Homebrewing is not a new hobby, skill or past time. Since alcohol has existed it’s been brewed by its consumers (Guinness and Heineken didn’t exist 8,000 years ago!). The main question I get asked by beginners is how much does it cost to get started? Let’s look into it.
What You Brew Matters the Most!
First you need to decide what to brew. I think its best to start with a wine, cider or mead. This is because it has the lowest cost to entry, is the easiest and gets you introduced to ideas like fermentation, racking, bottling and sanitising. It also gets you drinking your own lovely home produce as quickly as possible!
For a lot of people, a Demijohn is the best place to start. One of these can produce 6 wine bottles in one go. All you need to make it work now is a bubbler (airlock) and a hose to syphon and 6 bottles on hand to fill.
Lets look at what a Beginner Demijohn recipe list looks like:
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Wine Ingredients (for 5 L batch): |
Cider Ingredients (5 L batch): |
Mead Ingredients (5 L batch): |
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How Do I Make the Wine Then?
The method for each is pretty much the same and very simple:
1. Mash, Mix or Pulp everything together (make sure the water is slightly warm to help with this)
2. Pour it into a sanitized Demijohn (Click Here for a Guide on Sanitising Demijohns)
3. Wait 2-3 weeks until the bubbler stops bubbling
4. Syphon off Sediment and put into bottles
Is it Really That Easy?
Yes, the hardest part is finding the time to drink it all. Wine, Cider and Mead don’t have complicated mashing processes like in making beers or grain spirits, that’s why they’re great for beginners. In case you want to move on straight to beer or are looking to at how much an upgrade to your brewing system Click Here for Our Intermediate Price Breakdown.
So How Much Does It Really Cost?
Let’s look at equipment and then do a cost breakdown of materials:
Equipment
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1x Demijohn |
€12.50 |
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1x Bung and Bubbler |
€2.50 |
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Your Chosen Steriliser |
€0.50 per brew |
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Tube for Syphoning |
€0.50 |
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6x Bottles & Corks (Optional) |
€10 |
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Hand Corker |
€8 |
So as you can see that works out to a total of €16-34 plus shipping!
Ingredients
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Wine Cost (for 5 L batch): |
Cider Cost (5 L batch): |
Mead Cost (5 L batch): |
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Cost Breakdown:
· Wine its €5-11 (€0.83-1.83 per 750ml bottle)
· Cider it’s €12-15 (€2-2.50 per 750ml bottle)
· Mead its €9.50-14 (€1.58-€2.33 per 750ml bottle)
Overall Cost For Your First Batch and Final Words
The overall cost for your first batch is between €21-49 (€3.50-8.16 per bottle) which is unreal value and from then on its just your ingredients and sanitiser between €5.50-€15.50 (€0.92-2.58 per bottle). That’s a lot cheaper than the bottom of the shelf in Aldi and trust me it’s a lot better too! So what do you say? For less than a pint and a packet of crisps in temple bar is it worth the investment?