Recession Brewing Show

[Petedadink]

I try not to factor in how much equipment can run. Its like saying Ive spent $ 1000 on a flyfishing outfit and putting a price on every fish you catch. Its a hobbie ,supposed to be fun and educational with the benifit of drinking your finished product time and time again.
I was buying ingredients and building equipment to brew an Oaked Arrogant Bastard just becouse I couldnt afford to buy the $60 3 liter bottle. Putting a price on everything makes it look like you shouldnt have spent money in the first place.

[TheTodd]

Not to be picky, but I'm sure that you spent over $194 on 73 batches of homebrew... just sayin'.

Scarecrow actually said that he spent over $3000 on those 73 batches. The $194 was his estimated savings over buying an equivalent amount of cases at an average of $22/case.

Personally, I think he's estimating low. I haven't seen a case of beer that I want to buy that's under $31. His numbers also indicated 2 cases per 5-gallon batch. In reality, it's more like 2.5 cases. If we use those numbers, and assume that Scarecrow would have bought an equivalent number of cases had he not been homebrewing, he would have spent $5657.50 on 182.5 cases.

All that being said, I don't care about any of that. I don't keep track of how much I've spent. That's not to say that I have "Doc money." Quite the contrary actually. I get excited when I have an extra $40 to spend on ingredients or a new keg. I spend as little as possible to have a lot of fun with the entire hobby. That's what it comes down to for me. It's worth it because I love it . . . from the process to just hanging with you guys. After God and family, it's the biggest joy in my life. I don't put a price tag on that.

[Reposado]

All that being said, I don't care about any of that. I don't keep track of how much I've spent. That's not to say that I have "Doc money." Quite the contrary actually. I get excited when I have an extra $40 to spend on ingredients or a new keg. I spend as little as possible to have a lot of fun with the entire hobby. That's what it comes down to for me. It's worth it because I love it . . . from the process to just hanging with you guys. After God and family, it's the biggest joy in my life. I don't put a price tag on that.

+1, any hobby is going to cost you, but most just consume massive amounts of cash for instant gratification, an adrenaline rush, and maybe some cool pictures. We brew beer, and we're damn proud of it.

I've met most of my very best friends since I started brewing, and many of my non-brewing friends were BMC drinkers before we met. I've loved watching the look on their faces when they took their first sip of homebrew and said "wow, you brewed this?!" Now they ask "are you bringin any of your beer" or "hey will you brew me a ___".

That is not to say that I'm not cost conscious in my process, you have to admit that part of the fun of brewing is finding ways of making things that you could just go out and buy if you did have a bottomless pit of money (luv ya Doc!) but I just don't count the dollars anymore. It is what it is, it's no longer just a hobby, it's become a lifestyle.

I try to be very honest when asked by potential newcomers to brewing about it's cost. Yes, you can start relatively inexpensively, and I encourage them to do so, but if you are truly bitten by the brew bug it's going to cost you. The reward though is priceless...

[PWeis909]

Don't forget to factor in the avoided cost of some other expensive hobby that you would take up in lieu of homebrewing (e.g., J mentioned sailing on the show).

[bcmaui]

I'm pretty low key on my brewing with non-brewers.

But if someone asks, I'll give them a taste of something that's ready.

What's really cool is when folks look at you in shock and say that your beer is actually really good.

I don't tell them it should after 3 years of studying, tweaking and improving things.

The bar has been set pretty low for homebrew from what I have experienced.

The most frequent question is "how much does it cost" and I'll respond that I haven't saved much money, and it takes about the same time as a round of golf. I do it for the enjoyment of it, not to save money.

[bcmaui]

Just redeemed my "morebeer" gift certificate. Graham was right - the $20 mostly went to shipping charges.

[TheDarkSide]

Just redeemed my "morebeer" gift certificate. Graham was right - the $20 mostly went to shipping charges.

Do you get free shipping for orders over $59 like the rest of us?

[bcmaui]

Just redeemed my "morebeer" gift certificate. Graham was right - the $20 mostly went to shipping charges.

Do you get free shipping for orders over $59 like the rest of us?

Nope that is only for ground shipping - it does not apply to Hawaii or Alaska or military APO/FPO addresses.

You may better understand why I am very thankful that my local brewery recently started selling grain to home brewers.

Postage on grain and extract was often more than the cost of the extract itself.

That creates an idea - one of my son's high school basketball teammates is currently serving in Afghanistan and another friend is shipping out there at the beginning of next year. Wonder if we could donate to morebeer, northern brewer, etc. to a fund to cover the shipping costs to our troops overseas? They purchase the extract and we help out with shipping costs? Or yeast may get damaged along the way and is not practical? I'm curious how much is shipped to APO/FPO addresses, espeically in areas where there is currently combat.