I can brew real ale from grain with my home grown hops for as little as 15 to 17 pence a pint (with a Original G at 1048) (at an exchange rate of say in the region of about 1.46 that would be 22 to 25 cents per pint) to buy a pint of real ale bitter (cast conditioned beer from the hand pump) in our local village pub would cost you about £2.40p ($3.50). The same beer In the highlands of Scotland in a local hotel would set you back about £3.70 ($5.40) In Ireland it’s even dearer!

I use a 36 litre insulated cool box that has been converted to a mash tun by running a 22mm copper pipe in a loop with slots cut into it with a hacksaw the exits out via a tap. I had mine made to order, but after seeing how it was made I could have easily made one myself saving quite a bit.

I purchased a stainless steel 7 gallon wash boiler to boil the wort’s with the hops.

I have brewed Guinness type stout, using 7 pounds of crushed Pale malt barley, 2 pounds of flaked barley 1 pound of crushed roasted barley 1 once of bullion hops and 3 ounces of northern brewers hops and yeast from a Guinness bottle (if your lucky I had to settle for a stout type yeast) for a 5 gallon brew. I have substituted goldings Kent hops from time to time. I use 5 gallon pressure barrels to store can be consumed after 7 to 10 days

leave set 2 weeks bottle leave set 1 week done
use 3/4 cup of sugar for priming bottles.

easy. be a joy-kill bastard like me and not drink at all.

I starting using glass carboys but the first time I did it, I put the hot mixture into the glass and ran some water on it… boom, explosion, extreme sadness, and then frustration as I had to clean it up. Hot to cold real quick in glass is BAD.

Depending upon the style of beer, it can take more than 3 weeks. In fact, almost everything I make has at least a two month turnaround, and my stouts and porters usually have about a 4 or 5 month turnaround before I start drinking them. They taste so much better after they have aged.

Generally speaking, the first batch is the hardest while you wait for it to be ready. I use a racking system where I leave it in the primary fermenter for 1 to 2 weeks (depending on style) and then rack it to another fermenter to get it out of its sediment for anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 months. Sometimes I will rack it more than once. The trick is to start the next batch right after the first batch before you can drink it, because then once you do start drinking it you are currently drinking the brew from a few months ago.

I also recommend kegs; they are much easier than bottling. I also use my kegs to do the bottling, which is better than gravity. I will say, though, that unless you are doing all grain brewing, the costs are not a whole lot cheaper than what you would normally buy. A little bit, but not a ton. The satisfaction of having your own recipes though…mmmmm….

Before I get rolling on this week’s roundup, I just wanted to remind y’all about the MoneyBlogNetwork Forums, which are fast becoming a treasure trove of information for personal finance bloggers of all shapes and sizes. Please stop by and …

You won’t think that you’re drinking an inferior beer but I wouldn’t brew a light beer since it’s really not worth all that effort to brew yourself a miller lite.