Hi! I'm a beginner, never brewed before. I'm going to start brewing with extracts because that seems to be the usual advice, but I'm already thinking to the future and all-grain brewing. I was wondering: what are the differences (in process) between all grain and extract, and what is the special equipment that I hear people talking about that I would need to purchase in order to go all-grain? Is it really that expensive?
It's somewhat like the difference between "scratch" baking and buying a mix. With extract, the step of preparing the wort has been done for you. With all-grain, you need to do a "mash" step to convert the starches in the grains to sugars, which you drain off. You can take it one step further with all-grain if you crush the grain prior to brewing. This is akin to grinding flour in baking, but with the advantage that most LHBS's will crush grain for you if you buy it there. (But if you brew often you will soon find yourself wanting a crusher/mill of your own.)
There is nothing wrong with extract brewing, and I'd advise you to try it at least a couple/few times before going with an all-grain method. I'm doing all-grain for a few reasons:
1) I've been a "scratch" kind of baker for a long time, and don't use mixes. This isn't because you can't find a good mix, rather I am cheap and I can get various flour types a lot cheaper than anything mixed up. I'm this way with other food prep also. I like to make soups, etc from scratch rather than buying them and heating them up.
2) I think there is more control on the process. With mashing/sparging, you can control the mash temperature, the liquid/grain ratio, the fineness of the grain crush, etc. With this, you can vary the resulting wort. You can also f it up big time!
3) I'm cheap. While there isn't a big difference in price buying all-grain materials vs. extract at the LHBS, with all-grain I can participate in group grain buys. Doing this plus things like re-using yeast (which you certainly can do with extract), I've been able to get my average batch cost for 5 gallons of great beer well under $20. (This is somewhat misleading as I've bought a lot of equipment and other toys which totally offsets this.)
4) It's easier to get lighter colored beers with all-grain, as extract typically has higher SRM (color) values. There are tricks you can do to offset this, and there are lighter LME/DME's available, such as Briess LME Pilsen Light (SRM 2.3).
There are disadvantages to all-grain. Here's some:
1) Takes longer, as you need to do mash/sparge steps. I figure on average it adds 2 hours to my brew day.
2) You will soon find yourself needing a grain storage room with all the grains you will want to buy.
3) You will need more pots. I do a in-the-bag method for mashing and sparging, and end up with pots all over the place. You will find yourself buying more stuff: Pots, mash tuns, then the next thing you know you will be building a 3-tiered brew stand or buying pumps to move liquid around.
I've managed to stick with just pots by using a brew-in-the-bag (really mash/sparge in the bag) method, but I can see it coming.
4) As with scratch baking, your "more control" means that you can do more things to screw up.
5) I get to carry hot liquids around the house as I have been doing my mash in the house (on the stove) and then doing the sparge and boil outside via propane (my house stove can't handle 6.5 gallons). I dropped the grain bag once in my 180 degree sparge water and got it all over the floor, ceiling, walls, and myself. Fortunately, none hit exposed skin so no burns...just a mess.