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I want to homebrew some beer as cheap as possible ive looked a various bitter kits on the net which come in around £20 but then you need buckets,barrels and god knows what else.

Im aware you can make cider very cheap but im not a cider drinker at all.

Is there a way i can start and finish my own first homebrew without breaking the bank?

people get into homebrewing then get bored. only the other day i saw on freecycle a complete beer making set up - so start by looking at car booties and freecycle for the gear?

As with most things, if you buy the kits, you are paying too much. When I buy ingredients I spend about US$25 (thats about £13). A good cheap starter beer recipe is 2 quarts of amber malt extract and 2oz of mild hops (I use cascade) and a packet of brewers yeast.. At my local homebrew shop that will cost me $20 (~£10). Then you need a 5 gallon food grade bucket ($10), 6 foot piece of siphon hose ($3), about 50 bottles (I find them in the nieghbors recycle bins), bottle caps ($3), and a bottle capper ($20).

Thats $56 total for ingredients and equipment. That is about the same that 50 bottles of good beer would cost me at the store. But next time you brew it will cost half that. It is a investment but even the cheapest hombrew is better than your average commercial beer.

I agree with the freecycle comment.

About 10 years ago, my dad threw out all his beer making stuff. i was cursing him for that a couple of months ago!!

And today, my boss offered me a load of winemaking stuff, because i was reading CJJ berry's book on the way in.

So, its well worth asking people around you, and dropping it into casual conversation.

Be aware, though, that you won't get good beer quickly. you've got to go about it the right way, and sterilise everything proerly, you can't just chuck it all in a bin and hope it works.

In my personal opinion, its well worth spending a bit on books and research, and getting in the basic set-up before you start making stuff. I'm still buying books now, and each one teaches me something different, so i'd recommend doing a hell of a lot of research and asking people who have brewed before for their tips. that way, you'll have a lower risk of ruining it and wasting the first few batches.

cheers fee

i bought a book from the charity shop today on home wine and beer making so i shall spend some time reading that first.

Right get yourself a little kit like this one for £6.25

You will also need some sterilizing powder which you can buy from Wilco's pretty cheaply - er perhaps for a pound or so.

You will probably need to buy some sugar too about 1kilo for 68p.

Then a brewing bucket but yes freecycle or friends or charity shops for this or it will be about £30.

For the bottles keep old grolsh bottles or I have used thick screw top cordial bottles.

With beer you have to make sure everything is throughly sterilized.

So you can just about get away with making 5 gallons for about £8.

Just been to wilco's and they are selling beer kits for £5. So if you can get the bottles for nothing and the brewing bucket for nowt all you need is sugar and steralising solution. It should cost you around £7 altogether for about 40 pints. That's around 17p a pint, not bad.

ooh, must visit there on Tuesday then. Need new stuff!

Have they got any demojohns in? At a reasonable price?

If you are willing to try something different, why not make country ales? I will be doing a honey beer this month, but you can make beer out of nettles too, which is a good use for those plants. And they are free!

Andy Hamilton wrote:Just been to wilco's and they are selling beer kits for £5. So if you can get the bottles for nothing and the brewing bucket for nowt all you need is sugar and steralising solution. It should cost you around £7 altogether for about 40 pints. That's around 17p a pint, not bad.

Cheers andy i shall try and find out where my local wilkos is.


Would plastic cola type bottles be ok to use once sterilised?

Can u post the receipe for your honey beer please Wyrdwoman thats sounds interesting?