Beer Recipe Kits Costs

I know it's totally off-topic, but...I brewed a Westy 12 clone that had an original gravity somewhere around 1.090 and only used one smack pack like the homebrew store said. Guess what happened? Exactly what you would anticipate. The yeast pooped out and left me with a syrupy sweet mess that finished with a gravity of about 1.040. I didn't know anything about starters or oxygenation when I brewed this beer, but it's something you should definitely read about. It's generally recommended to use an appropriate starter for anything over 1.060. Most DIPAs are going to be at least 1.080. In my practical experience, I think you would be extremely lucky if that one smack pack were to ferment your DIPA properly, and by properly, I mean to a final gravity where it's supposed to be without the off-flavors of underpitching. You could do two things: 1) let the fermentation finish completely (the yeast will settle down and the airlock will go quiet) and then check a gravity reading with a hydrometer. If your FG is too high (>1.020 is going to be too high for a DIPA, but 1.015 is probably closer to where it should finish), then throw in a pack of rehydrated safale US05, or 2) throw in a pack of rehydrated safale-us05 or another smack pack of your other yeast now. I assume you're brewing an american DIPA with an american yeast. A typical smack pack will have 100billion cells on the mfgr date, and depending on it's age and storage conditions may be much less than that. A 11.5g packet of safale05 has about 180-207 billion yeast cells.
I would encourage you to check out these links:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2010/12/14/yeast-starters-for-home-brewing-beer-part-1/
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
Good luck with everything!

 

just to answer the original question, yes kits are way more expensive. if you wanted to make a clone type beer you really only need to spend around 30 bucks. hops are usually around 10, barley around 10, and extract 10-15. all grain is even cheaper.

 

I don't know where you are getting this idea, but if you are not buying bulk a DIPA should have

10-14# of LME and for example at Northern Brewer 6# is $16, so you're looking at $32 for extract alone, and potentially some corn sugar to dry it out (although I would use table sugar an LHBVS will never suggest this).

8-16 oz of hops and with American "IPA" strains of hops selling by the ounce (how most kits are shipped) the hops cost $1.75 - $3+ an ounce, you're looking at another $15 - $25 in hops.

The grain cost would be minimal, but making your own recipe at an LHBS for a DIPA (what he is talking about) is unlikely to be under $50.

 

sorry I forgot he said double ipa, I was thinking about apas or ipas

 

When you buy a kit you also pay for packaging and advertising. Also, recycling and hanging out and getting to know fellow brewers can help with bartering. Case in point, I talked with another local homebrewer who traded the copper coils from a wort chiller he had stopped using to me for a couple bombers of berlinner weiss. Net savings, 40 dollars. I actually got my beginner kit by doing some work on my neighbors truck. Net savings, 100 dollars. I talk with my friends and have them save bottles for me. Net savings to date, somewhere in the 400$ range. Still doing mini mashes on my stove top, but I tend to save about 25% on building my own kits from the recipies given with a commercially available kit. Also, most of my reading has been through resources at my library. Haven't bought a book yet and have read several books and photocopied important passages. Lastly, get to know your products. Some hops are really popular and expensive, but if you can buy something similar for less, go for it. I started buying bulk as well. One oz of hops can be as much as 3 to 4$. The same hops can be bought for 16$ a pound. That's a 75% savings.

Lol, beer misering...

 

Priced out a kit from Austin Home BS a few years back.
Found their kit price was a few dollars more than the price of the ingredients if purchased separately.
AHS acknowledged they 'plus-up' the kit prices to include the 'cost' of the recipe.

Do other shops price their kits the same way?

 

I did that to an NB kit yesterday to see if the above statement was true. It was. About $5 more on a DIPA kit.

 

Of course, though I would argue it's more a matter of production labor cost than recipe design cost. Measuring and packaging ingredients in quantities smaller than you can normally buy, i.e. building the kits, takes more time per unit of ingredient than bulk sales. Not to mention the packaging material itself is marginally more expensive, depending on whose kit we're talking about.

 

You don't have to buy bottles. I re-use commercial bottles, preferably stone, but most any are plenty good enough to be re-used multiple times. NO twist-offs.

And now that you've brewed, you should BREW ANOTHER before your first one is done. Otherwise you'll sit there and go nuts waiting.

The finished product will probably be drinkable, BTW. Hops cover up lots of flaws, and if you followed the directions closely and even half-sanitized properly, it's probably going to taste great!

 

yeah. most people don't. wisely