[Kevin]

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.

^^^ This right here!

[Joe_Beer]

- organizing a bulk purchase of supplies with a homebrew club

👆
The club in Fort Wayne does this on a regular basis.

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.

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.

[fredthecat]

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.

[brewthru]

Yes, brew session beers, purchase in bulk or find a local group buy whom gets their malts directly from the wholesalers.

[redrocker652002]

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.

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. 

[redrocker652002]

I don't have much to add here, but for me, it is an all day process and something I enjoy.  I figure that each batch costs me somewhere between 30 to 50 bucks each.  Not a bad way to kill a day, and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I am going to start looking into reuising yeast as that is about the only thing I can see that might save me a few bucks.  Other than that, I am lucky enough to be able to have a hobby or two and not have to worry about the money spent to enjoy those hobbies. 

[Steve Ruch]

- organizing a bulk purchase of supplies with a homebrew club

👆
The club in Fort Wayne does this on a regular basis.

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.

Wish we had one.

[Skeeter686]

I don't have much to add here, but for me, it is an all day process and something I enjoy.  I figure that each batch costs me somewhere between 30 to 50 bucks each.  Not a bad way to kill a day, and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I am going to start looking into reuising yeast as that is about the only thing I can see that might save me a few bucks.  Other than that, I am lucky enough to be able to have a hobby or two and not have to worry about the money spent to enjoy those hobbies.

Agreed.  It's a hobby that I enjoy.  And the best part is that it results in beer at the end! 

[chumley]

I concur with Denny on the 5-10% sugar addition. I find the little bit of sugar dries the beer out without sacrificing maltiness, which aligns with my taste buds for most styles.

[MNWayne]

Homebrew is still cheaper than commercial beer (just don't factor in the equipment costs).

[Steve Ruch]

Homebrew is still cheaper than commercial beer (just don't factor in the equipment costs).

Spread the cost of equipment over 100s of batches and it's not that much per batch. Unless you buy new equipment for each batch.

[denny]

Homebrew is still cheaper than commercial beer (just don't factor in the equipment costs).

So, what you're saying is that it's not cheaper.

[BrewBama]

It is still cheaper if you amortize the equipment over a cpl decades.

[erockrph]

It is still cheaper if you amortize the equipment over a cpl decades.

What's the fun in not buying new gear more than once every couple decades? 

[fredthecat]

Homebrew is still cheaper than commercial beer (just don't factor in the equipment costs).

Spread the cost of equipment over 100s of batches and it's not that much per batch. Unless you buy new equipment for each batch.

So, what you're saying is that it's not cheaper.

in ontario here it is absolutely cheaper, so much so that even a week ago i overheard a couple looking at the beer section and saying how overpriced it is and i explained thats why i homebrew and my rough cost savings. they seemed positive to the suggestion.

i always do the breakdown per 500ml on 90% of my beers and discounting the equipment its about $1 for a 5% ~35IBU beer, with my very modest equipment costs factored in i cant recall exactly how much it adds per beer but the way i calculated it, it was really surprisingly small something like another 10cents per 500ml. so thats an additional 10%, but this is still absolutely 3 to 4 times cheaper than current ontario commercial beer prices.

it drives me nuts when i hear people IRL who dont have almost any direct involvement with homebrew repeat the suggestion that homebrewing is necessarily "crazily expensive" or something.