Alan's Brewery

Cost of a batch of home brew

One thing I get asked fairly regularly is what is the cost of homebrewed beer relative to commercial beers? While the question is not really pertinent as one cannot really compare a decent homebrewed beer with a commercial beer, I have done some costing, taking into account only the ingredients used in the brew. I have used two of my partial mash recipes as examples.

Commercial beer prices were from Makro and brew ingredient prices from Brewcraft (except where stated). I have used prices as on 3 July 2017. (Exchange rate:US$1~R13)

Stout

  • 1.7 kg Black Rock Dark Malt liquid extract: R165
  • 1.7 kg Black Rock Amber Malt liquid extract: R150
  • 500 g dark malt: R15
  • 200 g Caramel Munich 2 malt: R6
  • 150 g roasted barley: R7.50
  • 40 g Northern Brewer Hops: R39.60
  • 30 g Cascade Hops (NZ): R22.50
  • Safale 04 yeast: R40

Total: R445.60

Cost per litre: R20.25

American Mild

  • 1.7 kg Black Rock Light Malt liquid extract: R150
  • 500 g Light malt dried extract: R47.50
  • 500 g pale malt: R7.50
  • 250 g Dark Crystal malt: (from another supplier): R7.25
  • 250 g Caramel Munich Aromatic malt: R7.50
  • 30 g Northern Brewer Hops: R29.70
  • 20 g Cascade Hops (US) (from another supplier): R20.91
  • Safale 05 yeast: R45

Total: R315.36

Cost per litre: R14.33

Commercial beers

What I have done with the commercial beers is to take the price of a case of beer and from that work out the price per litre. In the case of the returnable Windhoek Lager bottles, I have deducted the deposit on the bottles. I cannot do the same for returnable bottles of SA Breweries beers as I have no idea what the deposit on their bottles is.

  • Windhoek Lager 660ml returnable bottles: R19.79
  • Windhoek Lager 330ml non-returnable bottles: R28.40
  • Castle Lager 340ml non-returnable bottles: R23.28
  • Black Label 340ml non-returnable bottles: R24.50

Discussion

While it looks as though commercial beers are more expensive, there are many factors I have not taken into account. The cost of equipment (although that decreases with each use), the cost of electricity (or gas), the cost of water. Water is a very precious commodity in South Africa, and during the brewing process a great deal of water is wasted.

Of course, it must be realised that a similar costing for a full mash brew will be much cheaper, but there the equipment cost is much higher.



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