Homebrewing Will Not Save You Money…

The Satisfying Rhythm of Yeast Blowoff

The Satisfying Rhythm of Yeast Blowoff

…and that’s okay. Seriously. It is kind of mind boggling the number of times I’ve heard people claim that homebrewing will save you money. I feel like these people are somehow missing the point of the hobby and taking a simplistic look at the actual costs of brewing. It’s one thing to advocate for the hobby (which is why I write this blog), but you need to present realistic expectations for new brewers. If trying to save money is why you’re homebrewing, get out now. There are plenty of other (and better) reasons to homebrew.

Case Study in Brewing Costs

Let’s look at the basic economics of making a 5-gallon extract batch of beer of average gravity and hop levels on the simplest (cheapest, lowest quality) system out there that does not include kegging, temperature control, liquid yeasts and starters, wort cooling devices, and assumes you are using recycled bottles for packaging. I am using an extract beer for the model because typical statements about the cost of homebrewing are targeting new brewers who will likely start with extracts.

The following will make 5 gallons of 1.054 beer at 50 or so IBUs that should ferment out to 5.3% ABV. Let’s call it a simple American Pale Ale (not unlike Sierra Nevada Pale Ale). Prices are quoted from Northern Brewer (one of the cheapest shops around) and do not include tax or shipping. This model makes a lot of assumptions, one of which is that you care about the quality of the beer you’re going to make. You could easily throw table sugar, water, and bread yeast together to make alcohol, which would get you drunk. It also assumes that you want craft beer. You won’t be able to brew a Miller Lite clone cheaper than you can buy it in the store. This recipe would produce something comparable to a lot of craft beers out there, especially if care is taken along the way.

Ingredients:

  • 5 lbs dried extract – $19.99
  • 1 lb steeping grains – $1.75
  • 1 oz high alpha bittering hops – $1.99
  • 2 oz aroma hops – $3.98
  • 1 pack dry yeast – $3.29 (Safeale US-05)

Related Consumables:

  • Energy – $2
  • Water – $1
  • Sanitizer – $2
  • Cleaners – $2
  • Caps – $1
  • Mesh Bag – $0.50

Equipment:

  • Basic Starter Kit including a fermenter – $79.99
  • 5 Gallon Pot – $34.99

Equipment is the hardest cost to quantify due to the mind-boggling options out there and the time period which the costs should be spread over. Because of this, it is often altogether overlooked. What I’ve specified above is the most basic kit you can get. You’ll likely add (a lot) more stuff to this to increase the quality of the beer and decrease the amount of labor involved. For the sake of simplicity we won’t account for this. We’ll divide the equipment cost over 12 batches because you’ll likely either quit the hobby or move on to more advanced brewing requiring more advanced equipment by the time you do 12 or so extract batches. This leads to an equipment cost of $9.58 per batch.

Totals Costs:

  • Ingredients: $31
  • Consumables: $8.50
  • Equipment: $9.58

Total: $49.08

Most brewers yield about 48 – 12oz bottles of beer from a 5-gallon batch. The loss in volume is due to racking, spillage, trub loss, hop absorption, etc. That is a per bottle cost of $1.02 if you’re really pinching pennies and being careful along the way.

A 12-pack of Sierra Nevada (one of the cheapest and best American Pale Ales out there) will run most people in most areas about $11.99 or about $1 per bottle.

If you are trying to clone Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, your homebrew will cost about 2 cents more per bottle than buying the genuine product at the store. This doesn’t take into account the fact that your time is worth something (an extract batch will take 4-6 hours of your time when you take into account packaging) or the fact that you’ll likely want to use liquid yeast and make upgrades over the simplest setup out there.

If I’m hell bent on saving money, how can I?

  • Move to all-grain brewing and buy in bulk. Raw grain is much cheaper than extract.
  • Make sure your all-grain setup is very basic. Try brew-in-a-bag methods. Think hard about each upgrade and decide if it is worth the added cost.
  • Buy your hops in bulk.
  • Harvest and re-use your yeast.
  • Lower your expectations. Brewing great beer requires techniques to appropriately produce and pitch the proper amount of yeast as well as precision in controlling your fermentation temperatures. These both cost money and are not something I would recommend skimping on if you’re trying to brew the best beer you can.

Even doing all of the above, you’re still going to have a tough time making it pencil out when you take into account equipment costs (as well as the desire to brew the best beer possible) and not simply something that will give you a buzz.

At the end of the day, brewing your own beer is awesome. You can create amazing beers that mimic those commercially available or let your imagination run wild and dream up your own creations. I brew for the pure satisfaction of crafting something delicious with my own two hands. Brew for these reasons not because you’re trying to save money.

Are you a brewer saving money making your own beer? I’d love to hear your comments below! Please tell us what you’re doing to make beer cheaper than what can be purchased commercially.

Dark Horse Brewing Co. Crooked Tree IPA Review

Crooked Tree IPA by Dark Horse Brewing Co.

Crooked Tree IPA

In spite of my limited tenure in New York, I can already tell it is an exciting time to be a beer lover in the city. It seems like each new day brings news of yet another brewery distributing to the state. It is hard to keep up, but my liver is trying its best. When I saw that Bierkraft had tapped several kegs of Dark Horse beers, I hustled on over for a reasonably priced growler fill. Dark Horse has gained some following outside of Marshall, Michigan and I am excited to try the beers they send my way.

Beer Data:

Purchased: 9/17/12 at Bierkraft – 64 oz. Growler $11.95
Availability: Year-round (according to Dark Horse Brewing’s website)
Alcohol: 6% ABV

Commercial Description from Website:

Inspired by West Coast I.P.A.’s, but brewed with Michigan style. The Crooked Tree is heavily dry hopped to give it a big aroma of pine and citrus. The flavors are big, yet very balanced between fresh hops and malt. Often described as “grapefruit” our hops give this beer an excellent fruit flavor that finishes dry, crisp, and clean. It will pour a nice deep copper color with a bit of haziness. Because of our almost patented “Intense Transfer Methods” our Crooked Tree has won several medals in the India Pale Ale category.

Tasting Notes:

Aroma: This beer eschews the brash tropical and over-the-top hop aromas of trendy (and proprietary) hop varietals like Citra, Simcoe, Amarillo, and their New Zealand brethren.  Instead, what is immediately apparent are the classic aromas of grapefruit with a hint of an herbaceous note, reminiscent of classic hops like Cascade and Centennial. Aside from the hops, there are fairly strong malt aromas of toasty biscuits and crackers. The aroma is very nice, but perhaps a little understated by measure of other American IPAs. As the sample warms, a touch of alcohol presents itself.  8 / 12

Appearance: This is not a pretty beer. Out of the growler came a muddy copper devoid of any exciting highlights. The beer easily produced a nearly white meringue-like head that unfortunately dissipated rather quickly (perhaps because the carbonation was low from the growler fill). The foam is quite sticky, likely due to the large amount of hops used. 1 / 3

Flavor: Lots of grapefruit are the initial impression; however, this is followed by a very large malt flavor. The malt is less in the range of sweet caramel and toffee and more in the spectrum of heavily toasted malt. I get the impression that there is a firm Munich or Vienna malt presence with perhaps some biscuit like malts (Victory, Special Roast, Biscuit, etc.). The malt is more reminiscent of an English IPA and provides an interesting, but stylistically incorrect, counterpoint to the classic American hop profile.  The hops finish with a slight grassiness, likely from the dry hop. 13 / 20

Mouth Feel: This beer presents with a medium / medium-low level of carbonation likely the side-effect of the growler fill. This lends to an appealing almost cask like mouth-feel.  There is a firm bitterness that balances any residual sweetness and finishes with a touch of grassy astringency. Quite quaffable for an IPA. 3 / 5

Overall Impression: I very much enjoyed the balance of this beer. Unfortunately, to me the hallmark of the American IPA category is an assertiveness that celebrates huge in-your-face hop flavors at the cost of balance. This is America, dammit, and more is not always less when it comes to the IPA category. The beer is obviously well-crafted with no technological faults. It is a great drinker that one could easily empty a growler of (I did), but I doubt it would win many competitions as an American IPA. 6 / 10

Score: 31 / 50 (Very Good)

Note: Evaluation done according to BJCP Scoring System. This beer was reviewed as a Category 14b. American IPA.

Ramen! (Pork Based)

Ramen

Scratch Made Ramen

Ramen is a (really) big deal in Japan. The packages of dried noodles and seasoning familiar to most Americans is a staple in college dorm rooms and something I’ll occasionally eat for a quick lunch, but can’t hold a flame to ramen featuring lovingly prepared broth, springy alkaline noodles, and fresh toppings. Both iterations may share a similar heritage, but the differences between the two are night and day.

A few weeks ago I had a delicious bowl of ramen from Ganso in Brooklyn. I hadn’t had good ramen in quite awhile and it inspired me to make my own. I did some research and came up with a plan to execute a delicious bowl of ramen.

The soup base is a modified version of David Chang’s ramen broth from Momofuku Noodle Bar. My version is simila–combining kombu (dried kelp), dried shiitake mushrooms, roasted pork neck bones, and aromatic vegetables (shallot, green onion), while omitting the chicken that Chang uses. The cooking process is staged over a long period and best prepared a day in advance. For those looking to recreate this, you can read about the process here. After cooking, the broth is further seasoned with soy, mirin, a small amount of the pork belly braising liquid, and a splash of rice vinegar.

Nori, Braised Pork Belly, Pickled Shiitake, Ajitsuke Tamago (Marinated Soft Boiled Egg), Green Onion, and Kamaboko (Fish Cake)

Braised Pork Belly
The braised pork belly was created using this recipe. Again, this is best prepared a day in advance in order to allow the pork to marinate in its own braising liquid for a day. This results in a succulent, sweet and salty topping for your soup.

Ajitsuke Tamago (Marinated Soft Boiled Egg)
The eggs were soft boiled (time dependent on egg size and boil vigor) and then left to marinade in a 1:1 combination of soy and sake which was sweetened to taste with sugar. 3-4 hours seems to be a sweet spot to ensure the whites of the eggs are well seasoned without going over-board on saltiness.

Pickled Shiitakes
Also inspired by David Chang, the reconstituted shiitakes were pulled from the stock and then cooked in a pan with a mixture of soy, balsamic vinegar, and mirin as well as a few chunks of sliced ginger. They were then put into a container and left overnight to pickle.

All of the other toppings were bought prepared from an Asian grocery store, sliced, and then used to top the soup.

But, what about the noodles? Frankly, the noodles I used were a disappointment. I went to a well-stocked Chinese grocery store, which unfortunately had a rather disappointing selection of dried ramen noodles. Ideally, you can source fresh alkaline noodles to use in the soup. I am still working on sourcing a good manufactured noodle in NYC. I suppose I could make my own noodles. Maybe someday…

Ramen

The Final Product – Worth the Effort