I’m not sure how many of you make starters for your beers, especially the bigger ones, but I do.  Some of you have been brewing for some time and others are just starting out, so you might be looking for how to make a starter, so here’s a post about how and why to make one.  For now, I just want to find a way to save you some cash when you start making a starter.  There are several cool ways to reduce the cost of brewing equipment, including using more common stuff for homebrewing rather than assuming you have to buy specialized equipment.

Here’s what I mean.  I bought my one gallon fermenter at a brew shop.  The going rate for the one gallon fermenter is about $5.  It’s not a huge expense, but it is one.  Do you cook much?  Do you cook with wine much?  Or do you know someone who does?  Here’s what I figured out.  I shopped at Smart and Final and was able to purchase a 4 liter jug o’ wine for about $7.50-8.00 (and I used a coupon to get an additional dollar off).  Not a bad price for some halfway decent cooking wine.  But here is the cool part: 4 liters is 1.05 gallons.  My suggestion is that you get cooking wine and your starter vessel in one place. Aren’t you cooking with the wine anyway?  Or, if you know someone who cooks with wine a lot, ask that someone to save their jug for you.

If you’re not as frugal (or cheap, depending on perspective), then don’t worry about this post.  I just figured that we all like to save a little money, which is why I’m doing this and switching to Geico at the same time.