Whats The Dif?

Ok,
I'm confused....???????????????????????
WHAT IS THE DIFFERNCE BETWEEN ALL GRAIN, Partial Grain, ALL MASH, Partial Mash, ALL Malt and Partial Malt???????????????
Why should I care WHAT I'm brewing as long as it's drinkable???
I use Kits I get from a store, Some have grains, some have all malt, THEY all taste good when I'm done.
Our local club is having a "crisis" between All grain and everyone esle.
WHY should I care? I don't have the room or equipment for a All grain, does that make my beer WORSE than all grain if I make an all malt beer???
Is curious what you all think about this.



Clayton79

Agree--why should you care?

If you're happy with your process and your results, then everyone is happy.

At first I thought you wanted a definition of all-grain, partial-mash, etc. But I don't really think that's what you were asking, is it?

Clayton79 said:

Ok,
WHAT IS THE DIFFERNCE BETWEEN ALL GRAIN, Partial Grain, ALL MASH, Partial Mash, ALL Malt and Partial Malt?

Clayton79

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all grain=all mash
partial grain=partial mash
all malt=no adjuncts
partial malt=adjuncts

If you can't tell the difference between Mom's home-made from scratch chocolate cake and one of those add water and microwave deals, then I guess you'll be happy with just about any beer type too.

That's sad.

Mikey said:

If you can't tell the difference between Mom's home-made from scratch chocolate cake and one of those add water and microwave deals, then I guess you'll be happy with just about any beer type too.

That's sad.

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FWIW, I strongly disagree with this sentiment. A flawed from-scratch cake will be far worse than a good one from a mix, for example.

Yeah, sure: a really good dish from scratch will probably exceed anything from a mix, but even then, there are exceptions.

I am a very accomplished cook, but I swear to God I cannot make a rice pilaf that tastes as good to me as chicken flavor rice-a-roni. I've tried and tried and tried...

My wife is a great scratch cook, but she can't ever get Spanish Rice good. She changes it every time and I don't like it every time.

Yeah, if you like what you are brewing, than don't worry.

Me? When I switched to all-grain my beers got way better. Way fresher, better tasting.

Mikey said:

If you can't tell the difference between Mom's home-made from scratch chocolate cake and one of those add water and microwave deals, then I guess you'll be happy with just about any beer type too.

That's sad.

Click to expand...

What's sad is this type of 'If you aren't going to do it the right way, IE all grain, then your beer sucks' attitude. There are quite alot of extract brewers (and more than a few of the all grain guys here I would think) who will disagree with this sentiment. If I misread your intent I am sorry but that's the way it came across.

Extract is fine if you like the results you are getting. For me the ability to customize a recipe is worth brewing AG. With extract you are limited and costs more then grain.

I don't see a reason why that would cause any problems in a club though.

2nd Street Brewery said:

What's sad is this type of 'If you aren't going to do it the right way, IE all grain, then your beer sucks' attitude. There are quite alot of extract brewers (and more than a few of the all grain guys here I would think) who will disagree with this sentiment. If I misread your intent I am sorry but that's the way it came across.

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I'm an AG home brewer and I disagree with that sentiment. Just do what makes you happy and don't worry about it.
It would be very interesting to do a side by side test between an extract brewer and an AG brewer. Would we really be able to tell the difference if they brewed like recipes and we did a taste test? It would be fun to try.
I for one am all for different levels of home brewing. If everyone had to do AG pretty soon a lot of people would give up the hobby. This forum wouldn't be as good if all those people dropped off.
Lets celebrate and discuss the hobby we love not act like snobs.

I switched to AG somewhat recently. I've made dozens of extract batches and some of them were excellent. However, I would not put them up against commercial versions of the same style (doesnt mean I didnt love them anyways). Once I made the switch, I immediately noticed my brews losing the off-flavors and start to gain the characteristics I love so much about my favorite store beer.

On the other hand, I changed more than just all-grain instead of extract. 90 minute full volume boils and fast chilling through a CFC were also new to my process and might deserve credit for the improvement. I also make bigger starters than before, aiding to a healthier ferment- meaning better clarity, head retention and flavor. It would be interesting to make an extract brew in my new system to see.

Regardless, I like having the choice between base malts and hard to convert specialty grains. Or to control yeast attenuation in the mash. And when people ask, I can say "I make it just like they do in the breweries". I dont like telling people they're drinking fermented powder.

Those are my thoughts,
-Salsgebom-

2nd Street Brewery said:

What's sad is this type of 'If you aren't going to do it the right way, IE all grain, then your beer sucks' attitude. There are quite alot of extract brewers (and more than a few of the all grain guys here I would think) who will disagree with this sentiment. If I misread your intent I am sorry but that's the way it came across.

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I guess my intent was not well expressed.

If I understand the original post correctly, he is saying that all beers of a style (no matter how they are brewed) taste equal- he can't tell the difference. To me that's sad.

I'm not passing judgement on which is better ( I've brewed all types in my 11 years as a home brewer) but prefer all grain.

Having said that, I can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. That's sad too I guess.

i went to all grain cause the ingredients are cheaper.... i invested the money (very littel actually) to get the mash/latueter tun and hlt and large kettle a long time ago... now the only expense i'm concerned with is the ingredients....

being able to have more control over the finished product is a nice benefit, but i had just as much fun with the extract.

Assuming you're good at what you do then all grain will make better beer than extract, especially by allowing you to control the mashing process which enables you to make fine adjustments that you just can't do with extract. With extract it's which color/type of malt? Dry or liquid? Really, the single biggest question is what type of hops and yeast to use.

Now I think extract is fine, a great many people make good beer this way and will continue to do so. It's also how all of us got started, lets not forget that. If you just want to make beer as easily and fast as possible with minimum equipment then extract cannot be beat.

For me I truly developed a love for the hobby and the brewing process, it's about more than just making a decent tasting liquid to drink with dinner. It's an art and a science and I take great pride in being good at it. Let me put it this way, I've never been able to draw or play an instrument but I can brew damn good beer and do it from scratch. Now that's something I can be proud of and so I strive to do it to the best of my ability.. don't get me wrong though, an extract brewer has talent too - you can screw up an extract batch and there are variables that the extract brewer can fine tune but it just isn't the same. Anyone who has gone all grain can attest to that.

So, to the extract brewers - keep it up and enjoy the hobby. I certainly do *not* look down on you in any way.. that is probably the last thing any all grain brewer intends. I will say though that some take the process to a new level (i.e. all grain, yeast harvesting, kegging, decoction mashing, etc.) and we can all appreciate and applaud their talents and efforts as well.

Here's to the love of homebrew!

Mikey said:

I guess my intent was not well expressed.

If I understand the original post correctly, he is saying that all beers of a style (no matter how they are brewed) taste equal- he can't tell the difference. To me that's sad.

I'm not passing judgement on which is better ( I've brewed all types in my 11 years as a home brewer) but prefer all grain.

Having said that, I can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. That's sad too I guess.

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I have to agree with this also.
I have only recently switched to AG but immediatly noticed a great difference in the taste of my brews. Do I think you can get a great brew from extract. You probably can, I can't.

Mikey, as I said, if I miss read your intent then I am sorry. My read of his post was that there was a problem in his brew club concerning which method of brewing was best and I interpreted your response in that vein. Nothing trips my trigger faster than someone who puts down someone else for whatever reason. I have seen others boards where people get torn apart and the major reason I like this forum is that type of thing dosn't surface that often. At least now that our Marine friend is gone. Off topic, my grandson spilled something in my keyboard and the letter i now sticks all the time. I never realized how often I use that letter. This took me almost 10 mins to type cause I keep having to pry the key up to use it.

Mikey said:

Having said that, I can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. That's sad too I guess.

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pepsi is sweeter, thats why i like coke better, but Mr. Pib is better yet!

Bjorn Borg said:

pepsi is sweeter, thats why i like coke better, but Mr. Pib is better yet!

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You think Mr Pibb is better? Now that is sad!

Hey now people, let's not get into a soda argument here. Especially since we all know RC Cola is the best. And to throw another monkeywrench into it, it's called "soda"

I personally think that however you want to brew beer is the best way, period. Papazian said that he makes the best beer in the world. . . for him. And we all do the same thing, make the best beer in the world according to OUR tastes.

eviltwinofjoni said:

Hey now people, let's not get into a soda argument here. Especially since we all know RC Cola is the best. And to throw another monkeywrench into it, it's called "soda"

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RC Who?...I drink Jack -n- coke, never heard of a Jack -n- pepsi...Ever hear Dice Clay's rant on the term 'Pop'? Its goes something like, (in Whiny voice) "Would you like to have some Pop?"...his response, "who said, what said, Ha? Did your old man j**k off in a glass or something?"

I most agree with Monster Mash. I like AG more because I have a lot more control over the final product. But sometimes, that can be a bad thing.

I'm not above doing an extract brew here and there. I've made some damn good ones. And I've made some crappy AG's.

RC? Yikes...

Mt. Dew for me. I've been wanting to brew that "Mountain Brew" recipe from BYO ever since I saw it.

If I don't have a Mt. Dew to start the day, it ain't a day.

SwAMi75 said:

I'm not above doing an extract brew here and there. I've made some damn good ones. And I've made some crappy AG's.

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Nahhh...they are all pretty damn good...IF you crack the grain!

Dude said:

Nahhh...they are all pretty damn good...IF you crack the grain!

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Hey now, you never even tried that one. I sucked to my taste, but you might've loved it.

2nd Street Brewery said:

Nothing trips my trigger faster than someone who puts down someone else for whatever reason. I have seen others boards where people get torn apart and the major reason I like this forum is that type of thing dosn't surface that often.

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I have no use for that kind of thing also. My own local club (so far) is free of that stuff, however we do tend to pull each other's chain once in a while. Right Seb?

I switched to AG quite a while ago because I wanted to get more into the complete process and I'm glad I did. That being said, though, I must say that the best beer I ever brewed was an extract bock recipe that I got off of The Cat's Meow. The only reason I no longer make that recipe is because the most important ingredient, Morgan's Master Blend Dark Crystal, is no longer available in the US. I have been trying to replicate it through AG ever since without success. So I think that anyone who says that extract brewers can't make as good a beer as an AG brewer is full of it.