Beer is not expensive if you can stay at one, but after one comes another. This may be fortunate for some and unfortunate for others, but everyone wants to save money in the end. Homebrewing beer is a great option for those who are willing to do some extra work for better beer and lesser pressure on their wallet.
Is it cheaper to actually brew your own beer than to buy them commercially?
With homebrewing, you can make a pint (473 mL) of beer for $0.5, while an average pint of commercial beer costs $4 across the USA and £4.07 in the UK. However, the cost of initial investment for brewing equipment will pay off only after a couple of batches. Although you will save money in the long term, beer freshness, quality and ability to match your preferences are what makes homebrewing worth it.
The price difference is nice, but once you get through it, you’ll be making better tasting and fresher beer than any commercial beer you ever tried.
Homebrewing can easily become your passion, and if it does, you’ll enjoy the finest beer for the rest of your life.
How much does it cost to homebrew beer?
To brew your own beer, you’ll need starting equipment, ingredients, heat, some old fashion physical labor and a guide for homebrewers.
I’ll try to make it clear for you, so you can visualize how much it costs to brew a beer at home. Bear in mind that lots of stuff is optional, and you can get it along the way.
The cost of equipment
The following equipment will last you for a long time, so once you purchase it it will pay itself off after a couple of batches.
| Equipment | Price |
|---|---|
| 6.5 gal fermenter with airlock | $45 |
| Siphon | $16 |
| Bottle capper | $24 |
| Thermometer | $10-19 |
| Brush for bottle cleaning (optional) | $8 |
| Hydrometer with test jar for gravity readings (optional) | $12 |
| Bottles (16 oz or 500ml), You’ll need between 30-60 | Around $1 per bottle |
| A bowl (Everyone got one in a kitchen, size is optional) | / |
| A chiller (Super optional) | $80+ |
You’ll need around $110 if you want the complete list+ $30-60 for bottles and I am not counting a chiller. However, some things are optional and you don’t need them at the beginning.
I started with just a fermenter, airlock, and a bottle capper, and later I bought the rest. You can also pay half of the price for a fermenter of 2.5 gallons, but it’s better to get a bigger one. You’ll have more options in the future and once you buy it, you won’t replace it.
I also didn’t buy a siphon and instead used a simple pipe that gets inserted in a bottle. However, you’ll need a fermenter model with a spigot for this. Eventually, the price ends up being similar in either way.
Bottles are reusable, so if you can get them back and clean them, you won’t need to buy them ever again. Moreover, it is possible to use bottles of commercial beer, just make sure they are clean and store them in a clean place.
You can save money on bottles entirely if you have old clean bottles in storage or you can ask friends to give you some.
Now, you already have a bowl in the kitchen and the chances are that you have those bigger ones as well. If you don’t have a 5-gallon bowl, you will sooner or later need one if you want to brew with a all-grain method in larger quantities.
If you don’t have a big bowl, you can still brew smaller batches or you can simply use beer extract kits. With these kits, you won’t have to use a bowl because you’ll directly pour water with an extract in the fermenter, stir it, let it cool, and then pitch yeast.
Additionally, there are consumables like sanitizer and caps, and you’ll need to get more of them with time.
| Equipment | Price |
|---|---|
| Star San sanitizer (100+ uses or more than 50 batches of beer ) | $23 |
| Caps (150 pieces) | $7 |
The cost of ingredients
When it comes to ingredients, you have two options. You can brew with a all-grain method and will need malts, hops, and yeast or you can use beer extract. You can read more about the difference between these methods in all-grain vs brewing with kits/extracts guide.
Beer extract is premade beer concentrate that contains malts and hops and all you need to do is to mix it with water, sweetener (corn sugar ideally), and pitch yeast. This halves the entire process of brewing and is ideal for beginners.
| Ingredients for 5 gallons of beer | Price |
|---|---|
| Malts (grains) | $10 |
| Hops | $5 |
| Yeast | $5 |
| Beer extract kit + corn sugar | $32 |
As you can see, you’ll pay on average $20 for 5 gallons of all-grain beer and $32 for beer brewed with an extract.
All-grain brewing is harder but cheaper, and brewing with extract is simpler but at an additional cost.
Are beer extracts worth it? Yes, they are a good option for beginners, but eventually, you’ll want to try out the all-grain method.
Electricity, gas, water consumption and labor
You’ll need to boil the water for the wort, so you can expect 15 minutes of boiling for brewing with extracts and 1.30+ hours for brewing with the all-grain method.
During the all-grain method, the average of receipts will require an hour of boiling at 212°F (100°C) and 30-45 minutes of medium heat 152.6°F (67°C).
At the moment I am writing this, the gas prices are up, so electricity is a better option.
Water consumption is a bigger problem, so if you can find another purpose for the cooling water, it would be great.
You need to chill the wort before pitching yeast, so to bring it under 73.4°F (23°C) it can take some time. If it’s winter, you can leave it outside or in a garage and it will cool within 8 hours. Similar can be said for instances when you have a fridge or some similar method, however, if you don’t, then you might wait a long time or use cold water to hasten the process.
If you use ice, and cold water, you can cover the fermenter with it and cool it that way, but it will take multiple cycles of water.
Water easily becomes warm after every 20-30 minutes even with lots of ice, so you’ll either need at least 20 pounds (10kg) of ice and cycle the cold water a couple of times or get a chiller.
A chiller is an instrument that can quickly cool your wort in a matter of no more than 30 minutes. However, this is an additional expense as they can cost over $80 and will still need a water connection.
Either way, you’ll end up with gallons of wasted water, so it would be better to use it for washing purposes or watering the garden.
Other reasons why you should try homebrewing
I have created a list of reasons that explain why homebrewing is awesome and why you should start making your own beer, but here are a few most important reasons listed in short.
Beer is simply better
Commercial beers are brewed for large masses and they often sacrifice quality because it simply works, so why would they drop a profit by risking anything.
Moreover, their beer got to be accepted by the masses and once they find the formula, they rarely change anything about the product.
After all, why would they? Their beer sells like crazy and people are aware of the brand. As they say, if it works, do not change it.
However, people do not always drink those beers because of the taste, but rather because of the brand. When you get bombarded with commercials when your friends drink it and when pubs and stores offer only the ones they get the most margin out of, the things start getting clear.
So, popular does not mean better.
Not to mention those big breweries usually save money on ingredients and make watery beer that’s not rich in taste nor in nutrients.
There are also differences in how the beer is being made, so they need to chemically force some processes starting from fermentation and Co2 surging. Additionally, the beer must be sold ASAP, so they rush it and sacrifice quality for quantity in all processes.
Small breweries pay special attention to the beer and as a result, you have a great beer that also picks a specific niche of people. This allows each brewery to satisfy the needs of their targeted audience and it works. They do not want to be mainstream and the community they have built has strong relationships with the brewery.
When you brew at home, you can get identical or better results than even the best beer artisans can offer. You choose what you like and make your own beer according to your preference. We are all different and have different tastes.
Who would think that you could have a better beer for a lesser price? Well, this comes at the cost of extra hustle but as you will see it’s nothing to be afraid of.
You know what you drink
Most commercial beers are by no means similar to craft beers, especially not to those made at home or at microbreweries.
When you brew your beer you have that extra control that matters. Simply, you know that the entire process is legit and the final product has no secrets in it.
Malts, hops, sugars, water, and special ingredients like herbs or honey are natural and when they go through the fermentation process you also know the beer you bottle got there without any additives or filtering.
It’s healthier for you
It’s not only about the price, a homebrewed beer has huge health benefits. When you homebrew you have an option to brew with desired ingredients like grains and hops, and this also includes herbs, spices, and honey.
For instance, B vitamin is one of the most important vitamins in our diet for our brain functions, and it’s found in grains the beer is made of.
Commercial beers do not focus on this, so sometimes in the process of filtration, they may get rid of healthy stuff.