About 3 years ago, I made the decision to not drink alcohol during the week (except when on holiday!). The reason for this was twofold:
1. Health – there are a lot of calories in alcohol, particularly beer, which is my favourite tipple at home. As I upped my exercising and started to eat more healthily, cutting down on drinking during the week just formed part of the plan. I don’t miss it, but admit it’s not always easy. However, there’s nothing better than finishing work on a Friday knowing there’s a nice cold beer in the fridge waiting for me!
2. Money – Only drinking on Friday and/or Saturday meant less spent on alcohol in my weekly shop. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like I drank loads or had weekly binges at home but alcohol isn’t cheap and often made up to a third of my overall shop. These days, what I spend is more acceptable.
But could I spend even less? (Sorry, becoming tee-total is not an option, before anyone suggests this!)
Home Brewing
In the past, I’d always had the impression that home brewing was something difficult that involved lots of fiddly equipment and complicated brewing recipes and ingredients, a remote hobby that was enjoyed by middle-aged, bearded men who liked their drink strong and potent – why ‘bearded’? I don’t know – that’s just the impression I had of home brewers!
However, after doing some research, I found that home brewing is a big business, enjoyed by all kinds of people of all ages, male and female (some might even have beards…the men that is!). There also seemed to be a great choice of quality beginners’ kits available.
So, since I already make my own bread (albeit with a bread machine…), I’ve decided that I’m going to try my hand at brewing my own beer!
DIY Beer Kit
There are lots of different types of home brew beer kits but I needed one that included all the necessary equipment in one kit. In the end, I went for the Coopers DIY Beer Kit, which includes the ingredients, fermenting keg with tap and bottles to store the finished beer. All I need to add is water, although there was nothing to sterilise the equipment, so I picked up a few packets of Milton sterilising tablets (good enough for baby, good enough for beer!).
The kit has some good reviews, plus there was an online offer at Tesco and I had a £5 voucher. It will make 40 pints of beer….well, that’s going to last me a wee while, haha!
Yes, all that kit fits into the box – it was very well packed!
The good thing about the Coopers kit is that it seems to be popular so there are lots of videos on YouTube on how to use the kit, including the official one posted by Coopers themselves.
So What Savings?
The kit cost £47 with my voucher (although I also got 68p cashback on it from TopCashback*), steriliser cost £3, so £50 in total.
40 pints works out @ £1.25 per pint or £1.11 per bottle (500ml). Ok, a good saving compared to a pint in the pub, but no great saving compared to the stuff I buy in the supermarket.
The bigger savings are made when you brew your next batch (and subsequent batches), because the equipment I’ve purchased is all reusable (including the bottles) so I’ll just need another beer kit (I don’t have the time/expertise to gather all the separate ingredients…yet!) which cost around £12 for a standard pack or around £25 for a premium kit.
So if I picked up a £12 kit, that works out @ 30p a pint or 26p a bottle!
Of course, any saving is dependent on how drinkable the final brew is…Wonder if my friends would be brave enough to sample?!
Will I end up Drinking More?
No – unlike with food, (snacks in particular) whereby if it’s in the house I’ll eat it, I’m not the same with alcohol. Just because I have a fridge full of beer or several bottles of wine doesn’t mean I drink any more than I usually do.
Plus, this will hopefully turn into a new hobby to enjoy – just from reading the various brewing forums and websites, I’ve already learned lots of new stuff, so this isn’t just an excuse to fill my boots, as it were – it’s educational too as well as a money-saver!
Patience
Anyway, I’ve followed the instructions which were pretty straight forward and since Saturday, my brew has been fermenting in the kitchen:
Starting to smell a bit like a brewery!
I was a little afraid that my kitchen might be a bit too cold but I think it’s been ok – I guess I won’t be able to brew in the winter though, unless I had some sort of heating apparatus.
Now I have to wait…
I’ll report back in a few weeks’ time on the outcome – fingers crossed it’s a good brew!
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Good luck. I'm interested to see how you get on.
Of course another key financial benefit of this project is that a fridge that is full (of beer or anything else) costs less to run than a near empty one!
Hi Weenie,
I tried the MMM method of producing booze recently. Use apple juice or similar, add yeast, bottle until it stops fermenting, bottle, add a teaspoon of sugar and condition for another 5 days or so.
The drink was sparkling and very nice (and about 7%). It could not have been easier to produce. The next step is to collect apples rather than buying apple juice.
Keep blogging.
BM
Hi UTMT, thanks – I'll be sure to update, good or bad brew!
I knew that freezers cost less to run when they're full but didn't realise the same applied to fridges – guess I need to keep my fridge stocked with 'stuff' as it's always empty by the end of the week! Thanks for the advice and for stopping by!
Hi BM, I did read MMM's post – just thought it seemed 'too simple', yet it's obviously worked for you! 7% is potent though, and knowing me, I'd drink it like it was a soda, ie too fast! A lot of the home brewers I've read about grow their own ingredients, which is something I'm interested in getting into at some point.
Anyway, the MMM method is something to consider trying! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Weenie,
I've always been put off home brewing as I remember an Uncle home brewing and the beer and wine was pretty disgusting!
My parents are home brewing wine at the moment. They say it tastes nice but I've not tried it yet but I think I heard my mum say she is going to put a bottle in the xmas hamper she always does us so if its nice, I may change my mind.
You will have to do an update and let us know the results, good or bad!
Hi Mrs FF, that was something I was aware of too, that many homebrews were not drinkable. However, I think the kits have come a long way from since those dark days – well, fingers crossed for me anyway! I hope you enjoy the bottle that your mum is packing for you – you'll have to include your verdict in your Christmas blog post!
My brew is smelling good at the moment – if you like the smell of beer! 🙂
I live not too far from a brewery and if the the wind is blowing in the right direction, I sometimes get a whiff of hops! Cant say I mind it at all!
Speaking of hops, I might do the 'green' thing and grow my own as an extension to my 'new' hobby!
My husband made his own beer. I am not much of a beer drinker but he seemed to like it. He is going to start brewing again. Good luck.
Hi May, thanks. I'm already thinking about brewing my next batch but this hobby takes up a lot of space so I'm going to have to be patient! Good luck to your husband for his next brew!
I usually find that if people make beer, their friends will always try it. So you probably won't need to worry about that. I have some friends and coworkers that brew their own stuff. I hope it turns out well. Good Luck!
Hi Zee, thanks. Well from the sounds of it, all the guys at work have abandoned their plans to brew their own as they want to sample my brew first, like a "try before they buy"! Pressure is on now for my brew to be a good one – fingers crossed!
I'm nowhere near being much of a beer drinker (although I do get a bit adventurous during the holidays) but if I was this would definitely be the way to go! I bet there's got to be something satisfying about fermenting your own brew! I'm interested on what you'll think about your first batch. Looking forward to part 2!
Hi Naomi, yes, I can't wait for the brew to be ready and will surely be very proud once it's all fermented! Right now, it doesn't appear to be going to plan according to the instructions that came with the kit (ie taking longer than usual) but 'experts' on home brew forums assure it should be fine. It still smells good anyway! I'm hoping it's going to be the first of many brews!
Pretty cool. I have been making my own beer at home for about seven years. Started with one of those basic kits and later evolved into more exotic flavors and ingredients once I got the hang of what I was doing. Fun to create and cheaper to produce. Plus a lot of my friends enjoy my homemade brew. Thanks for sharing.
Hi DivHut, I'm thinking of just doing kits for now until I've got some successful brews under my belt before becoming more adventurous! Great to hear that you've been doing this for 7 years, sounds like it's a worthwhile hobby to get into! Thanks for stopping by.