I need to stop trying to save a buck

[Gymrat]

Last weekend I wanted to brew but when I went to see what yeast I had handy, I had none. So I thought I would order some, I went on Amazon because with prime I can get it without shipping. It was six bucks. I know I can get it for three here in town. So today after work I drive across town to the local LHBS. I start looking at his yeast and thinking maybe I should just stock up. I think I bought about 9 packs. Gotta have some Nottingham, he only had 1 BRY-97 so I threw in a couple of S05s. Of course I needed some S04. So I get done with that and I am thinking I need some fresh tubing, then I thought my auto siphon is a few years old. Well it turns out they have a half inch auto siphon which would really speed up my kegging process. Which of course meant getting a new wand. In the mean time a newbie was asking how we know how much alcohol is in our beer, the owner proceeded to tell him about a little gadget that measures the alcohol in anything, it's kinda like a little hydrometer of sorts, I asked if they were expensive, he said 6 bucks. In the bag it went. Well when it was all said and done my bill was $48. All to save 3 bucks on a package of yeast.

[alb]

Yep, sounds right! Make your own beer, they said. It's a lot cheaper, they said.

[mashani]

I'm curious about the alcohol gadget that you did not need but now have obtained in order to save money on other stuff.

[FedoraDave]

Oh, the irony.

BTW, I have a gadget that tells me how much alcohol is in my beer; it's called a calculator.

[John Sand]

I just use my wife to judge the ABV. If she likes it, it's strong. If she really really likesh it, it's too strong!

[RickBeer]

Got a chuckle out of this.

Recently I was showing my wife how my homebrew hobby WAS in fact saving money - twelve pack costs averaging below $7. She smiled and said "what about your equipment cost?" I said back "even with the equipment cost, it's still well below the cost at the store". She came back with "how's our consumption compared to before homebrewing?"...

Prior to homebrewing, we went through maybe 4 cases per year if that. I shut up.

[Yankeedag]

Got a chuckle out of this.

Recently I was showing my wife how my homebrew hobby WAS in fact saving money - twelve pack costs averaging below $7. She smiled and said "what about your equipment cost?" I said back "even with the equipment cost, it's still well below the cost at the store". She came back with "how's our consumption compared to before homebrewing?"...

Prior to homebrewing, we went through maybe 4 cases per year if that. I shut up.

and now you go through zero commercial cases a year? More savings.

[Kealia]

Yep, sounds right! Make your own beer, they said. It's a lot cheaper, they said.

[Brewbirds]

Gymrat we're gonna run off all the noobies.

[Gymrat]

I'm curious about the alcohol gadget that you did not need but now have obtained in order to save money on other stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/NorthernBrewer-Vi ... =vinometer

[BlackDuck]

It will be intersting to see how the accuracy compares to a hydrometer. It says "Most accurate when testing dry wines where very little residual sugar is present. The sweeter the wine the less accurate the vinometer becomes." Most beers have quite a bit of residual sugar, which means this might not be real accurate. Please post results when you have a chance to use it.

[Gymrat]

I was hoping it would give me an idea of how much alcohol I gain when I add a pound of sugar to a Saison after a week of fermentation or 12 oz of bourbon to a porter. I am also curious about how a store bought 5% beer compares to a home brewed 5% beer.

I don't think beer has more residual sugars than a dry wine. I could be wrong on that.

[BigPapaG]

Hope it works for you...

It did not work well for me.

Doesn't handle carbonation well at all and did not seem to be accurate on pre-carbonated finished beer either.

Probably should try it on some wine though...

Never thought of that...

YMMV.

[Gymrat]

I figured the bubbles would interfere with it. My thoughts were to let a sample of the beer I want to test go flat first.

[John Sand]

You still really saved a few bucks. Because you would have bought that stuff anyway. And by making only one trip, you're saving the environment.
Who's your pal?