cheapest way to brew beer « Brew UK Forum

cheapest way to brew beer

10 months ago | stan (Member)

i've only done beer kits so far. and i understand there's more to it than economy..but i wondered if there is a cheaper way to brew? i reckon i can brew 5 gallons of beer for about 14/15 pounds. is extract brewing or all grain brewing any cheaper? or more expensive?

makin: ginger beer, elderflower champagne & kit bitter

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Responses

James-Dylan:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

I found extract brewing the more expensive but not by much..

Single can kit and 1kg of sugar/DME would be the cheapest. Premium kits I've only done one but for the extra money on the 2 tins was worth it.

Extract costs more due to the price of DME but the setup cost for kit is cheap (you can get a pan from wilkos which will do the job for the boil).

I find all grain the cheapest for me but setup costs vary depending on what kit you can get hold of (ebay, homemade etc.)

All make great beer but i guess it depends on outlay from the start and time/space available.

wildbrew:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Hi stan
all grain brewing is cheaper,if you are all set up with the right set up for all grain brewing :-)

Monk:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Extract will work out a little more expensive, but people do it because they want a better product, with purer, fresher ingredients that they can adjust and alter to style the brew.
All grain works out the cheapest ingredients wise, but you need to invest in some kit which costs money and space. And a days work all in for a brew.
It depends if you see it as a hobby, and a way of making something you would be happy for your pub landlord to sample.
Or simply want cheap booze.

Greg:

Posted 10 months ago by Admin

All grain is the cheapest, even with equipment it will work out cheaper in the long run. The only thing that makes it more expensive if the ever growing need to upgrade your equipment which pretty much rights off your saving. The beer is MUCH better though.

As Monk said, depends on what you want. If you simply want cheap booze then get a Youngs Harvest kit as it will be hard to beat for ease and cheapness but it won't be a patch on a AG pint.

Personally its about the quality of the product rather than the cost. Whatever happens it will be cheaper than the pub.

Hamish:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Yep, what Monk and Greg said, couldn't have said it better.

Planning: Wheat beer fermented with Schneider Weisse yeast, a Stout, lots of hoppy pale ales
Fermenting: Marynka pseudo-lager
Maturing/Conditioning:
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff

saracen:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

I reckon I can brew an All Grain at between £14 and £18 for 40 pints, depending on whether you add any special stuff or use the expensive hops. Don't forget the electricity isn't free, and a 3.0 kw boiler will be going for about 2.5 hours, so that's about £2.40 in lecky. It's certainly the cheapest way of brewing good quality beer, but when you look at the costs, all methods are very similar. DME seems the most expensive, but you'll save on the cost of the boil.

In the long run, however you do it, you'll get good beer, even from a single can kit if you use DME and some extra hops, at between about 35p and 55p a pint. As Greg says, there is the inevitable urge to get better and better, and the equipment upgrades aren't cheap, but as a hobby it's dirt cheap fun. With a bit of DIY you can set up your brewery for under £150 and you'll spend probably £150 a year brewing. Have you seen the price of a pair of skis, or a mountain bike lately?

If you're not living on the edge..... you're taking up too much space!!

Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!

E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com

Hamish:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

You could build a pretty good brewery for £150, HLT and a boiler.

No shopping around, just the first prices I found...

Brupaks 30 litre fermenter x2 £20.78
Drum tap £3.65
10m x 10mm soft copper pipe £16.71
2m x 15mm copper tube £8.79
4 x 15mm elbows, 3 x 15mm tees £1.80
2x 15mm tank connectors £2.18
2x 15mm ball valve £10.18
Cool box £19.81
4 x Tesco kettle £19.12
4 way switched extension £8.77
RCD circuit breaker £7.81
Washing machine hose £4.99
Hose connectors and tap fittings £9.00
Delivery and sundries £20.00

£153.59 if my maths are correct, could definitely be built for less.

And around £15 per brew.

Jim:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Yes definitely cheaper than the pub but please don't forget to support your local!
Good pubs need all the support they can get

Planning: One of the GW Mild recipes
Fermenting: GW London Pride clone
Conditioning: GW Bathams clone & elderflower champagne
Drinking: shop bought bottles

Greg:

Posted 10 months ago by Admin

Have you seen the price of a pair of skis, or a mountain bike lately?

That is a very good point Saracen, as a hobby is great value, especially considering the by product is loads of great beer.

I do try and support my local pub but at £3.5 a pint I don't go as nearly as often as I used too.

saracen:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

I do try and support my local pub but at £3.5 a pint I don't go as nearly as often as I used too.

It's a losing battle, Greg. Higher prices = fewer customers = higher prices. Quite apart from that, what do pubs offer now? My local has the same 6 people sitting at the bar, blocking the serving area, that have been there for the last 20 years, all complaining about the local bus route that was stopped 30 years ago! How many offer a good family atmosphere, cater for youngsters, provide regular entertainment, etc. The ones that make a profit offer cheap beer and an eating area. Can't really call it a restaurant, and while breweries are forced to sell to the big boys at a loss, the prices inevitably go up in their tied houses. Add to that a government hell bent on making us pay for every problem in the world whilst doing absolutely nothing to support national enterprise and it's inevitable the local pub will disappear.

There. Now I've wound myself up. I'm going for a walk with the dog.

Monk:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

I find it hard not to support my local 7 days a week. Excellent choice of ales Starting at £2.50 a pint for all Wickwar ales, but also very important hubs for social interaction and philisophical debate.
Work away a fair bit, so book myself into a pub if at all possible. Hung out in the Rising sun, Wimborne Minster this last week. Going to stay in the Fishermans Tavern, Broughty Ferry, Dundee this coming week.
All essential research.

peter:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Nice part of the world is Wickwar area Not been for ages and not tried that beer

5 gal geordie bitter
5 gal St Peters Golden Ale as per tin
Youngs Harvest Mild
all a bit moded

Hamish:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Have you seen the price of a pair of skis

Skiing has become a very expensive past time. It costs £30 to fly your skis over to europe or £80 to £120-ish to hire them and in Austria lift passes have doubled over the last 5 years, I paid about £190 for 6 days this year..

A mate of mine went skiing to Verbier in Switzerland and paid the equivalent of £10 per 330ml beer.

As hobbies go brewing your own is good value.

saracen:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

A mate of mine went skiing to Verbier in Switzerland and paid the equivalent of £10 per 330ml beer.

You can only get away with highway robbery like that if you have a captive audience.

Brewing is also a lot safer.

stan:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

found a great brewery/pub today...only 2.50 a pint of the finest ale in south leicestershire. maybe all leicestershire. wood farm brewery near willey. (they say they're from rugby but they're not. they just market it like that. )

makin: ginger beer, elderflower champagne & kit bitter

James-Dylan:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

Ooooh.. I'm from leicester. Going to google that now!

Hamish:

Posted 10 months ago by Moderator

Wood Farm Best Bitter has the most flavour for me, I thought the others were a bit samey. Great venue though isn't it.

Its right on the Leics/Warks border just on the Warwickshire side so the address could be Rugby.

It used to be called the Rugby Brewing Company.

stan:

Posted 10 months ago by Member

actually i remember cycling past a sign saying welcome to warickshire, so it would be the best beer in south lestashire if it moved a mile to the right. its actually just down the road from the mighty metropolis of lutterworth, south lestashire. but yeah, i spose if they're warickshire they might say rugby.

makin: ginger beer, elderflower champagne & kit bitter

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