They say with home brew the more you drink the more you save! 

But really, how much of a savings is it to make your favourite craft beer at home?

Let’s find out. 

Using one of our most popular Craft Beer Extract recipes - Byron Beast, which makes a beer similar in style to Australia’s most popular craft beer Stone and Wood’s Pacific Ale.

A case of 24 from everyone’s mate Dan will set you back around $74, that works out at around $3.08 per stubby. 

A Byron Beast - Extract Can Recipe Kit from Noble Barons (that’s us) costs $37.45 and will make you 19L of beer - that’s the equivalent of 2 cartons. That’s 78 cents per stubby. Sounds like an absolute bloody bargain!

If you are going to make beer, you will need some equipment. A basic starter kit includes everything you need to put down your first brew - cost = $99.

Add that to the cost of your recipe kit and the total cost of your first batch is $136.45. Remember that’s going to make you 2 cartons, cost per carton equals $68.23 or $2.84 per beer. 

You’ve recouped your set up costs after your first brew - winning!

How much time does it take to make home brew?

Yes, going to the bottle shop is quick and easy. Making home brew takes a little longer  - but exactly how much time are we talking?

Using an extract can recipe kit the process is quick, just an hour is all you need to get your beer in the fermenter.

That’s right, you can have your brew in a fermenter bubbling away in less than an hour. This will give you enough time to clean and sanitise your brewing equipment, boil water and mix the ingredients, hydrometer reading done, pitch your yeast, get the airlock on leaving your wort to do its thing.

Fermentation time is around 2 weeks.

Then, if you are bottling your beer, which is where most home brewers start, allow 1 hour to sanitise your bottles, set up your bottling tube, put the carbonation drops in and then bottle and cap your brew.

When Can I Drink My Home Brew Beer?

If you are bottling, allow 2-3 months for your beer to be ready. There is no harm in drinking your beer earlier (no sooner than 1 month), it will just taste better if you are patient!

So yes, making home brew beer will save you plenty of dollars in the long run. 

It does require a little more planning and patience than a trip to the bottle shop - but how good will it feel when you are cracking a coldie brewed by you that cost just 78 cents to make!