You're spot on, FHG. It's easy enough to get started if you have a homebrew shop nearby but can probably order online too. I'm lucky to be near 1 awesome shop and another decent one. Got the starter kit with all the basic stuff for around $60 (1/2 price coupon) a free 5 gallon glass carboy, 5 cases of free old returnable bottles. I've upgraded to 1 liter ez-caps, now bottling is a breeze. 5 gallon kettle was maybe $40? Other than a few odds and ends thats about all the money I've put into equipment. A wort chiller would be nice but in the winter I just set the covered kettle in a snowpile. I figure the beer I'm making is a little less than 1/4 of retail price and usually better. Pretty much spot on with your numbers. I highly recommend growing your own hops too. They grow like weeds, need no attention and cut a big chunk out of cost per batch and you can't beat a fresh hopped ale. Last year I did a fresh batch and froze enough for 3 more. Just bottled this years harvest ale tonight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fantasyhockeygeek
Loch, you crack me up. I know at LEAST 3rtpaper,pullthegoalie, and Atomic Wedgie know what I'm on about.
If you brewcats talking about the sad state of the price of beer want to crunch the numbers:
Homebrew gear to make malt extract brews with specialty grains: ~$120, less if you've got a 4-gallon stock pot.
Twenty-five 1L pop-top bottles: ~$25.
Rough cost of top-end ingredients for a high-quality batch: $42.
Total cost of your first batch, including all capital equipment: $187 ($9 per litre -- roughly a wash with store prices for high-quality beer in BC)
All subsequent batches: $42 ($2 per litre).
Fraction of the cost, and SO MUCH FUN.
Check out www.howtobrew.com for the bible.
You're (roughly) looking at 2-3 hours to make the wort and get your primary fermentation started (leave it for ~5 days), an hour to clean and transfer to your secondary fermenter (leave it for ~14 days), ~3 hours to sanitize and bottle. So maybe 6-7 hours total per batch spread out over a month or so? Then you have to do the hardest thing: wait a minimum of another two weeks before opening those bottles! |
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16 team H2H keep all - 1st Place in 2010-11
C: Datsyuk, M. Koivu, Krecji, Cervenka
LW: Parise, Franzen, Skinner, Glencross
RW: Pavelski, Marchand, Brunner, Shaw
D: Byfuglien, Phaneuf, Burns, Carle, Keith, Martin, Beauchemin
G: Lundqvist, Halak, Backstrom
Prospects: Hackett, Murray, Bjugstad, Poulin, Vatanen, Rattie, B. Nelson, Fasth
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