Home Brew Costs Change With Price Of Aroma Hops
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Because of the market demand for aroma hops, home brew costs are going through the roof.
The hidden costs
Starting your own home brewery can be cheap and efficient or a real money drain. It all depends on what you already own and what kind of quality the equipment is that you buy. Basically the costs for home brew equipment should be expected to be about $150. But remember that this is only for the equipment and does not include any of the much needed ingredients. A general rule is, that for a batch of five-gallon home brew, the costs are about $3 per six pack for light-body ale beer.
Estimates on home brew costs will vary widely depending on the cost of the ingredients, which lately have skyrocketed due to a shortage of available aroma hops in the home brew market. As recently as 2000, hops were selling on the open market at about $2 a pound. In 2007, the price of hops was about $26 per pound, if they could be found at all. This price increase has greatly influenced home brew costs and has threatened to put a halt to the home brew market.
As many commercial brewers have the price they pay for hops locked in by contract in maybe a year or two the increase in hops prices will affect the price of beer and unless there is a drastic increase in supply, the demand for hops threatens to make home brew costs out of range for many individual brewers.
Equipment Costs Remaining Stable
Although the ingredient cost will fluctuate with the market, the cost of equipment such as:
- a five gallon pot
- a hydrometer to measure alcohol content
- bottle sanitizer and topper
have remained fairly constant. While the average home brew costs for equipment ranges around $150, people can spend over $300 to have all of the equipment they might ever use in making their own beer.
Keeping the costs low
If you are on a budget you could reduce the starting home brew costs by finding equipment that is not to expensive. On the other hand, if you think that home brewing will become a long-term love you should probably spend the extra money because it may well be worth the investment. Home brew costs, adding the rest of the ingredients (yeast, bottle caps and malt) to the picture and excluding the hops, will be around $12 per case of 12-0nze bottles or about $20 for a five-gallon batch.
Cutting costs could even be fun if the home brewer puts the finished product in a keg, that way you don’t have to spend money on bottles and caps. The costs of the tap can be divided up among the number of times it is used to reduce the home brew costs for every batch.
In the end
You can keep the home brew costs lower by doing things different or by buying smarter. In the end keep this in mind, it’s a hobby you and your friends can have a lot of fun with. And all hobbies cost money, home beer brewing is no different. When your friends like the end product and enjoy drinking it with you, why not ask them to chip in so you can keep providing them with nice beer tasting parties?
Have fun.
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