Idn raw dollars, yes, but you are committing labor, which has a value. If you are being paid $60/hr at a job, theoretically you should multiply the hours of labor you put on by that value. Of coursevwe know a labor of love should not really be calculated that way, but it is a useful metric.

I remember several of the brews I did were two-stage. They started inn a plastic bucket, then moved to a glass carboy. These produced more sophisticated flavors and clearer beers. That is labor intensive and adds labor and risk of contamination during transfer.

Then there is the bottling process! That's fun for the first 10 minutes.

[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I think you're missing my point, and it's my fault. For clarity, when I say fermenters are cheaper than beer what I mean is that it's a bad gamble to try to use a fermenter that may have pockets of infectious material in it from a previously infected brew. Better to spend $30 on a new bucket than to trash $100 worth of ingredients and whatever value you place on your labor because you didn't want to spend the money on a new primary