "long" in the bottle or can.

When I make my own beer, it needs to be consumed timely- the couple times I had that last bottle around 3 months later it did not taste "as good" as the ones I consumed earlier.

If you read labels and look at ingredients for Sam Adams and compare it to Budweiser (for example) you should notice that Sam Adams has a earlier expiration date, and probably has less ingredients (because of fewer preservatives). Sam Adams is not a pillsner, but some of their specialty beers might be.

I prefer wheat beers myself, or a good lager (Sam Adams Boston Lager is a decent Lager) or an ale in right context (The current Sam Adams seasonal ale is by far the best beer I can buy in a store ever).

I have not been brave enough to change a recipe yet (I have made about 4-5 batches and always followed the recipe). Mr Beer provides me with pre-mixed malts, barley and hops to make a given flavor... most of my work is in sanitizing, fermenting and bottling.

When you ferment you need a sugar of some sort.
I use white sugar
you can use brown sugar
you can use honey
I am sure there are other household sugars available which I do not know about
you can use anything with natural sugar which will give the chemical reaction to ferment (some winter beers use fruit like apples or cranberries to do this I believe).

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 04-01-2010, 07:28 AM

Not worth it. Although I live next door to someone who works for a brewery and get free beer. And every year she has to brew as part of the company ritual for bragging rights. Cheaper to buy beer.

Saving Money Making Homemade Beer