12 replies to this topic

[HVB]

I cannot hear ( or read) Pragmatic and not think batch sparginghttps://www.masslive...d_of_the_y.html

[denny]

Welcome to the religion!WOW, word of the year!

[zymot]

I batch sparge, always have.However.... I find it ironic.Overall home brewing as a hobby or an activity that consumes the better part of an afternoon is anything but a pragmatic effort.It's not as if there isn't dozens of stores around me that sell quality beer at a price that competes with home brew. A pragmatism wrapped in an illogicalism wrapped in a "Cool I make my own beer!"

[denny]

A pragmatism wrapped in an illogicalism wrapped in a "Cool I make my own beer!"

I love it!

[chefmiller]

I'm sorry, I've done the math a thousand different ways, and if your homebrew price can't easily beat the price of store bought, you're doing something wrong. (or you have the lowest priced liquor stores in the world where you are)

[denny]

I'm sorry, I've done the math a thousand different ways, and if your homebrew price can't easily beat the price of store bought, you're doing something wrong. (or you have the lowest priced liquor stores in the world where you are)

I'm about to make a wee heavy with chanterelles in it. $20 just for the mushrooms, and then there's around 20 lb. of Golden Promise, hops, and yeast. No way is that gonna be cheaper than commercial beer. And if you add in my equipment costs and time., I doubt any of my batches is. It's a hobby and I don't really care what it costs as long as I can afford it.

[zymot]

I'm sorry, I've done the math a thousand different ways, and if your homebrew price can't easily beat the price of store bought, you're doing something wrong. (or you have the lowest priced liquor stores in the world where you are)

Depends on how much you pay for ingredients, how much value your time and how you amortize you investment in equipment.IMHO: If your goal is to get a couple cases of quality beer in your house, there are easier ways to do that than brew it yourself.

[beach]

I do my best to buy ingredients as inexpensively as I can (bulk malts, hops by the pound) but rarely care what a batch costs. I've never added up what I have in equipment, kegs etc and I don't really want to. When someone asks I say that my rule of thumb is that the ingredients alone are about half of what it would cost to buy it in bottles. But, if you add in time, equipment, electric, LP, water, kegs, taps, CO2, etc, ad infinitum, you're better off buying your beer. The fact that I have my choice of 6 different beers on draught (with a 7th tap sitting empty right now ) and I made them is what it's about for me. Bewing is pretty much the only thing I really do outside of work as far as hobbies are concerned. Cost/beer? I don't really get it when poeple track it to the penny. I'd rather worry about how soon a keg will kick so I can have 1 waiting to take it's place.Beach

Edited by beach, 18 December 2011 - 11:07 AM.

[No Party JKor]

I used to think that I could never justify the investment I've put in my ingredients/equipment based on the cost of beer...until the last couple of years when the price has skyrocketed. I'm still a ways off, but I'm sure homebrewing will pay for itself in the long run and I spend A LOT on my equipment. Thousands, easily. But even considering conservative estimates for energy cost and associated costs (CO2, PBW, StarSan, etc.), it's still 50% of a typical craft brew 6-pk. I'm saving $100s per year at this point without equipment ammortization.

Edited by JKoravos, 18 December 2011 - 04:35 PM.

[denny]

For all I know, I might be saving money. But I don't track or even really think about my brewing expenses. If I can afford it, I do it. If I can't, I wait until I can. Like I said, it's a hobby that I do for enjoyment.

[chefmiller]

It's very simple for me. I run an extremely tight budget with everything accounted for. When I buy beer versus making it, I spend over 400% more. I don't account for my time as if it is actually worth something monetarily since I brew for fun on my days off. I wouldn't be earning anything if I wasn't brewing, and I enjoy thoroughly what I'm doing. Granted, if I was only making imperial IPA or using truffles in all of my beer, that would be different, but that doesn't even appeal to me.Just to clarify, I buy grain and hops in bulk, my equipment is quite sufficient, but inexpensive, I make 10 gallon or larger batches exclusively, and I yeast farm an awful lot. My mash efficiency is regularly 80% or better.I have an immense amount of respect for you Denny, as well as every other person commenting in this thread, but I have to say that it must be nice to not have to think about your brewing expenses. I have to think about all of my expenses, being quite poor is one of the reasons, although far from the primary one, that I brew in the first place. (sorry for hi-jacking this thread, I'm done now)

[denny]

I'm far from rich, or anywhere close to it. I think you'd be shocked to know how little I earn. When I say that I don't think about the cost, what I mean is that if I have my brewing $$ saved up, I spend it without worrying about what the batch costs. It doesn't mean I recklessly spend money on brewing without thinking about it.

[earthtone]

I'm about to make a wee heavy with chanterelles in it. $20 just for the mushrooms, and then there's around 20 lb. of Golden Promise, hops, and yeast. No way is that gonna be cheaper than commercial beer. And if you add in my equipment costs and time., I doubt any of my batches is. It's a hobby and I don't really care what it costs as long as I can afford it.

haha that's where I'll be someday... micro scale though I've spent less than $1500 on my equipment and have several neighbours handing me pillows of hops every fall from their bines. I worry a bit less about the number crunching now but a typical session costs me only $15 for 5G (batch sparged, obviously) with my capital investment on the equipment long since repaid. I even have my brew day down to 4 hours start to finish and with single-stage fermentation it's just a quick rack over to the kegerator! How's that for pragmatic!? Of course my brewing is far less experimental than most people on here and restricted mainly to ales (dependant on time of year and insulation value of current apartment) and I do very few "big" brews. But that's pragmatic of me too isn't it? haha.Someday I will enjoy the hobby to its fullest and limit myself less worrying about pragmatism