Is brewing your own beer at home an expensive hobby?

Well, it’s not expensive. A good quality starter kit will be a little over $100 and ingredients for 5 gallons about $25. Try it! It’s easy! I recommend reading “the new complete joy of home brewing” by charlie papazian for reference.

Sent to our resident home brewing jelly, @Rarebear .

Every home brew I have tried is too sweet.

Is that common or have I been tasting the wrong beer?

Regardless, I am very interested to hear more. We have given up so many skills that were so common a hundred years ago. Sewing, knitting, brewing, baking – I love this stuff.

@jaytkay Sounds like your resident brewer likes it that way

Fun and you get beer that would cost you a lot more. Yes, equipment to start can cost you but with care and sanitation it is a great hobby.
I’ve been making it off and on since 1965 ( way before it was legalized by Jimmy Carter ).

My dad and I brewed using one of these. It was fun, easy, and gave us good beer. The most annoying part was staying on top of the sanitizing, but that was really no big deal all in all.

I found it to be fun and quite cost-effective once you get all the gear. These days it’s harder to find non-screwtop bottles but the place you get your brewing equipment may have them available.

@jaytkay Beer too sweet is not necessary, but is common among amateurs. A lot of recipes include sugar for an alcohol boost at a later stage.

As @wildpotato mentions , sanitation is critical. Otherwise, instead of the chosen yeast doing the fermenting, you can get some random airborne bacteria eating your wort and typically making it taste weird and reducing the alcohol content from its potential.

I don’t think you save any money over store bought beer especially if you don’t enjoy the time and effort that go along with it but it is the incidentals such as the satisfaction of doing it yourself and the variety you can make, that make it worthwhile.

You also have to be able to drink and enjoy something other than BudLight.

@rojo You only drink Bud Light ? ?

No. too much taste for water and not enough for beer in my opinion.

I drink pretty much anything that does not contain the word “light” in it.

I have a preference for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Live Oak Hefeweizen.

@Tropical_Willie, I think @rojo meant that to enjoy your home brew you’d have to be someone who did not want, or expect, all their beer to be bud lite.

It’s not a very expensive hobby, but do I find it saves over buying commercial beer? Nah. I’ve made weak ales for under 50 cents a bottle, but that is not counting the bottle itself (these are reusable), cleaning, or my own time. But a good homebrew is so much better than a commercial beer.

I suggest avoiding the kit @wildpotato mentioned. There is nothing wrong with it per se, but it’s not a lot more work to make 5 gallons than it is to make one gallon. Those kits are aimed at people with tiny NYC apartments! Also, in my anecdotal experience larger quantities turn out a little better. Also, avoid Mr. Beer. Get something like this to start out. You’ll quickly want to grow your equipment out as your skills expand, but this stuff stays useful.

One thing you’ll want quickly is a large stockpot. I suggest at least 8 gallons for 5 gallon batches, and maybe 10 gallons for slightly larger batches – I do 6.5 gal.

I don’t use bottles so much anymore, but I used to get my bottles from the local beer distributor, which also handles glass bottle recycling. It gives me my bottles for 5¢, the cost of bottle redemption. I then soak them overnight in a bath of sodium percarbonate (B-Brite or OxyClean), which cleans them and takes the glue and paper labels off. Also, I look for larger bottles like Tecate quart bottles.

Obviously, you can spend thousands on this hobby. I have an outdoor propane cooker (this model – highly recommended). Kegging equipment isn’t exactly cheap. And there’s refrigeration, temperature controllers, etc..

Not expensive.
http://morebeer.com/category/personal-home-brewery-equipment-kits.html