Cost savings are a big reason that many get into homebrewing. The allure of saving money on beer by brewing it yourself is appealing, although the hobby often comes with hidden costs that can be avoided with a bit of forethought and research. The two main sources of dollars spent are equipment and ingredients, so let’s take a look at each of these in depth.
Be smart about equipment costs
If you are just starting out and plan on being in the hobby for a while then you can make some strategic decisions to decrease your brewhouse overhead. Often homebrewers buy a set of initial brewing gear which ends up sitting in a closet unused after they upgrade to bigger/better gear. Here are four tips to make smart purchases from the start:
Go electric
Many brewers are switching to all-in-one electric systems to save costs on fuel (propane vs electric). Propane tanks can run $20-40 a pop and last 3-5 brews depending on boil length. This is also assuming you have one already. If not then it’s another $50-70 for the deposit to just get the tank. The only drawback with 120v electric is the time it takes to bring 5gal to a boil. If you brew smaller batches or have access to a 220v outlet then it’s a no brainer.
Cheapest option: Simple electric kettle and brew bag
- Digiboil - $200
- Simple Brew Bag - $7
This will get you a basic BIAB setup to mash and boil. A traditional kettle and propane burner can be slightly cheaper but you will recoup your costs after a few batches in saved propane costs.
Join a homebrew club
Homebrew club dues are generally low ($50 /year) and will get you access to a group of brewers that have lots of extra/unused equipment. I’ve gotten many items for free or at a greatly reduced cost, including a 8 cu ft. chest freezer, used corny kegs and hundreds of cleaned bottles. If you are fast at replying to email threads, this can easily be worth the cost of the club, with the added benefit of having a group of like-minded people to share beer with. Some clubs even offer discounts at local homebrew shops which can bring down costs on those last-minute trips to the store on brew day.
Check Craigslist
Look for people exiting the hobby looking to offload their gear. Show up and make a solid offer and often they usually throw in extras for free. This is a great way to get big ticket items like kegging gear or fermentors.
Set up a brewing wishlist
There are a lot of small pieces of equipment that can quickly add up. Airlocks, hydrometers, ph meters, scales, stir plates. The list is endless. One great way to get those non-essential toys is to make a list (I use Amazon lists) and share it with your family and friends for birthdays and holidays. You can finally get that Tilt Hydrometer you’ve been wanting for so long. Many people are not good at coming up with creative gift ideas and this approach is an easy way for them to know the gift will be appreciated. Over time you will have all the gadgets you need to scratch that tech itch.
Save on ingredients by planning ahead
The economies of scale apply to homebrewers too. Once you understand that all brewing ingredients are cheapest at the pro-brewer scale, then you can tap into the savings. The base units are 55lb sacks of grain, pounds of hops, and big pitches of reused house yeast. If you can plan ahead enough for several recipes then you can leverage these scales and save money both on unit costs and shipping if buying online. Here’s how to do it:
- Import your recipes into an online tool like Brewfather or Brewer’s Friend.
- Go to brewshopper.com/tools and sync your recipes
- Select the recipes that you want to shop for and create a shopping list
- Compare to inventory and the products at a retailer near you
Savings on grain can be significant but requires extra planning to fully realize. If you are used to buying online, shipping costs can quickly eat away the margin here so try to find a way to get it locally. Try asking at a local homebrew shop, organizing a group buy through a homebrew club or seeing if a brewery will sell you grain at cost. If local isn’t possible, try shopping around on different online suppliers and look for promotions, deals or reduced shipping.
Hops are comparably easier to buy/ship and can be kept in the freezer basically forever. The key is to not go wild on buying every new shiny hop that catches your eye. Instead try to be thoughtful based on the beers you like and buy a few essentials to have on hand. Think Cascade, Citra, Magnum, Saaz, etc. Keep an eye out for sales on these throughout the year but especially after the new crop year arrives early in January.
Yeast can easily be reproduced and saved in the freezer for future use. One easy way to do this is to use a bit of extra wort from your brew as a starter and then add in a small amount of yeast. Let that ferment for a few days until completion and then portion the yeast into freezer safe starter samples: Conical test tubes with 30% mixture of water to glycerin. This method lets you store many types of yeast for future use. Finally, dry yeast is another great option if you don’t want to harvest your own.
Brew Simple Beers
To capitalize on all the tips above and to further save money, the final tip is to have simple recipes and consistently brew the same beers. Brewing a triple IPA with 7 hop varieties is a fun challenge but it will be much more expensive than making a simple Pale Ale with two malts and one hop. If you are more adventurous and like to switch it up, look for styles that are expensive to buy but relatively cheap to brew. A great example is Belgian beers, some of which can run $7+ a pop at the beer store.
Track your spending
Having a budget and tracking your spending is a great practice in general, as it helps track the true costs and helps see areas where money can be saved. New brewers often underestimate the costs by only factoring in the raw ingredient costs: hops, yeast and grain. By including fuel costs (propane, electricity, CO2), shipping/taxes (if buying online), and other miscellaneous costs such as bottle labels, you get a much more accurate picture of your expenses. The best way to do this is to look through your credit card statements and online supplier receipts to find all your purchases. You can even make all brewing purchases on a specific credit card to make this easier. Then on an annual or regular basis, import your purchases into a spreadsheet and tally up all the beers you brewed. Divide all your expenses by the number of batches to get your per batch cost. You’ll be surprised at how much or little you are spending and can compare your costs to purchasing the same amount of beer at the store.
Good luck and cheers!