Brewing Low Cost Beer

I want to brew low cost beer. I soon learned that the amount of time you spend on brewing beer makes the small difference in cost between "just OK" ingredients and top quality ingredients a minor point. Either way, the cost of brewing a 5 gallon batch is much cheaper than buying a couple of cases of beer in the store.
I do like to work out how much the beer costs and push it to the minimum. But I would not compromise flavor and character to save a few bucks. For example, I don't waste my time with ingredients that are not fresh, or are not absolutely the top quality ingredient I can get. Beer is made of cheap ingredients, so it doesn't hurt to buy the best. I also like a moderately strong beer, say about 5 or 6%, stronger than what you typically get with store bought beer. So I don't mind paying a bit more to add fermentables and get a richer flavor.

Surprisingly, the cheapest way to brew beer gives you the best results: all grain brewing is the cheapest way to brew when grain is bought in bulk. You do need a grain mill and a mash tun, so there is a small investment in equipment needed. But you should be able to brew excellent quality beer for less than $2 per gallon, and you could brew a mild ale for as little as $1 per gallon, or less than 10 cents per bottle (one gallon is about 10-1/2 12oz bottles). Most of my pilsners are about $1.50 a gallon brews.

Other ways to reduce the cost of your beer are by growing your own hops and reusing yeast from the fermenter. I often pour one batch on top of the yeastcake left from the previous batch, and also pump the yeastcake out of the primary fermenter into bottles and save it in the fridge. Easy to do, and it means that I don't have to buy yeast more than once every half year or so. I haven't grown hops yet, but a friend has some hops that I will help harvest and get a few bags from. The hops should last me through most of the winter brews. So all I need is grain, which is about $0.70 per pound in a bulk purchase (much of the cost is in shipping). I usually use between 8 and 10 pounds of grain per 5 gallon batch. So brewing does not have to be expensive.