The Magic of Community

Waaaay back in 2015, I was asked to present at the inaugural Midwest Craft Brewers’ Conference at UW Stout. At the time, I was president of the local homebrew club in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Since I didn’t have commercial brewing experience, I chose to talk about Clarke’s law, which states:

‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ – Arthur C. Clarke

Brewing was Magic

When brewing was developed, the process wasn’t fully understood. Early humans knew that under certain circumstances, grain that was soaked in water produced bubbles and eventually that liquid made them feel nice.

There are some historians who argue that this discovery is what actually encouraged our hunter-gatherer ancestors to settle down and develop agriculture. This theory is met with some skepticism, but as a beer lover, I enjoy the thought that beer was important enough it changed the course of history.

But Magic is Unreliable

Magic, by its nature, is poorly understood at best. There are mysteries, and doing similar things can produce wildly different results. Even wizards in stories, who were the most familiar with the practice of magic always had a degree of uncertainty with the outcome of their magic use.

The people who changed the course of history couldn’t have been happy with inconsistent, unpredictable results.

The Opposite of Magic

I think that technology is the opposite of magic. It can be incredibly complex, and not fully understood by the average person. But to people who use the technology, it is reliable and functions within a certain set of rules.

So I think our early ancestors who became brewers worked to take brewing out of the realm of magic and turn it into technology. Farmers developed better types of grains and better practices for growing them.

Maltsters started to understand how to take those better grains and better prepare them for use in making this magical liquid.

And the brewers started to understand how to take those properly-prepared malts and produce better and more delicious beverages.

Communities: the Best Magic

Over time, these groups of people harnessed a variety of magical concepts to improve the process of making beer and getting it to those who enjoyed it.

In my opinion, the most important magics are friendship and collaboration, where we get to gather together as brewers and talk about ideas for making better beer and better worlds. And as a community of brewing friends, we get to harness the magic of experimentation to learn from each other and bring people together.

Breweries and homebrew clubs have the opportunity to work together to expand everyone’s knowledge of brewing, and of beer. We can work together to make better beer and help others enjoy it.

Be Careful While Brewing

Warning! The images below show graphic injuries. I selected the least objectionable photo as the preview image and as the first example of the need to be careful when we homebrew.

Homebrewing is a hobby, and this caused me to be less careful than I would be in a commercial brewery. I am lucky that the worst injury I received was throwing out my back because I lifted a full mash tun incorrectly. Not a graphic injury, but I don’t think I’ve ever had pain that intense before in my life.

I get kind of upset when I hear fellow homebrewers talking about getting so drunk during their brew days they miss whole portions of their process. I mean, everyone makes their own choices, but the odds of receiving an injury like those below are increased if you are having trouble maintaining your balance because you’re inebriated.

OK, you had your chance to navigate away from this page. Continue at your own risk. The photos below are not mine, and were posted to a Facebook group back in 2017. I did contact each person to request permission to use these photos, and I received permission for each of the photos used below.

Be safe!

Glass Breaks!

It may seem obvious, but glass does break. I had two friends have glass carboys break on them in separate incidents within a surprisingly short period of time. Glass carboys are strong, but the fact they are brittle also presents problems when they receive the wrong impact.

One friend was placing a carboy on a high shelf. When he placed it on the shelf and allowed it to swing back, it hit the carboy next to it, broke in half and the top portion slid down and almost landed on him. Luckily, he was not injured.

Another friend had a full carboy break when he was setting it down on a concrete floor. It split about halfway between the top and bottom, slide over and cut open his palm, forcing him to the emergency room for stitches across his palm. The injury pictured below was a similar situation, but cut the fingers rather than the palm.

Kettles Get Hot!

I don’t know the percentages, but many homebrewers use propane burners to bring their wort to a boil. As a result, the sides of kettles get very hot! If you are using a converted keg, there is also a ridge of metal that gets even hotter than the side of the kettle that has liquid on the other side.

If you don’t pay attention to where you are, it is easy to accidentally back up against your kettle and burn the back of your leg, as shown by this photo.

Chemicals are Chemical-y

I did not get a picture of this, but a friend accidentally spilled undiluted Star-San on his arm. This is a concentrated acid used to sanitize equipment and eliminate bacteria that could negatively affect the flavor of the beer we’re trying to make.

My friend was able to rinse away the concentrate within 10 seconds. In that time, though, it had already peeled away his top layer of skin, leaving a patch of skin that felt “like road rash”.

We’re Moving Boiling Water

The greatest danger is probably the amount of hot water we move around between different vessels. These pictures are the most disturbing to me, and are great examples of what can happen when we make mistakes.

Burns, and especially scalding injuries are extremely painful and also have a high potential for permanent damage.

If you have children, these are also some of the injuries that could be most like to be inflicted on a curious child who just wants to see what you are doing. Try to limit access to your brewing space to those who are capable of understanding the dangers and risks.

This injury was probably caused by an open ball valve or accidentally dropping his hand into a boiling kettle. Regardless, you can see the middle and ring fingers showing damage beyond the top layer of skin.

When you are brewing, make sure the valves are closed on any vessel you are transferring into. I’ve had things happen where my kettle’s ball valve was open when I was filling it, but happily, no one was on that side of the kettle.

I believe these next two photos were from the same individual. I don’t remember if this was a case where kettle tipped over of there was an open ball valve. But regardless, the person was wearing mesh-topped athletic shoes.

Not only did this result in the hot liquid immediately passing into the shoe and burning his feet, but his socks and the shoe actually held the boiling liquid against his skin to do more damage.

This next injury was from a kettle falling and spilling the contents onto this person’s leg. The picture shows what it looked like after enough time had passed he needed to change the bandage, and it is still disturbing.

The injured person was kind enough to send a follow-up photo of what the injury looked like after 18 days of healing. It still looks pretty gnarly, but amazingly well-healed.

Be careful on your brewdays!

Pay attention and stay alert, because you can still make mistakes. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyed, and homebrewing is no different. Take care of yourselves!

Homebrewing Economics

I’ve been involved in many discussions about how to economically justify homebrewing. I don’t agree with the need for this; I consider homebrewing to be a hobby, thus something people do for the enjoyment of the process and end result. However, I think those who try to justify the economics of it are using the wrong argument.

Homebrewing is a hobby, and I don’t think the point of it should be to save money.

My Assumptions

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume we’re talking about making a 5 gallon batch of beer, which will produce 2 cases of 12 ounce bottles. I know that is not the “exactly correct” number, but I’ve never gotten the exact same number of bottles out of every batch. So, 2 cases seems like a good goal.

Also, I’m not going to break down full recipes, I’m just looking at total costs. I will post both the extract and all-grain numbers.

These prices are based on prices at online homebrew shops as of December 2020, and the commercial comparisons are based on prices I was able to find locally or talking to friends who live where the commercial example is more readily available. These are not aftermarket prices, but the actual retail price available to friends or I, without worrying about sale pricing.

Also, I am not going to get into the cost of equipment. I am only focusing on ingredient cost, since we’re just talking about going to the store to get beer versus making the beer ourselves. Startup costs for homebrewing vary and are limited only by your imagination and budget.

I will only include the cost for what is used, even though some of the ingredients must be purchased so you will have extra for a later batch. Your order price may be higher than the total amount for a batch.

The Common Argument

When I’ve been involved in these discussions, usually people talk about the making the cheapest possible batch of beer. For this example, I used the Munich Helles recipe from Brewing Classic Styles (affiliate link) and am comparing it to Pabst Blue Ribbon. This seemed like a decent comparison, since I know there are less expensive commercial beers out there, and we can brew a lower-alcohol, less expensive batch of homebrew. But I want a beer I actually want to drink.

PBR is 4.7% ABV, while the Helles recipe produces a beer about 5% ABV. Again, looking at the bigger picture.

The Price of PBR

At my local store, Pabst Blue Ribbon is available for $18.49 per 30-pack. If you buy 2 so you have approximately 5 gallons, PBR will set you back $36.98.

Price per 12 ounces: $0.62

The Road to Helles

Extract Version

  1. 7.6 pounds of Pilsner liquid malt extract – sold in 3.3 pound containers for $11.99 ($3.63 per pound) Affiliate Link to Briess Pilsen Light LME
    1. Cost of Pilsen light LME used in this recipe: $27.58
  2. 0.5 pounds Munich liquid malt extract – sold in 3.3 pound containers for $11.99 ($3.63 per pound) (Affiliate link to Briess Munich LME)
    1. Cost of Munich LME for this recipe: $1.82
  3. 0.25 pounds Melanoidin Malt (Affiliate Link) $1.86 per pound
    1. Cost of melanoidin malt for this recipe: $0.47
  4. 1.1 ounce Hallertau hops – $2.19 per ounce
    1. Cost of hops for this recipe: $2.41
  5. Saflager S-23 (affiliate link) – $5.49

Total Cost: $37.77

Price per 12 ounce: $0.79

All-Grain Helles version

  1. 10 pounds Czech Pilsen Malt (affiliate link) $1.75 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $17.50
  2. 0.75 pounds Munich malt (affiliate link) $2.19 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.64
  3. 0.25 pounds Melanoidin Malt (Affiliate Link) $1.86 per poundCost of melanoidin malt for this recipe: $0.47
  4. 1.1 ounce Hallertau hops – $2.19 per ounce
    1. Cost of hops for this recipe: $2.41
  5. Saflager S-23 (affiliate link) – $5.49

Total Cost: $27.51

Price per 12 ounces: $0.57

Settling the Common Argument

Looking at the numbers, where the commercial beer costs $0.62 per 12 ounces, it’s not worth the extra cost of making the extract beer, but you can save a nickel per 12 ounces by brewing an all-grain batch. If you look at 48 cans of PBR rather than a 60-pack, you save $2.25 per 5 gallons.

The Better Argument

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (recipe link at Brew Your Own Magazine) is pretty much the gold standard of craft beer. It’s now commonly available nationwide and was one of the first beers in the modern craft beer movement.

This beer is a crazy one for me. When I started homebrewing, I thought it was too bitter for my taste, but now I just really enjoy it. Our tastes do change over time.

The Price of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Locally, I can get a 12-pack of SN Pale Ale for $19.49 in either cans or bottles, both 12 ounces. This means for 48 cans, the total price is $77.96.

Price per 12 ounces: $1.62

SN Pale Ale Extract Version

  1. 6.6 pounds light liquid malt extract (affiliate link) – $11.99 per 3.3 pounds
    1. Cost for this recipe: $23.98
  2. 0.25 pounds light dry malt extract (affiliate link) – $5.49 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.37
  3. 1 pound crystal 60 malt (affiliate link) – $2.41 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $2.41
  4. 0.5 ounce Magnum hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.21
  5. 0.5 ounce Perle hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.21
  6. 4 ounces Cascade hops (affiliate link) – $9.22 per 4 ounces / $2.31 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $9.22
  7. US-05 Dry Yeast (affiliate link) – $3.99

Total Cost for 5 gallons: $43.39

Price per 12 ounces: $0.90

SN Pale Ale All-Grain Version

  1. 10.25 pounds 2-row pale malt (affiliate link) – $2.30 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $23.58
  2. 1 pound crystal 60 malt (affiliate link) – $2.41 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $2.41
  3. 0.5 ounce Magnum hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.21
  4. 0.5 ounce Perle hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.21
  5. 4 ounces Cascade hops (affiliate link) – $9.22 per 4 ounces / $2.31 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $9.22
  6. US-05 Dry Yeast (affiliate link) – $3.99

Total cost for 5 gallons: $41.61

Price per 12 ounces: $0.87

Winning the Better Argument

When we compare the cost for 5 gallons of SN Pale Ale ($77.96) vs Extract ($43.39) vs All-Grain ($41.61), we see this is a pretty good argument for the economics of homebrewing. By homebrewing, we can cut the cost of obtaining a delicious beer nearly in half.

The Best Argument

If you can find Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA (link to recipe on American Hombrewers’ Association site), it is undoubtedly a delicious beer that changed what people thought was possible for beer.

It’s good we established early in this article that we are only looking at the cost of ingredients. Because while this example is a great financial argument, it’s going to require some extra work and time to make it happen. This beer is a month-long commitment to dry-hopping and feeding extra fermentables to your batch.

The Price of Dogfish Head 120-Minute IPA

This beer is one many beer nerds still consider to be a white whale, in that it isn’t commonly available nationwide. It also is not produced constantly, which increases its rarity and desirability. I got to try it on draft a couple years ago, but haven’t seen the bottles for longer than that.

A friend who sees it where he lives said it was $40.00 for a 4-pack of twelve ounce bottles. If you have the wherewithal to pull it off, 2 cases worth of Dogfish 120 will devour $480.00.

Price per 12 ounces: $10.00

DFH 120-Minute Extract Version

  1. 11.5 pounds light Pilsen LME (affiliate link) – $11.99 per 3.3 pounds / $3.63 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $41.75
  2. 0.5 pound English amber malt (affiliate link) – $2.20 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.10
  3. 11 pounds Dextrose (affiliate link) – $17.99 for 12 pounds / $1.50 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $16.50
  4. 2.4 ounces Amarillo hops (affiliate link) – $4.39 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $10.54
  5. 2.4 ounces Simcoe hops (affiliate link) – $3.29 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $7.90
  6. 2.4 ounces Warrior hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $5.78
  7. White Labs WLP001 (affiliate link) – $7.99 per PurePitch packet
    1. Cost for this recipe: $7.99
  8. White Labs Super High Gravity Yeast (affiliate link) – $7.99 per PurePitch packet
    1. Cost for this recipe: $7.99

Total Cost for 5 gallons: $99.55

Price per 12 ounces: $2.07

DFH-120 Minute IPA All-Grain Version

  1. 16 pounds Czech Pilsner Malt (affiliate link) – $1.75 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $28.00
  2. 0.5 pound English amber malt (affiliate link) – $2.20 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $1.10
  3. 11 pounds Dextrose (affiliate link) – $17.99 for 12 pounds / $1.50 per pound
    1. Cost for this recipe: $16.50
  4. 2.4 ounces Amarillo hops (affiliate link) – $4.39 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $10.54
  5. 2.4 ounces Simcoe hops (affiliate link) – $3.29 per ounce
    1. 7.9+Cost for this recipe: $7.90
  6. 2.4 ounces Warrior hops (affiliate link) – $2.41 per ounce
    1. Cost for this recipe: $5.78
  7. White Labs WLP001 (affiliate link) – $7.99 per PurePitch packet
    1. Cost for this recipe: $7.99
  8. White Labs Super High Gravity Yeast (affiliate link) – $7.99 per PurePitch packet
    1. Cost for this recipe: $7.99

Total cost for 5 gallons: $85.80

Price per 12 ounces: $1.79

Dominating the Best Argument

When you look at the cost of 5 gallons of DFH120 ($480.00) vs Extract ($99.55) vs All-Grain ($85.80), you can start making strong arguments about saving money by homebrewing. DFH 120 is an extreme example of the possibilities, which seems fitting given it was the founder of the “extreme beer” movement.

Even by brewing brewing the extract version of DFH 120, you save 79%, which is a strong argument for how you could save money by homebrewing. But investing $100.00 in a batch of beer is still pretty intimidating.

What Can We Learn?

I will go back to what I said at the beginning of this article: “Homebrewing is a hobby, and I don’t think the point of it should be to save money.”

As a homebrewer, I make a weird combination of beers similar to beers priced near SN Pale Ale to bigger or stranger beers that are more expensive. For me, the joy and challenge of homebrewing is the process and exploring flavors.

The biggest point, though, is that I can produce beers similar to hard-to-get offerings that may not be available in my area or aren’t made anymore. But mostly, I make the beers I like or allow me to explore flavors that intrigue me.

#BrewUpAnAdventure