| This article addresses saving money on beer without | | | | you are only paying for 1 container and you can |
| sacrificing quality. Beer is one expense many people | | | | trade it in and use it again. Full barrels are 31 gallons |
| do not want to cut out of their budget. If you fall | | | | and are typically only sold to large venues such as |
| into this category, a better idea is to reduce spending | | | | sporting arena. You can usually buy beer in a keg for |
| without reducing the quality of the beer. | | | | half the price per ounce compared to beer in bottles. |
| The more expensive beer is typically made with | | | | The main problem with kegs is that if you do not |
| higher quality ingredients. Beer is basically barley, hops | | | | have a good CO2 tap system, they will go flat in a |
| and water, but cheaper beer is cheap because they | | | | few days and the average household will not drink a |
| use cheap ingredients like rice, corn and other cheap | | | | keg before it goes flat. If you want to buy kegs, |
| fermentables in place of some of the barley to cut | | | | you are best off to invest in a good tap system and |
| costs. It is easy to reduce cost by just buying | | | | probably a mini fridge. This can cost a few hundred |
| cheaper ingredients, but then you usually reduce the | | | | dollars, but once a good system is set up, your beer |
| quality. Reducing cost by reducing quality is never a | | | | budget can be cut in half. Your $100 a month beer |
| good option for a beer connoisseur. There are a few | | | | budget can turn into a $50 a month beer budget. |
| ways to reduce beer costs and still maintain high | | | | Your new setup should be paid off with a few kegs. |
| quality. | | | | Keg beer comes in almost every variety that is |
| The average consumer buys beer in 6 packs, 12 | | | | already in your local liquor store and sometimes you |
| packs or cases of 12 oz bottles. This is convenient | | | | can special order kegs. If you like to drink |
| and handy, but there is a significant amount of the | | | | micro-brews, you can often purchase kegs from |
| cost in the packing and the materials. Each bottle | | | | your local brewers. Buying your beer directly from |
| costs money and takes longer per ounces to fill. | | | | the brewer can be a real treat; it doesn't get any |
| When you buy 12 bottles, drink them and throw | | | | fresher than buying it from the source. At smaller |
| them away, you are spending extra money to throw | | | | local brewers you can sometimes purchase special |
| away all of those bottles. As with most products, | | | | holiday and seasonal brews that are not bottled and |
| you pay more for packaging. | | | | distributed through the stores, but only sold in kegs |
| When you buy a keg of beer you are actually buying | | | | locally. |
| a half barrel (15.5 gallons or 165 bottles of beer) or a | | | | You can save money and also greatly improve the |
| quarter barrel (7.75 gallons or 82 bottles of beer) and | | | | quality of your beer by purchasing kegs. |
