Suggestion, everytime you have a homebrew, mention how much money you are saving on beer, justify the expense. As opposed to golf on the other hand, that is just money going out with no return!
It's like I've mentioned to my wife any number of times... "Honey, homebrew is so cheap to make, we can't afford to NOT drink!".
I mean no matter how much you spend there's in theory a break even point. The question is if you can ever reach it
It's not really a question. It's the same as the difference in buying a vacation home or renting a place once a year. paying for only what you use is always a better bargain and beer that's made 30 barrels at a time is always going to be cheaper at every point than anything we can do. We just like to keep up the illusion.
I mean mathematically that just isn't true. If the option with the higher upfront cost has a lower recurring cost then it will always eventually break even. The break even point might be so far off it's not practical but the point still exists. Unless the recurring cost is greater or equal. Just leave out any math that doesn't support your argument. Unfortunately though my wife is a math teacher.It's not really a question. It's the same as the difference in buying a vacation home or renting a place once a year. paying for only what you use is always a better bargain and beer that's made 30 barrels at a time is always going to be cheaper at every point than anything we can do. We just like to keep up the illusion.
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- You can never beat that feeling of pride in your own work! lol
That's because you work for free. If you track all the cost that goes into a craft beer (unavoidable because you had to pay for it) and ignore a big hunk of the "cost" for homebrew, then you can justify it financially. A 5-gallon batch is 40 pints. Maybe a brew day is 6 hours and there's another hour of packaging, one way or another. At "unskilled" labor wages of $15 an hour that's $105 and that adds $2.60 per beer. Now you're right there at the same price range and you didn't have to pay rent out of it or amortize equipment.
We brew because we want to brew and because, like @Blackmuse says, our beer is better, in most instances than what we can buy.
He's paying himself in beer. Isn't that the dream anyways?That's because you work for free. If you track all the cost that goes into a craft beer (unavoidable because you had to pay for it) and ignore a big hunk of the "cost" for homebrew, then you can justify it financially. A 5-gallon batch is 40 pints. Maybe a brew day is 6 hours and there's another hour of packaging, one way or another. At "unskilled" labor wages of $15 an hour that's $105 and that adds $2.60 per beer. Now you're right there at the same price range and you didn't have to pay rent out of it or amortize equipment.
Economies of scale dictate that we'll never be able to make the typical craft beer in small batches as cheaply as we can buy it.
We definitely don't brew because it saves money.
PS...the wiring was solved long ago. The thread took on a life of it's own.
That's the whole point. It's cheaper if we do it ourselves and subsidize the transaction with our free labor. We just shouldn't try and fool ourselves into believing that there's a point where it turns a corner and the transaction runs in our favor.He's paying himself in beer. Isn't that the dream anyways?
I mean if you apply that logic is it cheaper to do anything yourself? Should we even bother with our own home or auto repairs if we're not saving money?
But is it even work if you enjoy it?That's the whole point. It's cheaper if we do it ourselves and subsidize the transaction with our free labor. We just shouldn't try and fool ourselves into believing that there's a point where it turns a corner and the transaction runs in our favor.
Like I said, we don't brew for cheaper beer, we brew because we want to brew. The pursuit of it is important far beyond the economics.
Don't listen to him Steve, you will be saving so much money brewing your own that you will get the education debt all drank up in no time
