I went down to my LHBS yesterday to get a sack of 2 row and price is up 20% since June :o
I’ve heard that if you’re lucky enough to live near a brewery, sometimes you can buy grain cheaper through them since they get bulk pricing. Is that really the case? I’m considering checking into this as I do have one in town.
Any ways to make the grain last longer like crushing it finer or anything? I suppose brewing less too but not quite what I’m looking for.
You can make something like a Cream Ale but you have to use adjuncts to your grain bill. It is the same every where it seems, grains, yeast, hops etc. It has all gone up. Make a stout with 20% flaked barley will help, but you still have to buy flaked barley. No way to get around it. I personally am brewing the styles I really like and just don’t brew anything for the heck of just brewing beer.
I agree prices have gone up. To stretch a bag brew session beers.
I justify this hobby like any other: I can’t justify a financial ROI on enjoyment.
Likewise, an avid golfer doesn’t think twice about paying $30-50 each weekend for greens fees. It could be R/C airplanes, or wrenching on old cars, you name it. $30-50 every three weeks for a batch of beer doesn’t seem out of the question because I enjoy brewing.
It’s a hobby. Hobbies aren’t meant to be economical.
Edit: Just to see what the cost would be, I threw together a 1.052 classic APA with 84% Pale, 9% Munich, 7% C60, 41 IBU Centennial (2 oz), and a pack of Cali yeast for $27.66+ shipping from MoreBeer. ~$3 a 6 pack.
Crush finer, sparge more, squeeze out every efficiency point and it gets cheaper than on my no sparge, course crush, inefficient system.
Hop prices aren’t up much if you’re buying the classic American hops. The trademarked varieties are a little more, but those have a glut, and won’t be increasing much until they work through the surplus. NZ and AU varieties are the trendy new hops and are expensive.
The simplest approach would be to brew smaller batches, of course. I went from 10 gallon typical batch size down to 5 or less and brew more often than I did in the distant past. If you brew for fun, then you want to brew more often, which for me means smaller batches. I can see going to 3 gallon batches as I get older - I don’t have as many guzzler friends coming over as often now as we age into near retirement. Oddly, now I celebrate a keg kicking, because it means I have an empty container to fill with new beer!
If you’re driving to your LHBS primarily to avoid the high cost of shipping sacks of base malt, just buy more than one sack at a time and avoid costly extra trips. If you want to keep the overall cost of your brewing down, I’d suggest brewing beers that use less specialty malt, lower priced hops and dry yeasts. There are plenty of good options out there. Brewing smaller batches, maltier and/or lower alcohol beers and repitching can also help keep brewing cost down.
Use 5-10% sugar
If your efficiency isn’t great, you can certainly look at ways to improve efficiency which will allow you to use less grain. Otherwise, using alternative sugar sources or other grains can lower how much two row you use but maybe not making the beers you enjoy drinking the most.
Breweries get better pricing because they buy at volume through a distributor. You’re getting retail marked up at the homebrew shop. It wouldn’t hurt to ask local breweries if they can add a bag on their order, but don’t count on a positive response. You’re asking them to do extra work for you for free and keep track of your order for no benefit to them, unless you’re a regular or connected to somebody at the brewery. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Also, I’m told breweries have to account for their grain for tax purposes.
I purchase from a local brewery often. Of course that was after forging a friendship and handing over many $5 bills for their beer!! I will assume most local craft breweries would have no problem with an occasional purchase. Like denny said above they probably have to account for the grain for tax purposes but Im not certain, besides it would be a small amount. Ill have to ask next order.
I would appreciate a follow-up on that. Next time I’m at the brew pub I’ll ask about a tour. I’ve always wanted to see how a big op works anyway. Might be a chance to strike up a convo on ingredients. I’ve always wanted to discuss our municipal water supply with someone there anyway.
This is a good reminder. There is an “entertainment budget” factor that I need to remember to factor in. I used to build up chevy and ford motors as a kid. The insane amount of money I spent on carbs, intakes and camshafts makes me nauseous to think about. It was so much fun though.
I did this years ago and may give it a try again. Is it a pretty standard practice for commercial IPAs? I kind of wonder which ones I’ve had that were brewed with sucrose additions.
If it’s saving $$$ rather than actual saving the amount of malt you are using, there are lots of (perhaps easier) ways to approach the problem like:
The club in Fort Wayne does this on a regular basis.
These days it seems to be a standard for San Diego style WCIPA. It could work for many styles, though. Even pils.
Our club does, too. But distributors hate it. They’d rather have you buy through your LHBS if you have one. Keep the shop in business.
^^^ This right here!
Yeah, that’s a good point. I’m pretty sure my LHBS stays open out of love for the craft. They need my patronage as much as I need the grain. It’s still cheaper than shipping from an online place.
im incredibly cheap, but i still haven’t truly made a beer just to make a bunch of alcohol. ie. 75% plain 2row/pils (whatever’s cheapest), $4 dry yeast, 25% white sugar 1.045 OG, 1oz of $2 high AA hops - likely ending up at a 5.5% ABV beer for ~$15 for 20 litres of beer.
if $15 for 20 litres of beer is out of your price range, idk what to say.
Yes, brew session beers, purchase in bulk or find a local group buy whom gets their malts directly from the wholesalers.
Boy would I love to know where you play? LOL. My Green fees locally here in the San Francisco Bay area are almost 100 bucks for a crappy course. close to 150 for a decent track. LOL.