Good Cheap Beer Recipes?

[LouieMacGoo]

I was looking at Adventures in Homebrewing's website and noticed that they have 9 different 6 gallon Hopped Extract kits from Mangrove Jack, including yeast on sale for $20 each (50% off). I don't really know much about how good these kits are but it got me to thinking about good cheap beer recipes.

One of the reasons many of us started brewing was so we could have really good beer for less than or close to what we would pay for a case of the mass produced, watered down stuff Miller, Bud and Coors calls beer.

I don't have anything cheap that I regularly brew but from time to time I can get an AG recipe from AIH for $20 plus the cost for yeast, which if I use dry yeast I can brew for about $25 out the door. These are usually seasonal brews that they have like their "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Ale" I brewed a couple of years ago.

So what are your good, cheap beer recipes? How often do you brew it and how much does it cost you to brew it?

Note: If there are some really good recipes that you all post I can add the beerxml file to the main web page for everyone to download and use.

[BlackDuck]

I really don't compare my costs to the cheap stuff, ie. Miller, Bud, Coors, etc. I compare it to a similar style craft beer. My last batch I brewed was a session IPA. It cost about $45 (give or take a dollar or three)(I don't keep track of my exact costs). That was for a 5 gallon batch. If I compare that to the cost of a Session IPA from one of my local breweries, I would be spending appx $9 per six pack.

If I were to bottle, I would get around 53 beers. So to make numbers even, let's just talk cases. I bottle 2 cases of beer, which costs me $45. 2 cases of the local stuff would be $72. So I saved about $27 on this batch. I'll take that saving every day, plus, I'm drinking my own beer!!! And I usually brew this one twice per year, at least I try to.

Next, I'll be brewing a Czech pilsner. That batch should run around $30 or so. And I would still compare it to a craft pilsner at appx $9 per 6 pack, so my savings are even greater on this one. About $42.

[bpgreen]

I've never tried any of those, but they look like they're a good deal and probably similar to BrewDemon, Coopers, Muntons, etc, except that they're in a pouch instead of a can. The ones I clicked to see details looked a little low in ABV, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of.

I usually start with a general idea of what kind of beer I want, then plug ingredients into BeerSmith until I get something that looks like what I want. I do stovetop partial mashes, so I generally start with 6 lbs of extra light LME (I get it in bulk from my LHBS for $2/lb), then add in the grains until I get where I want to be for estimated ABV, SRM, etc, then add the hops until I get the IBUs where I want them.

Occasionally, I'll go with a kit. When I do, it's usually because of a sale. I still usually go with either PM or extract+steeping grains and a full boil, but I did pick up some of the Brew Demon prehopped kits from the clearance sale (those come in handy when I'm traveling a lot and don't have much time to brew).

One source of pretty decent kits for a good price is Midwest's Beer, Simply Beer kits. I've made a few of those and they've turned out well.

[Kealia]

Great question. I have a 15-minute boil recipe that I've used a number of times that I might just go back to soon. It's not only fairly cheap but it's a FAST brewday and turned out a damn good beer.

I've done this with Citra, Cascade, a combo of hops and Marris Otter LME in place of DME - the options are limitless.
It's really very similar to what mashani does when he freezes his wort at times (if I'm not mistaken).

This was for a 3.25G batch - scale as you like:
8oz C-20 (steeped)
4oz Carapils (steeped)
4lbs DME

Bring to boil with water from steeped grains. Only boil for 15 minutes.
1oz Citra @ 15
1/2oz Citra @ 5
Whirfloc @ 5
1/2oz Citra @ flameout
WLP001 (or your favorite yeast)
1oz Citra dry hopped for 5 days

This beer was really good as soon as it was bottled and carbed for ~3 weeks. And the hop presence held up extremely well 2-3 months later, too.

Simple, easy, fsat and pretty cheap.
Again, replace the hops (and yeast) with your preferences.

[Dawg LB Steve]

My "flagship" beers, some of which I think you have listed on the recipe page, are all in the range of about $20-$25 for 5.5 gallon batch for me. I buy grain in bulk and am able to use my tap water with very little adjustment, so that was a real cost savings from buying spring water. So around a 5.5-6.0% beer, 5+ gallons I use aprox 12 lbs grain at around a dollar a lb averaging in some specialty grains, a couple cents of water, $5-$7 for hops and depending on the yeast whether dry or liquid eating up the rest of the brew money.

[John Sand]

I feel pretty good about brewing whenever I buy craft beer
I don't really try to brew cheap recipes, but I feel that I can brew 5 gallons for a little more than the cost of a craft twelve pack. That is savings. I will occasionally buy kits on sale (extract+grains) for $20 or less.

[TonyKZ1]

I've bought those Simply Beer recipes from Midwest Supplies, those actually turned out to be some of my best beers so far, as judged by family & co-workers that I've shared them with. I've seen those Mangrove Jack recipes from AIH and have thought about trying them, figured they'd be similar to the 6G BrewDemon recipes. I try to save money on stuff like this whenever I can.

[mashani]

If you like Belgian beer like flavors, except more intense yeast profile (because that's how Patersbier/Singles work), yet as easy to drink as any lawnmower beer:

For 2.5 gallons:

3# Pilsner LME
1/4# Wheat DME
(or use somewhere around 3.5# to 3.75# of Pilsner or pale malt and 1/4# of wheat malt)

1oz French Aramis hops @20

Either Abbaye dry yeast or Wyeast 3787 or WLP 530, your choice.

If using extract the 20 minute boil is all you need, so not only is it good and cheap but also fast.

If using a full 60 minute boil you could use 1/2oz of Aramis @60 and 1/2oz @20.

I love this beer and make variations on it every summer.

You can anywhere from 4oz to 8oz of any sort of candi syrup / candi sugar, or even cane sugar to boost it's abv a bit closer to BPA territory and change up the flavor profile a bit.

That's basically what I call "Easy French Blonde" and she is always lovely to have around.

I would highly suggest using one of the yeasts I chose and not pick some really phenolic or banana like Belgian yeast (IE WLP500). The fruity esters (which are not so much banana, but more like apples, pears, plums, and light citrus) that the yeasts provide are wonderful, and there is plenty of spice from the hops. Regardless of yeast choice, ferment this on the warm side to promote the fruity esters and not the phenols.

[teutonic terror]

I've got an AG blonde recipe I've brewed three times in the last few months...
once with Citra and twice with Cascade. The opinion from SWMBO is the Cascade
recipe is better.

Getting to be a regular now.

With the present cost of my ingredients, 5.25 gallons cost me $18.25.