Liking the beer

Well, I brewed my first batch about six weeks ago now and I just had a few after about 23 days of bottle conditioning. I am surprised at how good the beer is. It was an extract kit from a local homebrew shop with steeping grains and 2 oz of cascade hops. 8 lbs. of dark extract. The beer has gotten mounds upon mounds better since I first tasted it a couple weeks ago. I would seriously order this beer at a bar if I could and this is only an extract brew! When I start brewing all grain I am wondering how much better beer can get.

How much better your brew gets is more dependent on your brewing skills plus fresh ingredients than just going all grain. By brewing skills, I mean the techiniques you apply to your brewing such as temperture control during fermentation, proper pitching rates. aeration of wort prior to pitching yeast etc.
A lot goes into brewing good beer and a lot more into great beer. The fun is in doing so bit by bit until you understand the complete brewing process.

For some of us, going all grain made our brews better due to the control we have on the finished product that you can't completly get with extract brewing. Other people don't bother and continue to do extract with good results.

Botton line. Read about the process and know what you're in for before going AG. If you find you love the brewing process like I do, then by all means go for it.

Cheers

boo boo said:

How much better your brew gets is more dependent on your brewing skills plus fresh ingredients than just going all grain. By brewing skills, I mean the techiniques you apply to your brewing such as temperture control during fermentation, proper pitching rates. aeration of wort prior to pitching yeast etc.

Click to expand...

totally agree

just wondering if you think that much of the improvement people notice when going to All Grain is largely due to freshness of the ingredients ? By that I mean when you make your own extract from Grain, then it hasn't been sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf for weeks or months...

Mutilated1 said:

totally agree

just wondering if you think that much of the improvement people notice when going to All Grain is largely due to freshness of the ingredients ? By that I mean when you make your own extract from Grain, then it hasn't been sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf for weeks or months...

Click to expand...

A lot of it is and a lot of it is ego. IE; you made it from scratch so it HAS to be better.
By the time you make or buy all your AG equipment you're decicated to making better beer anyway.

All Grain does not instantly equate with great beer...It's your skill as a brewer and how you have nailed down you process...It's not magic. Well over half the award winning recipes annually are extract brews...Since theres not two separate categories for Ag vs Extract, that means that over half the top beers AREN'T AG.

Take a read at my blog on the subject sometime http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Why_can/

Here's a process example...Your very own beer that you just tasted will be much better if you wait another 8 days to drink it, and let it carb and condition further...we don't recommend 3 weeks @ 70 degrees to torture new brewers....It's because that is the minimum time it takes for a normal gravity beers to start to mellow out the green flavors...It's the little things like this that make great beers regardless of whether or not they are made with extract or All Grain.

So try not to drink it all up in the first week, OK?

Don't get in a hurry to jump to all grain, you said it yourself you love the beer you just made. Stick with extracts for awhile.

I've been brewing since February and have done extract and a few PM's. My beers have been excellent. I think it's just a matter of fine tuning the process and experimenting to get the taste you like. I'd like to make the jump to all-grain someday, but so far I have been quite impressed with the beer I've brewed so far.

mstev50 said:

I've been brewing since February and have done extract and a few PM's. My beers have been excellent. I think it's just a matter of fine tuning the process and experimenting to get the taste you like ....

Click to expand...

That's exactly my belief

I just brewed my 12th extract batch, and with each one I have understood the process better. I have also drank and loved my beers, enough to buy them at a bar. Now that the "newness" has worn off a bit (12 brews in 7 months so far) I am more patient waiting for the bottle conditioning. I am reading more, and "tweaking" my recipes with my new knowledge. Just brought my extract IPA to my homebrew club meeting and got great reviews from some IPA freaks. Addictive bordering on obsession, enjoy it...I know I am!

brandona33 said:

I just brewed my 12th extract batch, and with each one I have understood the process better. I have also drank and loved my beers, enough to buy them at a bar. Now that the "newness" has worn off a bit (12 brews in 7 months so far) I am more patient waiting for the bottle conditioning. I am reading more, and "tweaking" my recipes with my new knowledge. Just brought my extract IPA to my homebrew club meeting and got great reviews from some IPA freaks. Addictive bordering on obsession, enjoy it...I know I am!

Click to expand...

Here Here!

One thing I like about listening to HBT is that so much of brewing is in the yeast and fermentation control. I would love to go all grain because it's a bit cheaper but I want to nail down my fermentation process first. Congrats on the IPA and being patient.