Beer Cost Per Pint Calculator
Work out what a pint of your beer really costs, from grain and hops to power, labour and excise. Switch between homebrew and brewery.
Loading the calculator…
What goes into the cost of a pint
For homebrewers, ingredients are almost the whole cost. Malt and hops usually make up most of it, and electricity is a small share.
For a brewery, it flips. Ingredients are often a small part of the cost; labour, rent, insurance and loan payments are most of it. Those fixed costs get shared across every barrel you sell, so your cost per pint falls fast as volume goes up. Try raising Batches per month in brewery mode and watch the number drop.
Ways to lower your cost per pint
- Buy base malt by the sack. A 55 lb (25 kg) sack costs far less per pound than bagged homebrew malt.
- Buy hops by the pound and keep them vacuum-sealed in the freezer.
- Harvest and repitch yeast. Healthy ale yeast can be reused for several batches, which removes one of the bigger line items.
- Brew bigger batches. A brew day takes about the same time at 5 or 15 gallons, so bigger batches cut labour per pint.
- Keep the lid on. Heating with the lid on saves power and time.
How much power does electric brewing use?
Less than most people expect. A 5,500 W element running for 2.5 hours uses 13.75 kWh, about $2 at 15 cents per kWh. A 1 BBL brewhouse with an 11 kW element running 3 hours uses 33 kWh, about $4 at 12 cents. Heating the water for cleaning adds a little more.
Excise tax
US brewers pay federal excise tax of $3.50 per barrel on their first 60,000 barrels a year, plus state beer tax. Canadian brewers pay excise duty per hectolitre, with lower rates for small brewers; check the current rates with the CRA. Enter your combined rate per barrel in brewery mode.
Questions
How much does it cost to homebrew 5 gallons of beer?
Most 5-gallon ales cost roughly $30–45 in ingredients, or about 60–90 cents per 12 oz bottle. Strong beers and heavily hopped IPAs cost more. Enter your own prices above for your number.
How much does a pint cost a brewery to make?
Ingredients are usually well under a dollar a pint at 1 BBL and less at bigger sizes. The full cost depends on labour, rent and loan payments and on how many barrels share them. Switch to brewery mode, enter your fixed costs and batches per month to see yours.
Is homebrewing cheaper than buying craft beer?
Usually yes, once you own the equipment. Enter the price of a six-pack you’d buy and your equipment cost, and the calculator shows how many batches it takes to pay the equipment back.
Where does a brewery make the best margin?
In its own taproom. A pint poured over your own bar skips the distributor and the bar’s markup. Kegs sold to bars and packaged beer bring in less per pint, so they need more volume to pay.