Cost per bottle?

TheDuke

I'm not sure if it's just me but does anyone else monitor the cost of productions and bottle yield?

Using the input cost of LME, Yeast, Hops and Steeping Grain (not at mashing stage yet) cost of goods (per 500ml) is between 100c to 70c.

i.e. = Input material cost / no of bottles = cost of goods per bottle

Just interrested to hear where others hit the price per bottle ignoring personal labour. I think mine is too high btw.

Carawaystick

lme is expensive compared to base malt grain.
hops are dear for hoppy beers, stouts/weissbier/witbier use much less, of cheaper hops.
05/04 ale powder yeast is the cheapest worth using, but you can get at least another go from harvesting the trub on bottling day, or brewing straight onto the yeastcake, if you haven't a load of free hops left in the mix from dry hopping.

TheDuke

thanks... indeed LME is the most costly item. I'm going to try my hand at partial mashing first to see if I can get it right... that should drop the cost per bottle and then go from there.

I was hoping to hit 50c per bottle.

macnug

TheDuke wrote: »

I'm not sure if it's just me but does anyone else monitor the cost of productions and bottle yield?

Using the input cost of LME, Yeast, Hops and Steeping Grain (not at mashing stage yet) cost of goods (per 500ml) is between 100c to 70c.

i.e. = Input material cost / no of bottles = cost of goods per bottle

Just interrested to hear where others hit the price per bottle ignoring personal labour. I think mine is too high btw.

How the hell are you spending a euro a bottle. 70c max would be mine. If you don't mind other peoples recipes, the hbc were doing full extract kits for 15.5 which is pretty cheap.

TheDuke

You're right - I redid the mathc and here's the breakdown;

Prepare 6l batches only;
750ml LME which comes in at €5.5
Larger yeast comming in at €2 (need to use half)
And hops tat about a 25g €1
Steeping grains, Dextrose, Irish moss don't add anything

Depending on the amound of sediment it can be in the range of yields from 10 - 12 bottles.
So €8.50 which is 85c for 10 and 70c for 12 (usually it's 11)

Most import thing here is that my recipe is too rich... will try someone elses... just want to hit 50c and see what that tastes like.

macnug

TheDuke wrote: »

You're right - I redid the mathc and here's the breakdown;

Prepare 6l batches only;
750ml LME which comes in at €5.5
Larger yeast comming in at €2 (need to use half)
And hops tat about a 25g €1
Steeping grains, Dextrose, Irish moss don't add anything

Depending on the amound of sediment it can be in the range of yields from 10 - 12 bottles.
So €8.50 which is 85c for 10 and 70c for 12 (usually it's 11)

Most import thing here is that my recipe is too rich... will try someone elses... just want to hit 50c and see what that tastes like.

Ah right, didn't realise u were doing small batches. Id say washing your yeast would be the easiest way to get to your 50c goal without a drop in quality, save 2 euro there alone. You could also buy 25kg bags of dme and save maybe 70c per batch. You would need less than a kg per batch.

poitinstill

few points ....
750ml LME which comes in at €5.5 ?
get the own brand one from thehomebrewcompany.ie or homebrewest.ie

1.5kg for 5.35 at the moment.
do bigger batches ? a pack of yeast is good for 25 L so why not expand your volumes

HMD

I just ordered enough grains, yeast and hops for four brews which is about 80ltrs bottled. Total cost me about €80 or 50c per 500ml bottle.

TheDuke

poitinstill wrote: »

few points ....
750ml LME which comes in at €5.5 ?
get the own brand one from thehomebrewcompany.ie or homebrewest.ie

sorry, I meant grams... I use Coopers cans at €11 for 1.5kg - I didn't see the 5.35 offer. Thanks! I'll look for that and see what the quality is like.

poitinstill wrote: »

1.5kg for 5.35 at the moment.
do bigger batches ? a pack of yeast is good for 25 L so why not expand your volumes

I cut back on the yeast acordingly - Mangrove Jack's Bohemian Lager you need 20g on 25l (to packs) or half a pack on 6l - I did some experimenting with Magroves Workhorse where you only need 10g on 25l (so half the amount) and the results are good

TheDuke

I now get it to 45c per bottle... just improved my purchasing mainly the LME so good call and thanks.

macnug

TheDuke wrote: »

I now get it to 45c per bottle... just improved my purchasing mainly the LME so good call and thanks.

How do you find the lme? I find the og to be a bit lower than expected when using lme, some residual sweetness too.

poitinstill

i hear the craft range lme is much better... think in a bundle its 1 euro more expensive.... have tried 1 of the craft range ( the wheat) but made a balls of the priming ( way too little) and it was far from great. Initial tastings from fermenter were cracking. it didnt have the same residual sweetness even for wheat beer.

irish_goat

I do it for about 40p a bottle, although it really depends on how much hops and what varieties I use. Some of the APAs I make would be about 50-60p a bottle.

TheDuke

How do you find the lme? I find the og to be a bit lower than expected when using lme, some residual sweetness too.

I brew 5l batches only and add 750g LME or 500g DME and about 50g of dextros and a further 50g when preparing the yeast. I also do some 'attempted' mashing of holding the 250g of malt (a mix of different malts depending on flavour at 63c for 60mins) but I honestly have no idea if that results in any additional sugars. I've stopped measuring the OG as that's difficult on 5l batches as the liquid is not deep enough.

After the boil and cool to 23c I aerate it as well as I can be shaking the demijohn and transferring the liquid back and fourth from the pot a few times before I pour in the yeast.

I then use 50g dextros to 5l, mix gently and bottle. I'm sure this is all very generous but I don't find residual sweetness a problem and the beer always tastes really full and is pretty potent.

Fermentation takes about 2-3 weeks for largers (16c) or 1-2 weeks for ales (as high as 24c for Belgian Ales) depending on the yeast where by I usually wait for the bubbles to stop and then give it a few more days before starting the bottling. I've stopped second fermentation (because of the risk of contamination and I didn't really see any difference) and dry hopping (it gives it a little more hoppy taste but I found that adding a little less hop at the start of the boil (15mins) and then more at in the last 5 mins and when you take it off the boil also had good results and you use less hops which isn't cheap).

Then I leave it for 1-2 weeks in the bottle before consumption. Some might feel this is a little rushed but I find that there's little benefit in leaving it longer than that. Just need to be careful when pouring so the residue at the bottom of the bottle doesn't flow into the glass as that significantly changes the taste an chuck the last bit at the end.

loyatemu

TheDuke wrote: »

Then I leave it for 1-2 weeks in the bottle before consumption. Some might feel this is a little rushed but I find that there's little benefit in leaving it longer than that.

I've never made a beer that didn't improve between the 2nd and the 4th week in the bottle and a lot of beers I've made have been at their best after 6 months or more.

TheDuke

I've never made a beer that didn't improve between the 2nd and the 4th week in the bottle and a lot of beers I've made have been at their best after 6 months or more.

That's a very fair point... what I meant was that after 1 week is reasonable, after 2 it's where it starts being the beer you wanted and yes it does continue to clear as time goes on... but I'm clearly not as patient as you are )

macnug

TheDuke wrote: »

That's a very fair point... what I meant was that after 1 week is reasonable, after 2 it's where it starts being the beer you wanted and yes it does continue to clear as time goes on... but I'm clearly not as patient as you are )

Corny kegs are great for impatient people like us. I generally do two weeks in primary and a week carbonating/ cold conditioning before I start to drink, it obviously gets better with age but very drinkable and clear after a week of cold conditioning.

TheDuke

Corny kegs are great for impatient people like us

Very interresting.... I still slave away for hours bottling. I was looking at the 2.5gal (I make 10l at a time - or 2 x 5l demijohns) which would be just the right size.

Probably a dumb question but how do you tap the beer from this keg but be ok to consume this over 2-3 weeks or would it go flat the minute you go at it?? If this works it'll be great. Thanks.

BeerNut

You have a separate CO2 tank which keeps the corny pressurised as it empties.

macnug

TheDuke wrote: »

Very interresting.... I still slave away for hours bottling. I was looking at the 2.5gal (I make 10l at a time - or 2 x 5l demijohns) which would be just the right size.

Probably a dumb question but how do you tap the beer from this keg but be ok to consume this over 2-3 weeks or would it go flat the minute you go at it?? If this works it'll be great. Thanks.

The 10l one tends to be as dear as the 19l one. You can put 10l into the 19l and just purge air from the headspace, just an option incase you ever decide to do bigger batches.

TheDuke

Thanks guys - I'll check it out as the volume of bottles around the place is starting to get to me....