TOPIC:

so ignoring once-off startup costs you're looking at a smidge over 1 euro for a half litre of quality beer. And about 6 to 8 hours 'work'.

Yes, but even if it´d go up in price for whatever reason (delivery costs, rise of hops/grains prices, more ingridients added to the brew, etc...) it´d still be worth all those hours of "work" right? As it´s been pointed out it´s a hobby

Looking at Bugno's site you can get 3Kg DME for €22.99. €2.59 for 500g Carapils, of which you're only using 300g, and then your hops, which are around a fiver for a packet (100g?)

So along with the delivery charge you're looking at about €37.

"xabimacguinness":1fuv794o wrote: Yes, but even if it´d go up in price for whatever reason (delivery costs, rise of hops/grains prices, more ingridients added to the brew, etc...) it´d still be worth all those hours of "work" right? As it´s been pointed out it´s a hobby[/quote:1fuv794o]
Of course! Hobbies are [i:1fuv794o][b:1fuv794o]supposed[/b:1fuv794o][/i:1fuv794o] to be expensive <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

I think there's a good reason the starter kits don't include wort chillers and boilers - cost and complexity.

If you know nothing whatsoever about homebrewing a 70 euro starter kit where you just dump a can or two into a bucket and add some water is more attractive than a seemingly complex process that costs more than three times the price. If it turns out you don't like the hobby you've lost 70 euro and you've got some beer out of it. If you've shelled out 233 euro and you don't take to it that's a lot of money for a passing fad. This doesn't even take into account that you can make fairly decent beer with the newer '2 can' kits such as Brupaks or Woodfordes without using a boiler/chiller.

I wouldn't dispute that wort chillers and boilers are well worth the money but we're preaching to the converted here.

If you go into the hobby to save money, you will start with a cheap kit, which will result in lousy beer and a swift end to the hobby. That just creates one more person (+1 for every friend who tried a bottle) telling people how lousy home-brew is.

I think the real cost of starting the hobby (based on figures from thehomebrewcompany.ie) is as follows:

[b:bo3dqf77]Starter Kit:[/b:bo3dqf77]
25 Litre Fermentation Vessel Takes airlock (Full Colour-Graduated)
25 Litre Fermentation Vessel, fitted with Drum Tap
Thermometer 12" (Spirit)
Bubbler, Plastic with Red Cap
Bung Bored
Trial Jar Plastic
Bottle Filling Stick Plastic
Hydrometer
Bottle Brush
Simple Syphon
Beer Paddle Plastic 16"(Y)
Twin Lever Capper
Crown Caps Gold (100)
Bruclean Cleaner/Steriliser 400g

[b:bo3dqf77]Starter kit cost: €70[/b:bo3dqf77]

[b:bo3dqf77]What I would add:[/b:bo3dqf77]
Immersion Wort Chiller - Copper Coil €64.99
Electrim Mashing Bin €99.99
Hop Strainer Bruheat/Electrim €17.99
Muslin Hop Bag (for steeping grain): €0.49

[b:bo3dqf77]Additional kit cost: €183.45[/b:bo3dqf77]

[b:bo3dqf77]Ingredients for first beer:[/b:bo3dqf77]
Spray-Dried Malt Extract 3kg €22.99
Bag of hops of some kind €4.90
Sachet of yeast €1.99
500g of some kind of steeping grain (e.g. Crystal malt) €1.99


[b:bo3dqf77]First Brew Cost: ~€32[/b:bo3dqf77]

[b:bo3dqf77]That's about €285 including the brew. After that, I think an average of €35 a brew would cover you.[/b:bo3dqf77]