Homebrewing Beer to Save Money

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The Simple Dollar blog walks through the process, and the costs, of homebrewing. If you really like beer, and micro-brews in particular, Trent says it could be a money-saving hobby to dive into.

The post walks through the process of making about five gallons of a rich, dark porter, Trent's favorite kind of brew. For about about two hours of active effort, or about half that if you don't care to bottle it, the average homebrewer ends up with a value proposition on their hands:

In the above example, I used $35 worth of ingredients to make seven six packs of porter, a cost of roughly $5 per six pack. This doesn't include, of course, the cost of the equipment, but this cost is pretty small per six pack if you make many batches. Comparing this to my favorite porter at the local liquor store (Fuller's London Porter, which costs $8.99 per six pack), homebrewing is substantially cheaper than the craft option.

From experience, I'd note that getting the rhythm and details of homebrewing down isn't quite as simple as it reads in the link below. Once you've figured out what you're doing wrong, though, it does become an intriguingly simple way to take pride in your drink, while saving a few bucks on the side.