more about on Flickr”>The cost of homebrew beer is something people often ask about when I talk about brewing. Isn't it more expensive to make quality beers at home? My answer is always, "It depends." There are lots of variables, depending on how much equipment you want to buy, what you want to make, and what type of beer you typically buy. Beautiful Girlfriend thought it would be interesting to make some comparisons on this subject, and I agree.

When people ask me what they should get as an introductory equipment kit, I recommend something like MoreBeer's basic kit. This is perfect for a few reasons. First, it has everything you need, aside from bottles and a stock pot, to get started making great beer. You likely already own a good stock pot that can hold a couple gallons of liquid, and you can get your buddies to save you their beer bottles – pry-offs, not screw-tops – so there should be no extra expense.

Second, it is pretty cheap. $70 is not a lot of money to spend on getting started in a hobby you may very well find rewarding. This low price also means that you won't be out a lot of money, in the event that it is not something you enjoy doing. If you buy an ingredient kit at the same time, you will be in the hole for about $100 for your first batch. You can certainly buy more equipment than this initial kit has, but you do not need it. You can always add more later if you want to get more advanced. I say keep it simple, at least to start.

I went to the store to price some popular retail beers to do a price comparison. I looked specifically at 12-packs and assumed a 5% sales tax in my calculations. I also assumed that a new homebrewer would buy $70 of equipment and supplies, and then would buy $40 ingredient kits. You can certainly pay much more for ingredients, but you can also pay quite a bit less, so this is a good estimate. For reference, an ingredient kit comes in a box with all the consumables you need, including bottle caps.

The cost analysis I made is not meant as an argument to get people to make their own beer. If you have read this far, you are probably already interested. This is simply an explanation of the cost breakdown between making beer yourself and buying it from a store. It also does not take into consideration the difference in making a light beer, like Bud Light, versus a more complex beer, such as Guinness. I am including a copy of my spreadsheet, in case people want to see what I did and manipulate the figures themselves.

Brand	Retail for 12-Pack	Tax	Price With Tax	Five-gallon units purchased before aggregate cost is at parity with cost of Homebrew
Miller High Life	7.99	0.05	8.39
Coors Light	10.49	0.05	11.01	8
Bud Light	10.99	0.05	11.54	7
Heineken	14.99	0.05	15.74	3
Sierra Nevada	16.99	0.05	17.84	2
Blue Moon	16.99	0.05	17.84	2
Corona	14.99	0.05	15.74	3
Guinness	16.49	0.05	17.31	2
Samuel Adams	17.49	0.05	18.36	2
Fat Tire	17.49	0.05	18.36	2

Note that Miller High Life does not have a figure for coming to parity with homebrew beer. This is because Miller High Life is cheaper than my estimate for homebrew. MHL came in at something like $35 per five-gallon batch, much less than homebrew costs to make. The comparison I made is between a five-gallon batch of homebrew and 4.44 12-packs of the commercial beers listed above to get the same volume.

The Straight Dope
So is it more expensive to make your own beer? Again, it depends. Ingredients and equipment cost money, and these are the biggest variables. In addition, some people buy beer at discount stores or in states with few taxes. The best answer I can give to this question is that the cost of homebrew beer can be much lower than buying beer at retail stores. If you look at homebrewing as a substitute for buying beer, then it will almost always be cheaper in the long run. If you like drinking what many people consider higher-quality beers, the kit pays for itself after only a few batches.

The final thing to consider is the non-monetary value of homebrew beer. I have written before that it gives you the opportunity to make the beer you want, rather than what someone else thinks you should want. To me, that makes a big difference and makes it all worthwhile.

A Pint Don't Cost Twenty Dollars by SimplySchmoopie

rx
on Flickr”>My good friend Jason recently told me about a drink called kvass, prescription
which he had many times when he lived in Russia. He said everyone told him it was made from black bread. Neither of us really understood what that meant, so I went to ask the Internets, who knew exactly what I was looking for, of course. Jason had been reminded of kvass as we sipped my somewhat sour Munton's Irish Stout. He said the tang was definitely similar. It sounded intriguing so I knew I had to find a homebrew recipe for it.

Kvass is a fermented drink very similar to beer, except instead of being made from grain, it is made from bread, which, of course, is made from grain. Typically a person might wait until bread got hard and stale, rendering it virtually unusable for normal bread purposes. Then you mix it with hot water and add whatever flavoring you want, whether mint, honey, hops, spices, or herbs. Strain it, let it cool, and add yeast.

I sent a recipe to Andy to see if he had heard of such a beverage before, and he said no, indicating that it seemed too much like prison hooch for his taste. As demonstrated before, I am not above prison hooch. It's not what I care to drink, but can be palatable enough if made right. If nothing else, I have a skill to trade, should I be locked up for something. It never hurts to be prepared.

I am about to try my hand at making kvass. Here is the recipe I am using for a one-gallon batch, found online as Kvass Recipe 4:

Ingredients for 1 gallon:

1 loaf dry dark rye bread (approx 24 slices)
1-1/2 gal boiling water
3 c sugar
2 pkgs yeast
1/4 c golden raisins

Procedure:

Put bread in a tea towel & tie bundle securely with string. Put bundle in crock & pour in boiling water. Cover & let set until water is lukewarm. Remove bundle & let drip into clean pan. Pour drip water back into crock, making sure no bread is in the water. Add sugar, then yeast, stir & cover. Set in a warm place 10 to 12 hours. There will be a slight yeast settlement. Pour the clear liquid into a jug & add raisins. Cork the bottle or put a lid on the jar, but not too tightly, or the cork will blow. Refrigerate for 5 days, then strain before serving. Yield will be about a gallon.

Be sure to use air locks on your bottles or jug. After a few days, fermentation will have ceased and you can rack it as much as you want until it is your preferred level of clarity, or drink it immediately.

Another page you can go to for kvass recipes is on Metafilter. Have you ever tried this drink? Better yet, have you ever made it? Any guidance would be helpful!

Kvass by Noema Pérez.

My good friend Jason recently told me about a drink called kvass, capsule
which he had many times when he lived in Russia. He said everyone told him it was made from black bread. Neither of us really understood what that meant, salve
so I went to ask the Internets, who knew exactly what I was looking for, of course.

Kvass is a fermented drink very similar to beer, except instead of being made from grain, it is made from bread, which, of course, is made from grain. Typically a person might wait until bread got hard and stale, rendering it virtually unusable for normal bread purposes. Then you mix it with hot water and add whatever flavoring you want, whether mint, honey, hops, spices, or herbs. Strain it, let it cool, and add yeast.

I sent a recipe to Andy to see if he had heard of such a beverage before, and he said no, indicating that it seemed too much like prison hooch for his taste. As demonstrated before, I am not above prison hooch. It's not what I care to drink, but can be palateable enough if made right. If nothing else, I have a skill to trade, should I be locked up for something. It never hurts to be prepared.

I am about to try my hand at making kvass. Here is the recipe I am using for a one-gallon batch:

1 lb dark rye bread
1 gallon boiling water
2 tbs honey
2 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried hops I have leftover from something else
1 packet dried baking yeast

The method is to cut up or tear the bread into small pieces, like croutons, and then let it dry in the oven. Spread the bread chunks on a cookie sheet and let them sit in the oven at the lowest setting, around 200 degrees, until they are dry. That will probablly be about an hour. Then put the bread in a large bowl with the hops and other herbs and pour in the boiling water. Cover it and let it sit for five hours or overnight. Strain the water into a glass jug or bottles and add the honey and yeast. Mix well.

Be sure to use air locks on your bottles or jug. After a few days, fermentation will have ceased and you can rack it as much as you want until it is your preferred level of clarity.

My Twitter friend B_Pat_ recently asked me:

I'm looking to buy a kegerator and all the equipement necessary for kegging my beer. I want a dual tap kegerator. My budget is $800. Advice?

I tweeted him back to him with my advice. My responses were:

I recommend building one or going on Craigslist. Brand new is great but it's a fridge with a tap – not tough to do yourself.

If you are handy with tools, orthopedist
anyway. I got a 7 cu ft freezer and a temp controller and it works great.

Kegging: Plan on about $250-300 just for your kegging stuff (2 kegs, here 5 lbs CO2, viagra all your lines). Then The kegerator or cooler.

Get an extra keg too so you can have one in waiting while you run out of your current brew!

I get asked this question a lot and this is a succinct set of answers I give as a standard rule, but I thought it might deserve a more thorough response. I wrote before about how to get started kegging but I wanted to go into some other practical considerations.

When I was ready

 

 

 

depends. I have a chest freezer that fits 3 easily. Pepsi (ball lock) kegs are 9" dia. Get a fridge that has 18×18. u can have 4!

 

health
on Flickr”>If you are like me and are a big Guinness fan, youth health
you may have toyed with the idea of trying to craft your own black brew. If you have, cheap
then good news! Stouts are easy! This homebrew recipe is exactly what you are looking for.

Stouts are mostly associated with England and Ireland and are offshoots of Porters. As Porter styles evolved, the thicker and more robust Porters began to be referred to as "Stout Porters". Eventually, the Stout developed into its own style and gained a devoted following.

In general, Stouts are very dark to black in color and have a roasty flavor. The hop flavor and aroma are minimal, though there are a few style exceptions with a pronounced hop presence such as the Imperial or Russian Stout. Stout styles can range from dry to sweet, relatively low to high alcohol content, vary from light to heavy bodied, and may have a hint of fruity esters.

Stouts, being the spawn of Porters, share many of the same simple techniques and fermenting characteristics. Most Stout styles contain a minimal amount of ingredients, are top-fermented, and have short fermentation periods (10 days to 21 days). The largest difference between the Porter and Stout styles is in the characteristics of the dark specialty grains which give the Stout its color and roasty flavor.

The most commercially popular style of Stout is the Dry Stout, or Irish Stout made famous by brewers such as Guinness and Murphy's. Dry Stouts are light bodied with low hop presence and low alcohol content (~4% ABV). The black color of the Dry Stout is derived more from the use of specialty grains such as roasted barley, chocolate malt, or black malt rather than the darkness of the base malt.

Try this homebrew recipe for a basic Dry Stout:

• Base Malt: 6.6 lbs of light or amber malt extract
• Specialty Grains: 0.5 lbs black malt (cracked)
• 0.5 lbs 60-L Crystal Malt (cracked)
• 0.5 lbs roasted barley (cracked)
• Bittering hops: 2.0 ounces Cascade pellets (60 minutes)
• Finishing hops: 1.0 ounce Fuggles pellets (10 minutes)
• Yeast: 1 pkg freeze dried Ale Yeast

Primary Fermentation: 14 days

Steep the specialty grains at 150 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20 minutes. Strain and pour the tea into the brew kettle (no husks!). Add a gallon of water to the brew kettle and begin to heat. As the brew kettle is heating add the 6.6 pounds of base malt extract and stir until dissolved. Once the wort is at a boil, add the 2 ounces of Cascade pellets. Stir regularly. After brewing for 50 minutes, add the 1 ounce of Fuggles pellets for the last 10 minutes of the brew. After 60 minutes total brewing time, remove from heat and allow the wort to cool. Once the wort reaches room temperature, strain it into the fermenter. Prepare the yeast according to the instructions. Pitch the yeast, allow to ferment for 14 days, then bottle or keg, prime, and enjoy!

For a darker color and a little more malty flavor, try adding 4 to 5 ounces of chocolate malt to the specialty grains.

Happy brewing! Enjoy!

Bells Expedition Stout by Bernt Rostad