How much does your beer cost & taste?

[BucksBrew]

Hello all! I'm a new brewer. I use clone kits from various suppliers. I use DME and Liquid Malt with and without specialty grains for the few beers I have made. On to the questions!

1.How much does your beer cost you, not including your time?

My last IPA cost $36.01 for a 5 gallon batch with shipping. This
equates to $.68 cents each. 53-12 oz. bottles

All grain brewers & kit brewers list costs please!

2. Second question is about taste. My 1st batch was a lager. It was a Pilsner Urquell Clone. It looked great, tasted great and was pretty clear.

My next batch was a Brown Ale Kit from Midwest supplies. Same supplier as Pilsner. The Pilsner was nice to my body. The Brown Ale gives me a lot of GAS! ( sorry, no other way to put it!) Do you guys feel there is a difference with the Ales and Lagers with regard to how your body digests the brew?

Thanks,
Joe

[S.F.B.]

I brew some extract and some part mash beers. The cost really depends on which style I am doing. It ranges from around $15 for the lightest ale to $45 for an imperial stout.

[paul84043]

I typically pay anywhere from 30$ to 40$ per kit, this would include shipping and liquid yeast, but is still a real cost..
I don't count bottles as they are reusable and with a few reuses the price drops considerably.
35$ divided by 50 beers (avg 12 oz beer) = .70 cents each. Quite a bargain.
I intend to start doing partial mash which will cut off about 10 cents per bottle.

If your brew is really giving you stomach trouble, you may be drinking it a bit young, or not leaving enough stuff behind in the bottle. You do pour into a glass and leave the sediment behind don't you?
The active yeast will give you the most trouble. Some people it affects, some it doesn't..
The yeast will settle in time and become inactive, but if you're agitating the beer and not careful pouring it, you will stir it up.

Lagers, due to the long fermentations and the fact that it's a bottom fermenting yeast anyway will leave less yeast in suspension.

[BucksBrew]

I've read that the yeast is full of Vit. B which helps prevent hangovers, etc. so I drink the sediment as well.

Plus I'm cheap and thirsty! haha

I was just wondering though about the cost and taste difference with all grain brewing.

As I get into brewing more I'm looking to all grain, corny kegging, freezers, temp controls, and expenses!

[fuji6100]

I average about $25 per batch, though I spend a little more on the darker stuff. Once I upgrade to liquid yeast, I'd guess about $30.

Me and a friend are going to go halves on a 55 pound bag of DME, so that should cut costs significantly (buying it in 3 pound increments costs $9 per 3 pounds. A 55 pound bag is only $120. That's $1 per pound savings!). Once I do this I'll switch to liquid yeast since the increased yeast cost will be offset by the savings in malt.

[Redbird Fan]

1.How much does your beer cost you, not including your time?

I brew partial grain - and I buy from a local brew shoppe and over the internet (or call my order in over the phone) - I buy kits from those shops (sometimes they are "clones" and sometimes they are just a particular style.

Kit's I buy range from $18 - $35.

If you're looking for good deals I would suggest:

Austin Homebrew (http://www.austinhomebrew.com/)

There are 3 of us that like to brew and we all go in on an order together because Austin Homebrew has FREE SHIPPING for all orders over $60! Also, they have a newsletter where they include specials for the month - for example, this month they have a honey brown kit 1/2 price for orders over $60 (+ free shipping) and the will give you the honey brown kit for free for orders over $100! (and that's not hard to do if you have 3 people in on your order)

Upgrading to liquid yeast on Austin's kits is an additional $4.20 but it's worth it.

My local brew shoppe is more expensive but I try to frequent it for standard supplies and do what I can to keep them in business.

Hope that helps!

[BucksBrew]

I'm seeing that ingredients are available in bulk. My thought was how do you store bulk products and still have variety? Unless you only buy the DME or grains in bulk then hops and Yeast at time of brewing.

My last IPA had grains, Liquid Malt, 6 seperate hop packages, sugar, and this does not include and irish moss type products or salts.

[BucksBrew]

My local shop is 45-60 minutes away. So I buy on line at work. No tax and it gets delivered. I heard of Annappolis HomeBrew on here so I just ordered from them. Freight was $6.00 for a 13lb. box. 6% Tax locally would be $1.80, so it costs me $4.00 more, but I save at least 2-2.5 hours time and gas.

I live in PA so I'm looking for the best & closest online homebrew store. I know some guys say support your local homebrew store, but I am in a way. Only it's closer to another home brewer. make sense?

[Redbird Fan]

just the same, you may want to give austin homebrew a look - I don't believe they charge tax either - very large selection of products.

[brewmonkey]

You could also try Bacchus & Barleycorn in KC.

www.bacchus-barleycorn.com

or call them at 913 962 2501.

[MrTaz26]

It costs me about 45 to 50 dollars a brew if I do my own receipts (I'm an extract brewer and use grains and hop the heck outta my brews), I make about 50 bottles of beer a round (some day I'll keg when I can afford the equipment). The beer has been excellent! We have a few good breweries around, Stone Cat, Smutty Nose, Portsmouth brewery, and of course Sam Adams brewery is only 45 mins away. The taste of the beer I brew compared to the ones that we can by from these places is very good...plus you get the satisfaction of hearing your buddies rant rave about the bock that knocked them on their ass after 2 bottles. Now I will say we have a great local Brew Supply store about 30 mins away, so that keeps the shipping charge away...but even with the shipping charge we still figure it would be about the same price.

Ok…answer to your second question...We have brewed quite a range of beers here...from the Fruit Wheat’s, to Pepper Stouts, to Fruit Pilsners, to normal wheat’s, to bitter reds, to quite a few others. After tasting them...the first Brown ale we made we made into a wood tasting beer, this one killed my digestion. I had heart burn every time I had one bottle. Since then I can say I have been lit off just about every other beer we have brewed...none of them have hurt me like that one did. My favorites so far are my first pilsner and my dopplebock.

If you want any of the receipts you can find them on our site www.carriagetownale.com

[paul84043]

I'll have to check our Austin Homebrew.com, I know that I have been to the site before and I can spend 60$ at the drop of a hat.
Free shipping would save me a ton of money.

I still patronize my local homebrew shop for all of my supplies, bottles, equipment, to check out the hottie, and for my "regular" kits.
The special stuff, the high gravity kits, the fruit beers, come from online stores.
Did I mention checking out the hottie.....:D


MrTaz, I have a couple of Smuttynose glasses that I ordered from the brewery, they're totally cool. In fact I'm drinking a Porter out of one right now...How's thier beer?

I like my "brewaria" It's a hobby of mine collecting mugs, cups, and shot glasses. I have some extremely rare steins as well.

Beer is just cool....

[Fast_Eddy]

I'm an all grain brewer. My last batch cost me $18 for the ingredients so that's about 34 cents per 12 oz beer. It's a czech pilsener using undermodified moravian malt(double decoction what a pain). So that would cost me about $7/six pack ($1.17 per 12 oz beer) at the grocery store for Czechvar or PU.

Other less obvious considerations for a per batch cost(at least for me) are: cost of a roll of paper towels, the cost of sanitizer(I use a lot per batch), and cost of the water(that I tend to leave running too often and fill and drain one side of my sink a lot too).

I use www.stpats.com and www.austinhomebrew.com. They are both very convenient for me since I live in Austin and that's where they're located.

I've never had a digestive problem as a result of one of my homebrews.

[paul84043]

I would cut back on the yeast comsumption, you are going to get some regardless of what you do and I have rarely left much more than just a tiny bit of beer behind.
The other huge benefit is the amount of soluble fiber in homebrew, it's loaded with it. Homemade beer is probably one of the best things for your digestive system that you can drink. Period....

I doubt that I'll ever get to all grain brewing, though I have been known to dive into things on a whim before. I am delving into partial mash, so who knows?
They say that there are alot more flavors that you can get from partial and all grain brewing that are simply not available in extract kits.

[toneyc]

Austin Homebrew *is* my local shop and I go there every Friday! The guys are great and very knowledgeable. The kits I get are usually $20-25, plus the liquid yeast upgrade. Their website could use some help, I know, but the 3" binder full of recipes they have on the table when you walk in the door is just chock full of goodness! I also think that they should go go straight with including the liquid yeasts in the price of the kit rather than tack it on afterwards. Those are two things I like better about St. Pat's, but I've frequented both St. Pat's and Austin Homebrew and Lynne O'Connor smartassed herself out of a customer in my case and several others from what I gather from chatting at AHS. But the beer was great from both places! Can't complain about that! I hardly ever buy commercial beer these days, just once in a while to make sure I'm still making =beer=.

Edit: Oh, to answer the other question: Yes, that was one of the first things I noticed about homebrew, it makes some great gas. I have run myself out of my own office at work. <blush> And a couple of batches have had a fair amount of laxative effect on me.
Not enough to keep me from brewing the next batch, though!

:) Toney.

[Tweek]

Brown ales do that to some people. I have a buddy that turns deadly if he ever has Newcastle.

[dynomax]

Man you guys spend a lot on kits. The cheap kits here are like 12.99 and the better ones are up to 18 or 19 bucks. The kits like the Barons where you dont add sugar, whatever you call these.. true malt or something, are like $25 CANADIAN.

I dont like barons kits. I made two. and they didnt turn out that great.

[YamahaXS]

I think I will be buying a 55# bucket of DME for my next batch. It is the most significant expense... I am also going to do 2 batches at a time, and start the yeast prior, splitting the starter. I would like to get my beer down around 10$ a case... Right now, it is about $20/case (bottles excluded...bought and paid for a long time ago.)

[shughes600]

I brew all grain, except when relatives give me kits. It si far cheaper, far more tiem consuming, and requires some investment to get started. Luckily i had some extra cash when i decided to plunge into all grain. One thing i haven't seen anyone mention is yeast reuse. I recently brewed an IPA and an English brown with the same yeast. After the English brown was in secondary a day or two i transfered it again and left the yeast behind for the IPA. I just transfered the IPS off the dry hops. It was outstanding. I am extremely critical of my beers. Others love them while I sit and criticize. This IPA will not last long.

Another point, I made a kit American Pale which I was no big fan of. I dry hopped it to save it. It is pretty nice in the keg, but I know that there is not much malt flavor under the hops. I just racked an all grain American that was very good on malt. It's hopping may still need some work though. The point behind that rambling was that the flavor potential of all grain is much better.

I would say that the average outlay for an all grain recipe with liquid yeast is $20 - $22/5gal for everything but really heavy beers. Now if i could just get up to 100 batches or so to justify the equipment cost of all grain brewing. One other cost factor is water. For most recipes it is nil, but this next Pilsner Urquell clone will get bottled water ($5).

[paul84043]

shughes,
so you just leave the trub bed from the secondary and reuse it? Or do you make a starter from it? I would think that there is too much other yucky stuff in the primary to want to reuse that?
How many times to you transfer? I'm making an IPA and would like to make it extra hoppy, but don't have the slightest idea how to do it.
I thought that there was really nothing that you can do to help the hop flavor and bitterness after it's been cooked, that dry hopping only adds aroma?

[Fast_Eddy]

You can use the yeast that's in the slurry or for ale's it can skimmed from the top of the fermenter. I agree that the gunk at the bottom of the primary seems to vile to use. I've also read that you should not repitch from dried yeast since there is always some degree of contamination.

I was just thinking (it hurts, it hurts), why not make a starter from the yeast when you buy it then step it up once, then remove and save a portion of that to be re-pitched when you want to use that yeast again? That way you have a better chance of not contaminating the yeast. I've saved yeast before but I'm always too much of a wuss to use it....if I spend four or five hours brewing its hard for me to pitch questionable yeast.


shughes600, I'm sure you know but...you should be careful with that bottled water. There are certain ions in tap water that the yeast need that are not present in distilled water. I've made super good pils from super terrible Austin, TX water( hard and alkaline) by using phosphoric acid and partial distilled water (50-50 to 70-30).

[BucksBrew]

This is what I wanted to know! Great information by everyone!

All grain tastes better!
Dark Home Brew does cause a little more gas!
Good Sources supplied here!

Paul: I think you asked about dry hopping or adding hop to an IPA? I just made a IPA. It's fermenting now. It is not bubbling like the Brown Ale I just made, but fairly active. Anyhow, It had 6 Hop packages in kit, 5 were added during the cooking and one gets added 5 days into the ferment. I think I will rack to secondary then add dry hops and leave for 1 week I guess.

Shughes:
Explain to me like a 5 year old how you save the trub/krausen to make a yeast starter for another batch. And I thought that yeast was specific to a certain style of beer. I have I think an American IPA from Annappolis called the Ultimate Pale Ale. It is in the primary fermenter now. On the 17th I will rack to secondary.


Tony:
What is AHS? And Lynn O'Conner, what is up with her that ticked you off?

[paul84043]

When you dry hop, you don't just throw them in do you? Don't you have to blanch them in boiling water or sanitize them in some way?

And yes...the yeast is extremely style specific, in fact alot of styles are defined by the yeast used...

Eddy, I think making a starter and splitting it is probably the best way to reuse your yeast, but you need to plan ahead for that...

[BucksBrew]

Paul: The instructions say to add 5 days into the ferment. I assume they will be okay to add. They are pellets. Boiling would turn it to mush. Although if I boiled it in a cup of water then added after it cooled would be okay I guess? I don't know. I had planned on adding straight from the pack into the secondary.

Great! Now another issue! haha

Any dry hoppers out their? Please respond with correct procedure.

[Fast_Eddy]

I've never dry-hopped.....now having said that here's my $.02...

Seems to me if you boil the dry hopping hops that you'll wind up extracting more of the bittering acids into your beer(and also maybe boiling off some of the aromatic oils(if it's boiled in an open vessels or not)).

So I think it might depend on whether or not you're adding hops for aroma or bittering or both.

I am interested in the question of whether or not hop pellets should be considered sanitary.

[BucksBrew]

I think I will contact my supplier to get the answer. I'll be back!


Well, I made the call. Dry Hopping should be added at the end or near end of fermentation, which can be 5-15 days more or less.

I will rack to secondary fermentor probably after 7 days (Sat-Sat.). I want to get it off the trub to avoid off flavors.
Let it finish fermenting, add dry hops straight from package to secondary and you can bottle in 2-3 days or it can stay in 2-14 days.

I'll probably let the hops stay in for 5 days or so. The IPA I'm making is a Sierra Pale Ale type beer.

Now-Lagers Vs. Ales! My first Lager, my first batch was great! No digestion issues and it tasted really great! The Ale I'm drinking is good, but not like that Lager I made. Just curious if it is a Lager to Ale issue or recipe issue or personal taste. Feel free to add comments.

Thanks,

Joe

[fuji6100]

My friend who brews a LOT of IPA dry hops every time. I've also done it a few times. The whole bit about "Dry hopping adds aroma but no Flavor" is TOTAL BULL.

A 1/2 ounce of Cascade dry hopped will definately add to the taste. I've dry hopped with up to an ounce of the milder stuff (saaz, EKG.)

From everything I've read, it says that due to the alpha acids already in the hop pellets, they are naturally bacterio-static so risk of contamination from them is very slim. Also, since you are adding to the secondary fermenter (I just add them at racking time) There is already alcohol in your beer and that also reduces the chances of contamination.

I do sterilize my hop-bags, then add the pellets to the bag and plop it in after racking to the secondary.

My friend filters at bottling time and he just chunks the pellets directly in (but that makes SUCH a mess in the fermenter, I don't recommend it).

[BucksBrew]

I've only made 4 batches myself. I have always put everything in nylon bags. I like to be very neat and sanitary!

This last kit I bought, they said to NOT put the hops in a bag. The full flavor of the Hops are limited in a bag. They don't get bounced around in the boil. So I just threw them in.

I have a large trub pile in the bottom of the primary now! I'll probably just add the hops loose to be consistant and watch the flavor. Also I will think about the filtering or additional work it may add.

I've tried to keep the quantity of the beer higher to take this waste into effect. I have close to 5.5-6 gallons fermenting.

[paul84043]

I was thinking about ways to filter without having to invest in a special piece of equipment.
If you were to tie a sanitized muslin or nylon bag on the racking cane, the end that goes in the beer, do you think it would clog up and stop siphoning?
There is also the option of tying it on the the end of the hose draining into the secondary, or bottling bucket, that would probably work pretty well if you left some extra bag there to catch the hop residue...
??Any other ideas?

[BucksBrew]

I got a funnel with my Brewing kit I got for Xmas. It is I think an 8-10'' with a screen that pops in and out.

The problem with hops though is it is fine and clogs the screen up quickly.

I heard you should not filter from primary to secondary or bottling bucket because it introduces oxygen to the beer which is bad.

I will siphon from just above the trub with my racking cane with the anti sediment attachment. Held in place with a carboy clip!

I'll start high then slowly lower to just above the trub on both transfers.

[Tweek]

bringing over hops when racking really isnt an issue you just submerge your cane until you start sucking goo and then bring it up tad. you wont bring hardly anything over. What you do will settle out nicely in the secondary. It is true that the likelihood of contamination from hops is slim and you should just put them in. dont boil them, boiling them causes the chemical reaction which creates teh bitter in your beer. Dry hopping is for aroma (and some flavor) but not bitter so you dont want those acids extracted.

My personal opinion on this is that whole hops are better because there glands have not been crushed. It is my feeling that they will leave a cleaner character on your beer. This is just my opinion.

[BucksBrew]

I'm new to brewing so I'm pretty much using straight out of the box kits for brewing with some grain steeping added in.

Ideally, full grain with actual fresh Hop flowers in my opinion are the way to go! That has to be some great beer when made that way. I'm slowly increasing my confidence with technique and experimenting with all other issues.

Thanks!

[fuji6100]

This last kit I bought, they said to NOT put the hops in a bag. The full flavor of the Hops are limited in a bag. They don't get bounced around in the boil. So I just threw them in.

True if you use small bags, but the nylon bags I have are probably about 5 x 8 inches when lying flat. even when using 2 full ounces of hops, and even after the hop pellets have become wet and expand, it only takes up the bottom inch or two of the bag. I use mine in the boil and the hops have PLENTY of room to stir about inside the bag, as I make sure to keep the bag moving so the hops spread out.

This way the hops get full contact with the wort and I don't have to try and filter out hop particles when I pour into my fermenter (I have enough trub from my grains as it is).

As far as dry hopping, I put a heavy marble (sterilized, of course) in the bottom of the bag, add the pellets, tie off, and dunk it in my secondary. The hops always want to float and they provide nucleation points for co2 so they should get a little circulation at first. This way the hops are kind of suspended about halfway down in the brew, held down by the marble, but trying to rise due to the nylon and hops themselves. That way any convection currents within the brew itself help circulate the wort through the hops. I've had great results with only 1/4 to 1/2 ounces dry hopped this way. Makes it a HECK of a lot easier bottling.

[BucksBrew]

Fuji: Do you suspend the bag weighted and held in place with a bung? Is the string long enough on the bag? I have a nylon bag, I guess, now that I think about it, it is 6-8'' long?

The only thing I worry about is how to suspend in the beer.

Thanks, That would save me from trying to siphon around the hop trub if I could bag the hops during dry hopping.

[paul84043]

Bucks,
I think what he's saying is that the marble weighs the bag down, but the hops and the bag itself want to float, so it ends up floating up from the bottom of the fermenter, anchored by the marble to keep it from rising to the top.

[YamahaXS]

see new thread on Merits of Dry-hopping for more on the side bar! :D

[BucksBrew]

Paul, Thanks for explaining! You'd think I was drinking already!

Yamaha, Thanks for the info.

[paul84043]

It's the two beers I had with lunch...they bring my closer to being one with the Brewniverse.....

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

I brew all-grain. Approx 22 lbs for a 5 gal batch. Basically brew a trippel. Use yeast over and over. Have had my strain for about 3 years. Except fot the last batch that got contaminated because of the keg, they do great. They sometimes make a mess in the fridge between brews but luckily they survive. It costs about $35 a batch. I don't brew as often as I'd like but I survive. Too little space and too many beers.

[BucksBrew]

Paul, Glad to hear you enjoyed lunch!

LHHHBrown: Sounds like a nice way to go. You only have the Grains to worry about as far as what to buy.

My question is how do you keep yeast for the long term in a "starter" jar? I read on the slap packs that the yeast will last up to a year in the package in the fridge.

[Fast_Eddy]

Thanks for the hop-sterility answers, guys.

Paul...I had two beers with lunch too...took a client to lunch...went to an Irish Pub/Restaurant. Had a Guiness and a Bass...so good, so tasty (Homer Simpson-like noises follow) :D

[toneyc]

Originally posted by BucksBrew
What is AHS? And Lynn O'Conner, what is up with her that ticked you off?

AHS is Austin Homebrew Supply.

One day I asked Lynne why they didn't list the alcohol content on the partial mash recipes like they did the extract recipes and she said that she thought we would be smart enough to figure it out by now. Yes, it is a small thing, but I was already annoyed with her after being alternately ignored and talked down to. The previous four times I'd been in, I had to pick alternate recipes because she didn't have the ingredients for my first choices. I think that was the reason I asked her the question to begin with, I was trying to pick out a second choice. Dang, if I want abuse, I can go back to the office! And I never have figured out how to estimate ABV of partial mash recipes.

:) Toney.

[b3s]

Originally posted by toneyc
...Those are two things I like better about St. Pat's, but I've frequented both St. Pat's and Austin Homebrew and Lynne O'Connor smartassed herself out of a customer in my case and several others from what I gather from chatting at AHS.

yeah, and imo st. pat's mail-order customer service is just plain crap with very little personal accountability on the part of the owner...just my $2*E-02, YMMV, but they won't see another dime from me ever.

[shughes600]

Originally posted by Fast_Eddy
You can use the yeast that's in the slurry or for ale's it can skimmed from the top of the fermenter. I agree that the gunk at the bottom of the primary seems to vile to use. I've also read that you should not repitch from dried yeast since there is always some degree of contamination.

I was just thinking (it hurts, it hurts), why not make a starter from the yeast when you buy it then step it up once, then remove and save a portion of that to be re-pitched when you want to use that yeast again? That way you have a better chance of not contaminating the yeast. I've saved yeast before but I'm always too much of a wuss to use it....if I spend four or five hours brewing its hard for me to pitch questionable yeast.


shughes600, I'm sure you know but...you should be careful with that bottled water. There are certain ions in tap water that the yeast need that are not present in distilled water. I've made super good pils from super terrible Austin, TX water( hard and alkaline) by using phosphoric acid and partial distilled water (50-50 to 70-30).

I use the yeast gunk at the bottom of the secondary. I use a new secondary after this. A tertiary. The secondary doesn't have much trub if any.

Yeast starter : Your method would work. The advantage in my method, in my humble opinion, is that i am getting yeast that was active, the dead depleted weak cells are gone in the first few days of primary.

I am going to treat the distilled water to achieve proper chemistry. I can sometimes appear like a mad scientis in my brewery, especially when making up sparge water and adjusting the mash.

[shughes600]

Originally posted by BucksBrew
Shughes:
Explain to me like a 5 year old how you save the trub/krausen to make a yeast starter for another batch. And I thought that yeast was specific to a certain style of beer. I have I think an American IPA from Annappolis called the Ultimate Pale Ale. It is in the primary fermenter now. On the 17th I will rack to secondary.

I use two methods. Both occurr after the beer is in the secondary. After transfering the beer to a clean fermenter you have a sterilized fermenter with active yeast collected in the bottom. Transfer a new beer on top of it. Rouse the yeast, stir, shake etc. Aerate if you like.

After transfereing beer out of carboy to new fermenter prepare a sterilized container. This container should hold 750 ml. A few choices are erlemeyer flaske, wine bottles, very large beer bottles. Apply rubbing alcohol to mouth of bottle, apply a lit match and burn off alcohol. Pour contents of fermenter into erlemeyer. Step up contents with fresh wort (DME dissolved in water boiled and cooled, or real wort). Insert cork and air lock. Shake. After mixture reaches high krausen step it up with more wort. Continue as necessary. There is a limit to how long this will work. It will work better if you use wort similar to what you are brewing so that the yeast will properly adjust to the environment. I have successfully stored the flask in the fridge and after warming stepped it up with wort.

Disclaimer: I think that the best yeast to use is in the third or fourth layer of inactive yeast at the bottom of the primary (read that somewhere)? You can probably harvest yeast off the top of the primary, but the yeast falling through the primary helps in clarifying (I think).

As in all aspects of this wonderful hobby experiment for yourself.

[rossmarp]

toneyc, specifically:

From that obscure homebrewing instruction book that I'm sure no one has EVER heard of --you know, "The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing" by C. Papazian-- is the following (p.47):

"To determine alcohol content by means of the specific gravity scale, subtract the final specific gravity [FG] from the original specific gravity [OG] and multiply by 105 in order to get percent alcohol by weight. For example: 1.040 - 1.010 = 0.030; thus, 0.030 x 105 = 3.15% [by weight].

Because alcohol is lighter than water, a measured volume of water is not equal by weight to an equal volume of alcohol. To convert percent alcohol by weight to percent alcohol by volume multiply by 1.25. Likewise, to convert percent alcohol by volume to alcohol by weight multiply by 0.80."

Papazian makes no distinction between the type of brewing method used (e.g., extract, partial mash, or all-grain). Logically speaking, I would not think there would be a difference in the calculation with respect to the various types of brewing.

Of course, the Potential Alcohol scale typically found on most hydrometers also can be used to indicate the alcohol content of the brew. Using this scale, Papazian offers the following example (p.46):

"...if your original reading was 6 percent and your final reading indicates 2 percent, your approximate alcohol content is 6-2 = 4 percent by volume."

Papazian goes on to describe a similar calculation method using the balling scale.

Many (most, I would say) macro- and microbrews typically indicate the alcohol by volume (ABV).

I hope this helps!

[shughes600]

Originally posted by L.H.H.H.Brown
I brew all-grain. Approx 22 lbs for a 5 gal batch. Basically brew a trippel. Use yeast over and over. Have had my strain for about 3 years. Except fot the last batch that got contaminated because of the keg, they do great. They sometimes make a mess in the fridge between brews but luckily they survive. It costs about $35 a batch. I don't brew as often as I'd like but I survive. Too little space and too many beers.

What in the world are you brewing at 22 lb? I brew my 1.050 Sg ales and lagers with 12 to 13 lb

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

Same as above. I use the yeast from the secondary. It has very little hop residue and most are very healthy. They continue to ferment in the bottle that I keep them in so that is why on occasion the cork blows off and I have a mess. Lately it's taken longer for them to start up because I haven't been brewing as often as I should. They seem to last quite a while. I stated I brew a wanna be tripple. The o.g.'s come in from 1076 to 1090, depending on my mash temperature.

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by L.H.H.H.Brown
Same as above. I use the yeast from the secondary. It has very little hop residue and most are very healthy. They continue to ferment in the bottle that I keep them in so that is why on occasion the cork blows off and I have a mess. Lately it's taken longer for them to start up because I haven't been brewing as often as I should. They seem to last quite a while. I stated I brew a wanna be tripple. The o.g.'s come in from 1076 to 1090, depending on my mash temperature.

Mash temps affect your extract? I would say that its not the temp but the grind of your grist. Your temp will affect your terminal gravity and might have some issues on extract (due to wort viscosity & runoff) on the order of maybe 1/2 degree plato but not 3.5 degrees.

Another problem with a large grist is what is your tun designed for? If you origin intention was to do 5 gal batches of 12-15 plato a beer of 18+ degrees could and will "choke" the tun. The depth of the grain bed becomes to deep for the tun design and you end up with a slower lauter and decreased extract.

When I am brewing a tripple (be it at the pub or home) I like to use about 30% light DME to make up some of the fermentables. It helps me keep the depth of the bed down and get the extract I am shooting for.

For beers like my barley wine and Scotch Ales I like to do the same but instead of adding the DME to the kettle at the same time I am lautering out I mix it and bring it to a boil while the mash is going allowing for some carmelization.

[L.H.H.H.Brown]

I have been using the same system for about 5 - 6 years. It is not your typical system. A buddy of mine used to work for heavy industry and I have a diesel filter welded inside my pot. I have tet to see anyone with a similar system and my friends are always amazed at the quality I get. I must say that every time I get a temp below 150, I get an o.g. of around 1060 and when I've had it at around 165 - 170 I get an o.g. of 1075. The rest comes from extra extract and syrup. You may be correct about the grist though because my supplier is a local brewshop and I can honestly say that grinding the grains is always an adventure. I add everything while it's going to boil.

[RAL]

For the information of the population of the other side of the world "up above" it costs me about US$0.25 for a 12 oz(US) bottle of beer. What does it taste like? Fabulous! I have not tasted a brew that I have made that I didn't like. I believe that all of the world's problems would be solved if we drank more beer.

[paul84043]

RAL,
That's a fantastic theory, I think I'll give it a try today and see what happens!!

[BucksBrew]

I think I asked too many questions in one thread!

What does every one think about the differences between Ales and Lagers?

I thought my first batch ever, a lager was excellent, the ales since seem a little more crude. IMO anyone else have comments?

[b3s]

Originally posted by BucksBrew
I think I asked too many questions in one thread!

What does every one think about the differences between Ales and Lagers?

I thought my first batch ever, a lager was excellent, the ales since seem a little more crude. IMO anyone else have comments?

i prefer the fruity esters that ale yeasts produce over the flavor of most lagers.

[BucksBrew]

Funny that you reply with that as I taste my IPA, primary to secondary tasting and gravity reading.

The IPA tasted great so far! I know it's flat, not finished fermenting, and may get stronger.

The thing that got me was the strong Apricot flavor in the beer already!

I'll check back, wifee needs pc.

[b3s]

i just did some calculating, and i'm averaging between $0.40 and $0.60 per 12 oz. bottle now that i'm doing all-grain (depends on the grains and quantities).

do the folks getting lower costs buy grains in bulk and harvest their own yeast? the pale i'm making next week will be $0.50 per 12 oz. and the wheat i'm doing tomorrow is $0.48 per 12 oz. and i cannot figure out how to lower that at all...

[brewmonkey]

For the all grain brewers you could see an increase/decrease depending on the malt selected. Brewing an IPA with Rahr Pale would certainly be different then someone else using Gambrinus or Crisp.

It should not matter what the cost of your beer is but rather if you enjoy it and the craft. I understand that some of you may have gotten into brewing to save money, but for homebrewers, in the end it will run you about the same if you calculate your time, effort, ingrediants and cleaning supplies.

But the great thing about brewing for someone like myself is brewing the styles that I love and the ones that I cannot get all year around (Barley Wines, Braggot, Imperial Stouts).

[b3s]

oh, i definitely agree, brewmonkey. i can brew the beers i like when i want. i don't factor in the costs of labor since it is a hobby...but if i did, yeah, my beer would cost more, but not as much as, say, old milwaukee. that is because brewing does not require constant attention, even mashing and boiling the wort do not...i could be doing something else (like coding or reading or whatever) and still be brewing...the main reason i brew is because i can brew what i want, when i want and i can control the end product how i see fit...the fact that it costs less than beer at the store is just a benefit :D ...but if i can reduce my costs, well, that would be just peachy-keen.

[shughes600]

Careful on those other pursuits during the mash or boil. I fell asleep on my beer twice this morning. The first time i only fell off of the rest temp by 4 degrees. That wasn't too critical. i then took a nice long nap during the boil. I had to top the kettle up before adding the flavoring hops. Thank god I added hops to the first runnings or this thing might be extremely bitter. As it is it will probably be a little darker than i wanted and a little more bitter. The fact that all hops were relatively low alpha Saaz should help also.

I will never brew late into the night again.

[yonkersbrewer]

All of this terrifically long thread proving my thought that we need a comprehensive review of mail order supply houses by price and service.

I have enough experience to now know that I don't have to pay the full price of a kit to create a recipe, but not enough to be able to tell if the great price on bulk liquid malt extract will end up screwing me 'cuz the company is known for old cruddy stuff.

So far Austin has been helpful to me with some equipment and Mt. Washington has had good prices on malt extract. IMHO I like the idea of sticking with companies that are within a UPS region since the shipping is really quick even with the cheapest ground choice.

Speaking of Mt. Washington....has anyone tried their liquid yeast starters?