How many times a year do you brew

I brew about 8 times a to year. My average is probably less than 25 a batch not counting propane. I reuse yeast and do a few blondes or ambers a year that keeps the cost down. I also buy hops by the lb or more. I also get some free grain and hops occasionally as I know some brewery owners. I have not included the 1 or 2 batches that are only a few bucks.

 

$52 seems steep... Where is the cost in that? (just curious!).

I just did a 4.5 gallon IPA and with my malts, yeast and hops cost something like $25. Of course, that was after my buy-in of all the equipment, but that is another story...

I plan to do a batch once a month, personally. Did my first last weekend and will do my next in two weeks! My cost should be only $15 or so for my next batch (3 gallons of a Hefe).

 

I only brew 2-3 times per year, and I'm strictly an extract brewer. Because I use extract, my costs are higher for that convenience, and I'll guess that I have spent from $40 to $65 for 5-gallon batches.

 

20-30 AG batches a year. Most batches are in the $35-$50 range. Plus propane and CO2.

 

I brew slightly more than one a month and that does seem steep to me as well. I would guess my average beer is about $30, I do brew some very cheap beers (Berliner is less than $20) big hoppy beers like a double IPA with imported hops are the most expensive beers I brew, but those are only every once in a long while.

 

If I'm brewing something with negligible hop presence I will estimate I have $18 in an average 5 gallon batch. Probably $25 for an IPA. Not factoring in propane costs.

 

6gal a month whether I have the room or not. Forces me to share with friends, bring to club, and drink. Cost is 30-50$.

 

If you shop around you can easily beat those grain prices. I have everything shipped to me with decent results. For the price of about 8 oz of DME you can eliminate a yeast packet and actually have healthier yeast. By re-using you can eliminate the cost of the first packet. You are paying retail for hops which is 1. expensive, and 2. can be iffy. If you're brewing 24 times a year you are a perfect candidate for bulk purchase of hops. Price will be almost half, more importantly you can control the storage and keep them fresher. Buy you PBW in bulk, an 8 lb jar is slighty over 6 bucks/lb.

Doing the above, my cost is about 1/2 what you quoted and that's including shipping.

 

I try to brew every 3 weeks. I don't really pay attention to costs much...too variable. However, purchasing bulk hops and making starters certainly helps lower the cost.

 

I brewed around 50 5 gallon batches over the past year, and average a brew a week most of the time. I buy almost everything in bulk except yeast, and with my AHA discount, I spend around $20-30 on a 5.5-8% IPA, Brett beer or non-fruited Sour and around $30-40 for a imperial stout. Saisons and Berliner Weisse are usually cheaper, like around $15-$25.

 

I brew about 10 batches a year of 5-6 gallons. My various jobs in the past 10 years have caused long stretches where I couldn't brew. I never buy bulk because of this. The expense of the batch depends a lot on whether it is an IPA. Those 1 oz bags can get pricey.

 

I Brew often, 20+ times a year. Mostly 10 gallons, but some 5 gallon batches too.

Buy the grains and hops in bulk. Grain by the bag and hops by the pound. Do yeast starters and learn to harvest yeast so that you can get several batches per pack/vial.

 

I just started brewing but I'm on pace to brew about 6 times a year. Extract only so far and my prices range is around $35-50 without propane factored in. I'll be attempting my first yeast washing when this next batch ends and start making starters so hopefully futures costs come down.

 

~10 time/year
$25 to $40 per 5 gallon batch, typically (malt, hops, yeast, and water)

$0.78 to $1.07/lb base grain, $1.45/lb specialty grain
free (homegrown) to $1.50/oz hops
$6.00 for package of yeast
$0.37 / gallon RO water

 

Bottom line from this thread is all grain brewing plus reusing yeast plus bulk grain buying = big savings.

 

Probably about 20-25. I brew a lot of 2.5 and 1 gallon batches, so not all that expensive. My set up consist of BIAB, and 8 gallon pot, and my fermenters, so I have invested all that much. I love brew day, as well as creating recipes. I probably write 5 recipes for every 1 I brew.

 

I was brewing every 3-4 weeks for a while but I just don't have time or space for that right now. Recently I've had to arrange my schedule so I can brew in spurts of several batches back to back every 2-3 weeks and then go 2-3 months without any brewing. I don't like having to keep such a tight brewing schedule but the upside is that I have fresh yeast available from batch to batch.

I brew mostly small batches so my batch costs are very low. Comparably, I am spending around $5-6 per gallon on the average beer. I don't brew a lot of crazy hoppy beers, buy mostly in bulk and reuse yeast but on the other hand I am buying RO or distilled water and building the water profile from scratch so that is adding a cost to my brew. If I didn't have to buy water I could take down another dollar or so off my water costs per gallon. Most of my brewing is stove top so heating costs are minimal but there's also sanitizer, cleaning supplies, water adjustment minerals, etc. to add to the cost.

The ability to take down the grain costs by getting discounts or buying bulk at reasonable bulk prices can be a significant cost factor. Locally I am lucky if I can buy base grain in bulk at $1/lb. It is usually more because there are no options to buy grain but through the shops or paying shipping which will get you to the same prices. I lucked into finding a sale on a 50lb bag of two row last black Friday at $40. That's as cheap as it gets here.

 

For me, it really does depend. Last year I only brewed 2 "proper" batches, but about another 6 mini experiments (~0.5 - 1.0 Gal size). The year before that I did around 6 batches, but only 2-3 experiments. This year so far I've done exactly zero of either (planning on doing a small batch this w/e), but thats ok because both fermentors are full of red wine at the moment