Cost of an AG?

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pms67

pms67

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I would appreciate it if you guys would tell me your average cost of a brew?
My last BIAB probably cost £18 or so.
5kg of Golden Promise
200g of hops
Wee bit Carapils
Wee bit oats
Mangrove Jacks yeast
Maybe more like £20 but I have scooped up a few jars of trub so hoping to save a bit there.
I'm thinking I can make a hoppy lager for around a tenner?
 
pms67 said:
I would appreciate it if you guys would tell me your average cost of a brew?

My last BIAB probably cost £18 or so.

5kg of Golden Promise

200g of hops

Wee bit Carapils

Wee bit oats

Mangrove Jacks yeast

Maybe more like £20 but I have scooped up a few jars of trub so hoping to save a bit there.

I'm thinking I can make a hoppy lager for around a tenner?

[emoji106]
Click to expand...



Depends on the style and if you want to go all out or just make cheap beer really. The last lager I made probably cost about £25 for 25L when you factor in the cost of bottled water (ashbeck) and two packets of yeast, I had to buy in Nobel hops as I didn't have any in the freezer, acid additions etc.

If you're buying in bulk though I don't see why you couldn't get it down to around a tenner.
 
I've just done a clone of Siren Undercurrent - grain & hops cost £9.80 odd, reused the US05 yeast cake so no cost there, bottled water cost about £2.50. That's buying the exact amounts of grain and hops needed from Maltmiller - if I bought in bulk I could probably do it a lot cheaper too.
 
Ta, my tap water is superb so I don't need to buy any water and I'm hoping the yeast/trub I collected can be pitched (thrown in with a prayer) and will do a good job.
I may buy a big bag but the convenience of the small bags is handy.
I guess it's the pellet hops and yeast that crank the cost up but I would rather pay more and have a decent beer,I agree with James Morton in his book "Brew" when he says most recipes are way underhopped, I've made too many and wished I'd put more hops in 👍
 
you have something like £10 of hops in that, hoppy beers are always going to cost you.

DrSmurto's Golden Ale is good and would save you £5 +


aamcle
 
aamcle said:
you have something like £10 of hops in that, hoppy beers are always going to cost you.

DrSmurto's Golden Ale is good and would save you £5 +


aamcle
Click to expand...

Yes,the pellets are expensive but m thinking of collecting yeast from every brew.
What's Dr Smurto Golden Ale?
 
If you want cheap AG beer then make something that has very few hops in it - I particularly like brown ale and mine comes out at about 35p per pint. Only down side is that wort with little hops in it can be a b****r to get out of the boiler as the hot break clogs everything up.
Worst to make is American IPAs - loads of hops and American ones at that which are way dearer than UK ones.
Also avoid anything that needs one of those smack pack yeasts which are extortionate.
 
As a purely costing based exercise I calculate I could do 100L (5x20L) Brews of a decently hopped pale for around £51 including postage costs.

1kg Cascade Pellets £20 (Geterbrewed)
Liquid yeast £7 (cropped and repitched)
1kg Carapils £2.60 (Geterbrewed)
25kg Maris Otter £16 (Collect from local brewery)
Water treatment and carbonation. £0.4
Postage £5
Water £0

Less than £10.20 per batch with 200g of hops per batch, and would have 5kg of base malt to spare. Would give a constant supply of hoppy beer for a year.

5.5%, 46.5 IBUs and OG 1.052


Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
 
Lager, Kolsch and Stout are all under a tenner if you reuse the yeast. I would make more hoppy beers but they are too dear to drink all the time. If you are spending loads on bottled water get a reverse osmosis system. They are excellent.
 
You will find your first couple will cost more because you will end up buying more hops than needed and your can start building up yeast (or trub) in your fridge. I always plan for 5/6 brews and order all the same time to save on postage and have a good stock in house incase I want to brew something different.
 
I buy in bulk apart from the speciality grains, but I think brewing is a lot more than cost, sense of achievement, the crafting of something you enjoy and are proud of. I would imagine if we took into consideration the time involved we would be out of pocket.
 
Regardless, even throwing crazy amounts of hops and a good yeast,it would probably still be under £1 a pint.
A Mosaic Pale Ale from M&S is £2.50
 
Leon103 said:
You will find your first couple will cost more because you will end up buying more hops than needed and your can start building up yeast (or trub) in your fridge.
Click to expand...

This sounds great. Can anyone point me to a good thread or article about how to store yeast from one brew to use in the next?

Thanks.
 
Dont count Wyeast (smack packs) or WLP (vials) as expensive. Learn how to rinse and store your yeast and it will pay for itself many times over.
I bought a vial of WLP 004 in 2013 and Im still using it today. Some of it is 8 generations old, some is 3 generations and Ive still got some of the original strain in the freezer
 
Sadfield said:
Apologies for the bad form of linking to another forum, but the I found the advice from the YeastWhisper in this thread extremely practical and useful.:whistle:

1st time yeast harvest
Click to expand...

Do not use Kilner jars, way too many places for bacteria to hide.
When cultivating yeast all your equipment must be sterile not sanitised.
2li pickled onion jars work very well
 
johnnyboy1965 said:
Do not use Kilner jars, way too many places for bacteria to hide.
When cultivating yeast all your equipment must be sterile not sanitised.
2li pickled onion jars work very well
Click to expand...

True. I made an overbuild of my Gales yeast and had it in my fridge for a month. When I came to build it up again I had a taste of the beer sitting on top of the yeast and it was sour. So I had to chuck it
 
MyQul said:
True. I made an overbuild of my Gales yeast and had it in my fridge for a month. When I came to build it up again I had a taste of the beer sitting on top of the yeast and it was sour. So I had to chuck it
Click to expand...


I hope this isn't the case for mine.

Harvesting from bottles of your previous batch is only a little bit more work.
 

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