The Bob Barker Formula
There have been concerns about whether homebrewing is more economical than drinking mass quantities of Natural Light as an alternative. Issues of beer quality and bias toward shitty beer aside, I'll try to flesh this out mathematically (which, I warn you, is not my strong suit).
A "batch" of homebrew is 5 gallons, or 640 ounces, or roughly 53 bottles of beer, rounding down. Cheap, potable beer (Miller or Bud) at regular sale price sells for roughly $15.00 (including deposit) per case of 24, and that's being conservative. PBR or Natty is cheaper, sure, but I think it's also known to cause blindness. At 288 ounces per case, there are 2.2 cases in a batch of homebrew. Ingredients for a complete batch of all-malt homebrew (the kind we will make) run, depending on your beer style, for an average of $23.25 per batch, and American lagers are even more inexpensive. These ingredient kits are all-inclusive and even include extra crowns to cap your bottles.
Ounce for ounce, homebrew will cost 3.6 cents/oz. while store beer sells at roughly 5.2 cents/oz., saving Dierksenkougan about 31%, or just under $10.00 per batch, for beer of higher quality, better taste, and more flavors and styles. Use this formula for Guinness or Killian's and the price gap is even wider.
"But wait," you say. "What about the original investment?" Easy. Previously logged as approximately $125.00, the Dierksenkougan start-up cost will actually be around $150.00 to $175.00, provided nothing is donated to the cause and all equipment, including a kettle and over 100 refillable bottles, are bought new from thingsbeer.com. Shipping is of little concern, as the Brew Crew will be visiting Things Beer in person Early August to purchase supplies.
Since driving to Munchie Mart and buying Beast doesn't exactly require "start-up," we have to make up this deficit by brewing 15-18 total batches of beer (at $10.00 savings per batch). Our plan at this date is to be putting out at least two batches every month, and our sincere hope is that nothing goes terribly wrong to pollute a batch and render it undrinkable. At that rate, we will break even in approximately 7 to 9 months, at which point the Dierksenkougan legacy will be only beginning.
That's the math, with as many factors included as possible, and cold hard proof that this is, from an economical viewpoint, a smart idea.
Fun fact: Quoted from http://www.beertown.org/statutes/michigan.htm. "On December 2, 1997, Governor John Engler signed House Bill 4850. This new law permits homebrewing and allows homebrewers to give away up to 20 gallons of their brew." In addition, there is a federal law on homebrewing (one of very few) which limits production to 100 gallons of homebrew per year per person, or 200 gallons per household. Pushing that threshold will probably prove rather difficult, yet if we do, we can rest soundly in the fact that no person has been arrested or fined for homebrewing in twenty years. May we not break that trend.
Cheers,
The Brewmaster
A "batch" of homebrew is 5 gallons, or 640 ounces, or roughly 53 bottles of beer, rounding down. Cheap, potable beer (Miller or Bud) at regular sale price sells for roughly $15.00 (including deposit) per case of 24, and that's being conservative. PBR or Natty is cheaper, sure, but I think it's also known to cause blindness. At 288 ounces per case, there are 2.2 cases in a batch of homebrew. Ingredients for a complete batch of all-malt homebrew (the kind we will make) run, depending on your beer style, for an average of $23.25 per batch, and American lagers are even more inexpensive. These ingredient kits are all-inclusive and even include extra crowns to cap your bottles.
Ounce for ounce, homebrew will cost 3.6 cents/oz. while store beer sells at roughly 5.2 cents/oz., saving Dierksenkougan about 31%, or just under $10.00 per batch, for beer of higher quality, better taste, and more flavors and styles. Use this formula for Guinness or Killian's and the price gap is even wider.
"But wait," you say. "What about the original investment?" Easy. Previously logged as approximately $125.00, the Dierksenkougan start-up cost will actually be around $150.00 to $175.00, provided nothing is donated to the cause and all equipment, including a kettle and over 100 refillable bottles, are bought new from thingsbeer.com. Shipping is of little concern, as the Brew Crew will be visiting Things Beer in person Early August to purchase supplies.
Since driving to Munchie Mart and buying Beast doesn't exactly require "start-up," we have to make up this deficit by brewing 15-18 total batches of beer (at $10.00 savings per batch). Our plan at this date is to be putting out at least two batches every month, and our sincere hope is that nothing goes terribly wrong to pollute a batch and render it undrinkable. At that rate, we will break even in approximately 7 to 9 months, at which point the Dierksenkougan legacy will be only beginning.
That's the math, with as many factors included as possible, and cold hard proof that this is, from an economical viewpoint, a smart idea.
Fun fact: Quoted from http://www.beertown.org/statutes/michigan.htm. "On December 2, 1997, Governor John Engler signed House Bill 4850. This new law permits homebrewing and allows homebrewers to give away up to 20 gallons of their brew." In addition, there is a federal law on homebrewing (one of very few) which limits production to 100 gallons of homebrew per year per person, or 200 gallons per household. Pushing that threshold will probably prove rather difficult, yet if we do, we can rest soundly in the fact that no person has been arrested or fined for homebrewing in twenty years. May we not break that trend.
Cheers,
The Brewmaster
posted by Sam Reese at 5:04 PM
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