Only drinking what you brew

Less is right. I bottled up 7 cases of a Belgian triple last night with a retail value of $840. It cost me $103. The cost for my 40 gallon kettle, 3 mash tuns, a plate chiller and pump was $675. This was the 83rd time I've bottled a batch, a lot of which were 18 gallon Belgian clones. The savings are through the roof.

 

Being the noob that I am, I have to drink commercial beers for inspiration. Whenever I start to think that my homebrew is 'good', I drink something from a master brewer and realize I've got a long ways to go to achieve 'good'.

 

Yep. I can brew 5 gallons of Lambic type beer for less than $20. I can do a straight Lambic then for $0.80 per 750ml bottle, $1.00 if you add in corks and cages and the labels. Those same bottles of American made Lambic go for $20+ each. That's over $520 for 26 bottles of commercial or $25 for 26 bottles of mine. I can do 15 gallons of Gueuze $60 when spread over a few years. IIPA I can do for $25-30 with homegrown hops and buying in bulk from the right places. That's $0.75 per pint of the freshest IIPA you can get, compared to $6 for 8-12oz pours at the local Craft Beer Bar.

 

That's loser talk! It's like the Little League coach who says to the team "Did we have fun?" -- that usually means they lost. As I've often pointed out, Mrs Fields makes a fine chocolate chip cookie. But the best damned chocolate chip cookie you ever had was probably homemade. That also applies to beer.

While the marginal cost of a batch tends to be lower, particularly for Belgians and other inexplicably pricey styles, you need to be honest with yourself -- your hobby will likely be more expensive overall than buying commercial. If you're brewing beer to save money, then you should probably pick another hobby. It's like learning to play the guitar because it's cheaper than buying CDs.

 

I brew only 3-4 times per year, but I drink more than that so I have to supplement my drinking pleasures with trips to the bottle shop. The variety is great when buying beer, so I don't think I'd ever change.

 

I'm probably drinking about 80 to 90% homebrew while at home. Commercial beer fills in the styles I'm craving but don't have on tap. I don't go to bars a ton, but I do spend a lot of time drinking at friends houses where we drink mostly their homebrew.

It's a good way to save money in Canada, where craft beer is even more expensive that the states.

 

I agree that saving money is the wrong reason to get into homebrewing, but if you're already homebrewing anyway, increasing your ratio of homebrew to commercial beer is going to save you money.

 

I don't think you got the point of what I was trying to get across Mike. For example, I just finished a commercial houblon chouffe ipa tripel. Its the one I clone and consider my house beer. I think mine is better. I do not think it is arrogant to think one can clone and brew, or surpass a commercial beer. I posted that quote with that attitude in mind. When I first read it a few days back, it pissed me off.

Be honest with myself? Send me your report cards from school. I want to check your grades for math. Did you look closely at the figures I posted? My 83rd batch saved me enough money to pay for my main brewing items. just that one batch alone. My equipment was paid off via savings a long time ago.

One of the main reasons I do brew is to save money. I love drinking corked Belgians every day. I see nothing wrong with that reasoning. Are you rich? I'm not, but I do have rich taste. I can't drop 500 a month on the beer I like so I make it.

 

Saw another thread here on BA in Beer News about cost of beer, and what goes into it.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...pack-of-craft-beer-ends-up-costing-12.210914/

Discussing this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...cost_n_5670015.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592

Good to see what exactly goes into it. We as homebrewers pay more for malt and hops than the craft brewers due to bulk discounting, but we don't have to pay for labor costs, distro, retail, sales tax, etc.

 

How long did that bottling session take? Don't infer anything, just curious.

 

I started at 5 pm and washed the last item at 10. A long night, but well worth it.

 

I started brewing beer because I enjoy a wide variety of different kinds of beers. The majority of what I drink is my own homebrew, but I don't want to go to 100% all the time. I want to at least occasionally try new beers, new breweries, and revisit old favorites that made me interested in brewing myself in the first place.

 

Yes, I went about 2-3 years only drinking homebrew circa 2008-2011. By only drinking homebrew I mean I did not buy any beer to drink at home. I would buy beer when I went to a restaurant or bar. It just happened naturally for me. I was brewing practically every weekend around this time, I dialed in my process and recipes, winning awards, and had plenty of beer on tap. I recall around this time heading into liquor stores and saying to myself "$5 for bomber!?, for $25 I can make the same beer and get 5 gallons" so I would not buy and just make it.

 

Yeah, a half day's work is worth that much good beer, definitely. If you have a SO/buddy as your bottling partner, it would help, also.

 

Maybe the winkie wasn't clear. My response wasn't intended as a criticism. I didn't think that you agreed that it was arrogant to brew as good as or better than commercial.

Regarding the cost, the styles you brew are the exception in terms of payback - I alluded to that. For most brewers, the equipment amortization would be depressing. Many of us are continually adding to our setup, increasing the cost with virtually every batch. Your equipment may have been paid for out of savings, but it's still part of the cost of the hobby (and how many hobbies are free?). My point is that if you consider all of the costs including ingredients, fuel, equipment, supplies, and, arguably, time, you will likely spend more money over your lifetime brewing than you would buying it ready made. Or, if not, the savings will likely not be worth the effort, if the sole purpose was to save money. You have to love the hobby, which you appear to do.

 

This is an interesting proposition, but not one I think I will try. While most of my home-consumed beer is my own homebrew, I only have (at most) 4 different beers on tap. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something quite different. Plus, I like trying commercial beers that I may not have previously had. And as others have mentioned, sometimes I'm inspired by a commercial beer to try something on the homebrewing front.

It would be interesting to estimate whether I've saved any money compared to buying beer similar to those that I have brewed, but as I don't really care about that, I don't imagine that I ever will. For me, homebrewing is mostly about creating something as good or better than the average commercial swill.

 

I'd be afraid to drink only homebrew. Occasional exposure to good craft beer is essential for maintaining the quality of your brew. Otherwise, you might gradually get used to, e.g. DMS or diacetyl in your beers and cease to notice the flaw. The pros do this too. Most good professional brewers drink a ton of other peoples' beer, and not just because it tastes good.

At home, it's 75-90% homebrew depending on the season but we dine out at good beer spots 2-3 times a month... and I love it when my wife orders something and then tells me 'yours is better'. All the more enjoyable because she doesn't hesitate to tell me when one of my beers did not meet her expectations.

 

I guess the winkie wasn't. I paid more attention to what you wrote.

I agree with you that for certain styles of beer it may be cheaper to just buy it, and having just a cost savings as a motive won't let you break even.

You stated, " Your hobby will likely be more expensive overall than buying commercial" Mike, there is no way I will likely spend more money over my lifetime brewing compared to buying what I like. I drink Belgian high end beers. I brew Belgian high end beers. In my last post I mentioned that I would have to spend 500 a month for what I want, its more like 750 after I pulled out the calculator. If I was rich, I would still brew, spend a ton on equipment and strive for the best Belgian triple I could produce. While I'm poor, my motive is to get the beer I love for the cheapest price. I do love what I'm doing, because I'm getting what I want for a very low price.

To recap, I do consider all the cost involved in making my beer. Grain, yeast, sugar, hops propane etc., etc. I don't care about the time issue, a little effort pays big for me. Every month I drink $750 worth of beer for about $100.

 

I drink lots of other people's homebrews, both at competitions and at brew club meetings. The comments are never sugar coated. We actively solicit serious critiques - that's part of the reason we share beer at the meetings. I think I'm safe on that front.