Planting and Brewing
Today was the planting: just a jalepeno plant from the farmer’s market. I’m going to make the spiciest pickles you’ve ever tasted.
Tomorrow is the brewing. I felt nostalgic for my days in college, when brewing beer was at once a bonding activity and end-run around the Law. Neither of those things is really the point these days, but in order to recapture that youthful feeling I “invested” in the Deluxe Beer Making Kit from the local homebrew supply shop. Really, you can consider it an investment – a full batch of beer yields about five gallons, or about 50-odd 12-ounce bottles. A pre-constructed set of ingredients costs between $30 and $35. At worst, that’s about $4 per six-pack, give or take. Add in the sense of pride, and the fact that people are utterly amazed at its homemade origin and generally want to see what all the fuss is about, and the Price Per Util is substantially smaller than with store-bought brews.
The start-up cost (equipment, books) is approximately $130. If we say that I pay an average of $8 for a util-equivalent six-pack bought at the store, and that I pay an average of $32 for each batch of ingredients, and that a batch contains 8 six-packs (a conservative estimate), then I’ll break even after about four batches ($130 + $32 * x = $64 * x –> x = 4.06). Supposing I consume 3 six-packs per month, that’s about a year’s worth of beer.
Anyway, if I’m successful, it’s another reason to visit.
