I pay $15 for a fill, my less efficient burner looks to get about five-sessions still works out to $3
Instead of harvesting (washing) yeast I found an easy way to keep yeast going, which is to make a larger starter and save a portion. No mess, no extra cleaning, no extra time.
There should also be a greatly reduced chance for mutations and such I’d think as well.
Also brew lower gravity brews.
Bulk purchases is the way to go with hops and especially with grain. Once you buy grain by the sack, you can almost consider it a minor factor for brewing costs. Same goes for yeast if you harvest it from batch to batch.
I find propane to be one of the biggest cost item per batch. Fuel costs a lot more over here than in the states (actually, everything does except the grain), but I’ll use about 4-5 Euros of propane for a batch of beer. Yeast costs more if I’m not harvesting some from a past batch, and hops can cost more if I’m brewing something that needs a lot, but I rarely do that.
[quote=“Brew Cat”]Thanks for the input. I’ve been checking bulk prices and found some good deals. Ive gotten it to around $3 per six pack. thats a 12lb all grain.
This is becoming a mental exercise for me but has anyone calculated out the cost of the propane? I’m figuring about 5 sessions out of a barbecue sized tank.[/quote]
Work on your efficiency. An average 1.050 5-gallon batch takes me 8# of grain, which is a $4 savings over your 12#.
Small batches, ~3.5 gallons or less (depending on your stove), can be brewed on a kitchen stove, which will cost pennies in electricity or gas instead of dollars of propane per batch. Also, the batch will be cheaper, which won’t save you cost/gallon, but will save you on cost per brew session and let you brew more, different beers.
[quote=“brewingdan”]Also brew lower gravity brews.[/quote]Great suggestion. I make Ordinary Bitters and Milds for about $7-8 of ingredients per 5 gallons. Also, malty beers are cheaper than hoppy beers.
I agree, I have to work on my efficiancy so I can use less grain. Growing hops its quite easy if you have a little space they grow verticaly so you don’t need that much room. I don’t have a mill so I’m thinking of ways to get one cheaply. I have to network and see if I can borrow or buy a share in one.
[quote=“Brew Cat”] I don’t have a mill so I’m thinking of ways to get one cheaply. I have to network and see if I can borrow or buy a share in one.[/quote]That’s a good idea. I let a couple guys use mine once in awhile, they usually leave me a couple beers.
That said, you can get the Cereal Killer mill for $99
shipped, it’ll pay for itself with just a few bags.
I was looking at that cereal killer. I need to make a chiller and a bigger mash tun and then that will be next. I can get my grain $1.60 lb milled at my local store. So if I get 8lbs of that from my bulk buy at $1/lb I only pay $1.60 for three or four pounds of specialty grains. That should save $5 a session I can pay for the mill in 20 sessions.
