It’s really pretty high-tech stuff. The major brewers basically created a lot of modern world as a by-product of developing the science and technology they needed to create the product they make.
[quote=“fullhousebrew”]I am kind of happy just having 3-4 budweisers that i don’t have to ‘think about’ so to speak.[/quote]I usually have at least a 6-pack of inexpensive lager in the beer fridge (buy it when it’s on sale, not like it will ever go bad) because I don’t like lager enough to brew it in quantity. Current selection is “Goldmine” which Whole Foods is selling for $4 a sixer - it tastes kind of like a Pilsner with not quite enough hops to balance out the malt, but for the price it’s not bad at all.
Yeah just make a cream ale pretty close to a lager
I would bet that most of us started out drinking BMC.
Then we found other beer that tasted better.
Information I don’t need to know. 
I can’t drink Budweiser. I get headaches WHILE I’m drinking it, and the “Bud Mud” the day after. So I’m not TRYING to be snobby, it’s just no fun all-around. I swore off beer for a long time because of Bud. Better craft beers usually do not have this effect; home brews never have. I presume there is some adjunct that I’m allergic to, or just not tolerant of, but I haven’t tracked it down yet.
Brewing these days is similar to the hobby of reloading ammunition.
You can do it cheaper than a craft brewer, but not BMC as others have noted.
By my opening statement I wager most of the brewers here would say the more equipment they get to make their life easier the more they brew, the more they brew the more things they buy in ingredients and the like. I can load up some specialty ammunition for hunting or just plinking (Think your sipping beers to your session beers for comparison) a bit cheaper than the big guys for cost but that does not include my time and equipment invested.
Beer is proving to be much the same.
That is not to say I can not make good beer or hopefully soon great beer for a reasonable cost but to say it saves me money with a few hundred in equipment alone invested let alone time (Brew sessions are 4 hours minimum for the brew session, then comes bottling… (That does not take me too long, kegging can be quicker from what it appears but that again is more equipment invested…)
The long story of this short since I Started in october?
Ignoring the equipment out lay I can purchase the materials either though extract, partial mash or all grain and sometimes turn out a cheaper beer than a sixer or case of a craft brew. Not a BMC typically. Again, Extract kits will be more expensive than partial grain or all grain. You can turn out some really great beer though for between 15 and 40 dollars for extract kits sometimes for about 5 bucks a six pack for some very basic stuff.
Brewing beer has been much like reloading for me, you learn a lot more about the hobby and how things operate and work. Its a learning curve that never ends and you can take the hobby as far as you choose to. Brewing just to save money is not going to generally work out if you want copies of Bud, or Miller/Coors.
After the initial investment, I’d say it comes in at around 73 cents a bottle not counting the gas to cook. Of course, I rarely need refrigeration other than a few days of cold crashing, which I don’t always do. Even the bud lights of the world are close to a dollar a bottle nowadays. I’d say yes, you can.
When I bottled my first batch I did the math INCLUDING the price of equipment to figure out price per bottle. It was a while ago but the number I seem to remember was $9.53/bottle! Then again, I didn’t get into this hobby to save money, and that number obviously drops with every new batch I brew.
I now have a decent hop inventory & a small collection of harvested yeast so I can get the remaining ingredients I need to brew an extract/partial mash recipe for at or under $30.
Hoo-wee! What all did you have in your starting kit?
[quote=“GeerBoggles”]When I bottled my first batch I did the math INCLUDING the price of equipment to figure out price per bottle. It was a while ago but the number I seem to remember was $9.53/bottle! Then again, I didn’t get into this hobby to save money, and that number obviously drops with every new batch I brew.
I now have a decent hop inventory & a small collection of harvested yeast so I can get the remaining ingredients I need to brew an extract/partial mash recipe for at or under $30.[/quote]
Your starter kit was around $400?
Also, it’d be kind of silly to include all of that in your per bottle price for your very first batch. It’d be fair to include into all of your batches combined to come to a per bottle price. Of course, that will always be changing.
[quote=“Hoppenheimer”]Lazy Homebrewing - Making Beer As Cheap & Easy As Possible - Home Brewing Blog Forgot about this. Figured it was relevant.[/quote]Do the same thing, but mash in a bag instead of using extract, and it’ll be even cheaper. I would question his statement that Home Depot buckets are food grade, though.
[quote=“dustinwwww”][quote=“GeerBoggles”]
Your starter kit was around $400?
Also, it’d be kind of silly to include all of that in your per bottle price for your very first batch. It’d be fair to include into all of your batches combined to come to a per bottle price. Of course, that will always be changing.[/quote][/quote]
I pieced the whole thing together: propane burner & tanks, brew kettle (in which all of the fittings, ball valve, etc…were separate), 6.5 gal glass carboy (I was given two 5 gallon glass carboys as well = free), giant SS mash paddle, plastic spoon, +/-30’ tubing, bottling wand & racking cane, digital scale, two cases of bottles, 300 bottle caps, bottle capper, whirlfloc, gypsum, carboy brush, hydrometer, floating thermometer, necessary hardware to build a counter flow wort chiller…and I am sure there is more I can’t think of right now. I know I purchased probably way more than I needed to “get started”, but I went all in.
And I made that comment kind of tongue in cheek and if you take all of that stuff out I probably spend $30-$40 a batch so less than $1 a beer. IMO though it is a little silly to brew for economical reasons. I brew because it is fun and I have a love of craft beer. I just remember how absurd I though it was to have $55 six packs!
[quote=“GeerBoggles”][quote=“dustinwwww”][quote=“GeerBoggles”]
Your starter kit was around $400?
Also, it’d be kind of silly to include all of that in your per bottle price for your very first batch. It’d be fair to include into all of your batches combined to come to a per bottle price. Of course, that will always be changing.[/quote][/quote]
I pieced the whole thing together: propane burner & tanks, brew kettle (in which all of the fittings, ball valve, etc…were separate), 6.5 gal glass carboy (I was given two 5 gallon glass carboys as well = free), giant SS mash paddle, plastic spoon, +/-30’ tubing, bottling wand & racking cane, digital scale, two cases of bottles, 300 bottle caps, bottle capper, whirlfloc, gypsum, carboy brush, hydrometer, floating thermometer, necessary hardware to build a counter flow wort chiller…and I am sure there is more I can’t think of right now. I know I purchased probably way more than I needed to “get started”, but I went all in.
And I made that comment kind of tongue in cheek and if you take all of that stuff out I probably spend $30-$40 a batch so less than $1 a beer. IMO though it is a little silly to brew for economical reasons. I brew because it is fun and I have a love of craft beer. I just remember how absurd I though it was to have $55 six packs![/quote]
I don’t think anyone (well hardly anyone) does it for the price savings of home brewing, but it’s just a perk I like to throw out there when talking to people about it. “Good beer for cheaper than Bud Light.”
[quote=“Hoppenheimer”]Lazy Homebrewing - Making Beer As Cheap & Easy As Possible - Home Brewing Blog
Forgot about this. Figured it was relevant.[/quote]I liked this gem from that article:[quote]Before you leave the store, get some yeast. One or two of those dry packets will be fine. The clerk will probably scoff at you for getting these, but screw that guy; you don’t need to impress him. If he says anything just insult his beard (I assure you, he’ll have a beard) and walk out head held high.[/quote]
It’s a hobby, “money saved” is only used to justify it to SWMBO. 
[quote=“Glug Master”][quote=“Hoppenheimer”]Lazy Homebrewing - Making Beer As Cheap & Easy As Possible - Home Brewing Blog
Forgot about this. Figured it was relevant.[/quote]I liked this gem from that article:[quote]Before you leave the store, get some yeast. One or two of those dry packets will be fine. The clerk will probably scoff at you for getting these, but screw that guy; you don’t need to impress him. If he says anything just insult his beard (I assure you, he’ll have a beard) and walk out head held high.[/quote][/quote]
Funny to see that assumption in there. At my LHBS (aka our esteemed host) odds are the clerk doesn’t have a beard and couldn’t grow one even if she wanted to.
[quote=“bunderbunder”][quote=“Glug Master”][quote=“Hoppenheimer”]Lazy Homebrewing - Making Beer As Cheap & Easy As Possible - Home Brewing Blog
Forgot about this. Figured it was relevant.[/quote]I liked this gem from that article:[quote]Before you leave the store, get some yeast. One or two of those dry packets will be fine. The clerk will probably scoff at you for getting these, but screw that guy; you don’t need to impress him. If he says anything just insult his beard (I assure you, he’ll have a beard) and walk out head held high.[/quote][/quote]
Funny to see that assumption in there. At my LHBS (aka our esteemed host) odds are the clerk doesn’t have a beard and couldn’t grow one even if she wanted to.[/quote]
At my LHBS, which is a home brew supply & “home garden” store, all 3 people that work there on the regular have huge hippy beards and always reek of, well…not hops. 
Finally! Someone said it! And the only one! I think this is where your problem is going to be. Light Lagers are so light that if you’re not meticulous with your techniques it will result in glaring flaws… make some bad batches and those cost raise exponentially. In addition, if you like bud/miller/coors you are going to be turned off rather quick with a bad batch.
I usually make a a light lager once per year as I do find them challenging and great for a sessionable beer. But, after all the time, gas, ingredients, fermenter space, energy to ferm cool, energy to lager, lagering time, keg space, CO2… there is a reason why those beers are “cheap” and out the door within weeks/months.
