Is home brewing economical?

errlloyd

Right, if anything I say sounds disrespectful to the art of home brewing, forgive me. I have the highest respect for this skill, that may not come across.

I am a student, part of me wants to learn something cool, another part of me wants to save some cash.

So, is home brewing economical? Like once you get good, how much does a pint or so cost?

It seems Ibrew would get you down to around 75c a pint, I could just buy cans on bulk and beat that, but cans taste awful. Would an inexperienced brewer be able to make beer taste better then cans?

I assume however that Ibrew is one of the more expensive ways to homebrew? Does http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie sell gear that someone with almost no knowledge or beer be able to brew with?

FUD MAN

read the reviews on the coopers micro homebrewing starter kit. everything you need to brew is contained in the kit. it'll set you back about 80 euro but afterwards the ingredients i.e can of concentrate, priming sugar drops yeast etc works out at around 20 euro. i get 45 pints from mine. the bottles come with the kit, 45 of them and a detailed instruction manual and dvd. great for starting and yes it is economical. go easy on it at the start, it can be quite strong!

rubadub

It used to be far more economical, that is why I originally started about 18 years ago. What many younger people do not realise is 18 years ago the cheapest cans in an offie were usually £1, which is €1.27, so the price has actually gone down, you never would have seen a bottle of heineken for under £1 (€1.27) and I have got them for half that price now with all the deals. Even older people chose to ignore or do not realise this fact and just say the pubs are ripping them off, as they compare the price to off licence prices.

A full kit of equipment is not really necessary. I got fermenters that were veg oil containers from eddie rockets and one empty dishwasher liquid one from a restaurant. Many other items are not essential or you can use cheaper alternatives, like thin bleach rather than expensive sterilising powders. I only really used my hydrometer because I had it, when it broke I got by just fine without it.

You can make a decent brew, too many beginners wanting to get a cheap bit of alcohol dump in extra sugar when they hear it ups the %, and then they end up with muck.

Saruman

It is very economical once the initial investment has been made. It does not take long to make your money back.
The beer I make is far superior to almost anything you get in the average off license and it requires getting much more expensive craft beer to compare quality and taste and when you do that, you find the homebrew is cheaper.

That said, I still spend a lot of money on craft beer rather than just drinking my own homebrew. Apart from wanting to support the industry, I just cant brew enough to give me choice and I like trying new beers too.

evolving_doors

Allow yourself €100 initial outlay,,, then €20 for every subsequent brew of 20L


Oh just a point to consider.. a friend of mine was all geared up to do it but realised he couldn't find anywhere convenient to brew that was the right temperature (you need somewhere that stays a constant enough temp between 17-22 degrees for a couple of months)..

Saruman

When you brew all grain like me, it does not cost anywhere near €20 per brew. Probably closer to half that for a 25L batch.

All grain being the same method commercial brewers use, so raw ingredients. There is a higher once off equipment cost but it is cheap enough. It does however take up to 8 hours on brewday as opposed to 1 hour for a kit beer.