I’ve been brewing since Sept, and I still haven’t come whole in terms of cost. But then again I have more then the minimal equipment. In about 8 more batches I’ll break even.

So, it can be cheaper depending on, like you say, what beer is being replaced. I think it has to be a hobby done for more than saving a few bucks – its something fun that you love doing!

Hope this doesn’t happen to you….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAbP8afYiN4

:)

In my own experience, the question of whether it saves money is irrelevant. While long a craft beer snob, I drank less than a six pack every month or two. Now that I brew at home, I’ll drink a six pack every week or two, because I have it around. So while I save substantial amounts on a per-bottle basis (especially since I re-use the bottles themselves over and over again), I’m drinking a lot more than I used to, so the homebrew is probably costing me more than I used to spend on craft brews.

By the same token, I feel my quality of life has improved, and the benefits of homebrew are enormous on many other fronts.

I love to cook, and I love to experiment in the kitchen. Once you develop the patience (and having a few batches under your belt helps) it can be a very rewarding culinary experience. Right now I’m brewing a dunkelweizen (a dark wheat beer style from Germany) with garam masala (a common spice mixture in Indian cooking), and I can’t wait to try it in about 3 weeks.

One can give homebrew for almost all gift-giving occasions. This can cut my gift-shopping expenses substantially, and I find people in my family, for example, are far more impressed and gratified by a big bottle (22 oz.) of brew that cost $3 to make — thanks to the craftsmanship and the personal touch — than a $20 tchotchke that they’ll wind up storing in the basement or re-gifting to someone else.

I’m not saying I trade my brew for goods and services, but hypothetically, I could trade a six-pack ($5-$6 cost) for what is usually a $12 (plus tip) haircut, or I could swap it for eggs with a neighbor who raises chickens in his garage. (Note to urban readers: barter is not just for farmers; I live in the middle of a big city.) The legality of bartering homebrew varies by jurisdiction, so know your laws and act accordingly.

When you get it right (and I’ve only had 1 batch in 15 that turned out undrinkable) the pride of craftsmanship is enormous. There’s nothing like uncapping something you made yourself and finding it tastier than 90% of anything you’ve every bought. There’s also nothing like catching a buzz of something you made in your own kitchen.

For you apocalyptical nuts out there — not uncommon among frugality aficionados — there’s something to be said for developing a valuable and trade-able skill while the economy (and potentially the society that co-evolved with that economy) is imploding. I have a good friend who owns lots of guns and makes his own ammunition. I have a neighbor that knows how to raise chickens in an urban environment. Because I now know how to make alcohol out of a few easily located or substituted ingredients and pieces of equipment, when the lights go out for good, I like my chances of surviving and contributing to the tribe better than I did back when all I knew how to do was build spreadsheets and write emails.

At the end of the day, I make beer because I love good beer and I feel proud when I make good beer that other people like, too. It can be a very rewarding hobby and cheaper than many hobbies you can occupy your time with. Most people who like to fish don’t do it because it saves on groceries.

If you don’t homebrew, I recommend trying it, maybe with a group of friend to share the cost. If you do, I recommend looking into the BJCP program (http://www.bjcp.org/index.php) to learn more about how to make your good beer great. I’ve just started it and it’s already improving my beer knowledge and the quality of my beers.

While the liquid in the fermenter is, technically, beer, it will not be carbonated, will not pour correctly and will very likely (since you are drawing the beer from the spigot at the bottom of the fermenter) contain a significant amount of yeast sediment. This, of course, is not only harmless, but beneficial (brewer’s yeast is rich in B vitamins). Still, it will make your beer look very murky and there will be a a sludgy sediment at the bottom of everyone’s glass.

If you want to brew beer the right way, check out:

http://www.howtobrew.com/
http://www.beeradvocate.com
http://beertown.org/homebrewing/index.html

You will find plenty of ways to cut corners and save money, but don’t use the first method described here. You and your friends want to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

Also, allowing the grain to boil releases tannins which will make a bitter beer. The grain should be held at no more than 150 for 40 minutes and then rinsed with boiling water to release any remaining sugars into the wort.

Anyone planning on getting into brewing should look into buying a $10 copy of The Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papizan. It covers all the bases to ensure the money you’re spending to brew beer is worth it. Without the proper techniques and precautions beer can turn out poorly and you’ll end up pouring it down the drain. It also contains a plethora of recipes that are well worth the money.

I’ve figured out that when I brew 5 gallons of beer the cost of each bottle of beer is $1.22 for 29 22oz bottles. At the store those would run $3.50-$4.00 The money saved is $66-$80.

If you buy all new equipment. I bought my first brew kit for $50 (without a carboy) and it came with a beer kit. It included a siphon, hose, blow off valve, bottle caps, irish moss (to clear the beer), gypsum (to soften the water), bottle filler, a bottle brush, a carboy brush, sanitizer, priming sugar and a few other small items. I bought my brew pot for 20 bucks (5 gal. Stainless steel) and I had a capper (they’re 30 bucks at any brew store). I had a glass carboy from water delivery years ago.

The initial investment is slightly high; about $130-$150 but after two batches of GOOD beer you’ve made all your money back.

If you plan to bottle start asking your friends to keep any 22oz bottles they buy. Make sure they aren’t screw tops (you can’t cap those) and wash them well as soon as you get them. Once you get 30 bottles you can bottle a batch of beer. If you want to remove the labels a soak in water and baking soda will dissolve the glue.

Please don’t use any 5 gal. bucket you find if you decide to use a brew bucket. Any scratches will hold bacteria. Don’t use a pickle bucket or you’ll have pickle beer. Buy a bucket at the brew store. They’ll tap it for a spigot if you want and it comes with a lid that is already set up for a blow off valve. If you treat your brew bucket well it will last you for years. They’re usually opaque in color and have graduated measurements on the side so you know what you’re doing. They’re usually 6 gallons so you have plenty of room. Buckets won’t overflow during the first few days of brewing; a carboy usually will. The yeast is eating so much sugar it foams and overflows. The problem is solved by hooking up a few feet of hose to the top of the carboy (through the rubber cork) and the other end is placed in a bucket of water. This keeps anything from crawling up the hose and into the beer. After it finishes blowing off you can place your regular lock on top and continue.

I recommend everyone try to brew their own beer. Just make sure you have the right equipment and have done your research. Clean your kitchen and take 3 hours out of your schedule for brewing. You don’t want to rush it and being stressed while making beer doesn’t make it fun. If you don’t have fun it’ll be hard to get yourself to do it again. No one should dread making beer.

I’ve brewed my own beer for a few years now, enjoying it with my friends when we catch up to play cards/D&D or just for a chat, so far i think i’ve gathered quite a bit of experience in this.

Your instructions lack an important step, if you follow them the resulting brew will be 100% flat, every and i mean every fermented product that contains both alcohol and CO2 (the bubbles) need a 2 stage fermentation, this because the same reaction in two different environments produces two different results.

the procedure illustrated by you is only the first step, fermentation at atmospheric pressure, in this process the yeast will fee don the sugars contained in the liquid and while producing CO2 that get’s discarded trough the bubble it will also produce alcohol, the more sugar the more alcohol, but all the CO2 is gooing off to never ever land.

step two (1 or 2 weeks is ok but the turning point is when the bubbler has stopped) is to restart the fermentation by adding a small amount of sugar so the yeast goes wild again but this time the goal is to keep that CO2 in, to do this you need an air tight container, such as a beer bottle or a keg, even here the amount of sugar will produce different effects, more sugar=more bubbles (look out cause if you put to much you’ll end up with many broken bottles and a cellar covered in beer).

brewing beer is easy and fun, the best piece of advice i can give you to make it just right is to be 100% accurate and diligent on cleaning all the equipment and bottles, if any germs other that the yeast reproduce in the beer it will get infected, it will still be safe to drink, but not as good.

oh and low alcohol content beers are more easy to make, cause whit less sugar you also reduce the possibility of over reaction.

Cheers ^_^

The bubbler is more formally referred to as an airlock (the one in the pictures is a very common 3 piece airlock)

when adding the malt to the boiling water, take the pot OFF the heat! Otherwise you may scorch the sugars in your malt/burn your malt and your beer will taste horrible.

I’ve got 5 gallons of Belgian Ale chilling out next to my fridge bubbling away and will be doing a similar post (with videos) within the next week or so.

Great post! Homebrewing is a great and delicious hobby!

How to Brew Beer in a Coffee Pot
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/235coffee.html

I do enjoy roasting my own coffee. Now that saves a ton of money over premium roasted coffee and I can experiment with small batches.

If you’ve ever had a corboy explode during fermentation, then you will know what I mean…

- If you are space-cramped (Arlene), do NOT buy a glass carboy. The homebrew snobs are wrong, food buckets are fine for brewing. You will NOT get a plastic smell or taste in your beer. I brewed in a 350 sq. ft apartment.

-order your ingredients online. 5 gallons (2 cases and change) of porter should cost you about $25 to brew.

- Buddy up and buy ingredients bulk. A 55# sack of dry malt extract is MUCH cheaper than buying liquid malt on an as-needed basis.

- Brew with a buddy who does “all grain” instead of extract, and buy malt barley in bulk. This IS more work: al-grain is making beer from scratch literally. With all-grain and a 55# sack of British 2 row malt ($35-$65), my cost for a batch of porter went to $8! That’s 3.50 per CASE! All grain takes longer to brew… you do it because you enjoy cooking it up.