Re: Mag-Mills? Other mills? Brewery expenses?

Just remember, it all depends on how you account for your hobby. My hobby started as I kicked another habit: cigarettes. The first year of my "smoking allocation" went into stainless steel, burners, and general industrial junk most people would ignore. After absorbing those costs, my only current expenses are raw materials, cleaning chemicals, and energy. Water is a non-cost since our daughter is in college and the water bill actually dropped. For a 15 gallon batch, I typically use 20-25 lbs of base malt ($10-$25), hops ($3), yeast ($4.25), energy ($2.50) which averages out to about $25 per batch. Now if I didn't enjoy my hobby, I would charge for my time but this would be kind of like trying to justify your time spent fishing. It is a value added activity that I enjoy - not a task that I dislike. My wife has also questioned my expenses and every time this happens, I bring out the fishing literature, boat and motor books brochures, and the truck catalog. Somehow, the cost concern quickly fades. Take care - will stop by Midwest this Saturday but we have a tight schedule with visiting relatives from Danmark. Have a heart, Steve. My wife has questioned the expense, but I think she still believes it is an economical hobby. I'll let you all know when I get below $10/bottle average expense. 8-) Mark At 09:04 AM 6/5/02 -0500, Steve Piatz wrote: Engineer, Gentleman, & Brewer, Mark D. Glewwe http://www.glewwe-castle.com/mark/