life after extract brewing

hey everyone. this is my first post here.

i have been extract brewing for a few years now (i've brewed a humble dozen or so beers in that time), and i'm getting to that point where i'm beginning to wonder about whats next. or in other words, i'm getting a bit bored and i want to take the next step in home-brewing. so i'm curious as to what others have done, or are doing now to broaden their experience. i know there is all-grain brewing, but i don't know much about it. and i suppose that another thing that i can do is attempt to make my own recipes. but other than that, i have no ideas.

any suggestions? thanks!

Welcome aboard.

I'd say you simply start absorbing information from different sources.

All grain brewing is a great hobby. Not so difficult as people thingk, just a bit of a mystery.

Two places that helped me to "get it" were "HowToBrew.com"

and this place "Cruise News".

Spend some time there and then you'll be better prepared to ask specific questions about the process.

All grain brewing is "the real thing". No more openning cans of syrup and your beer will be fantastic.

BierMuncher said:

Welcome aboard.

I'd say you simply start absorbing information from different sources.

All grain brewing is a great hobby. Not so difficult as people thingk, just a bit of a mystery.

Two places that helped me to "get it" were "HowToBrew.com"

and this place "Cruise News".

Spend some time there and then you'll be better prepared to ask specific questions about the process.

All grain brewing is "the real thing". No more openning cans of syrup and your beer will be fantastic.

Click to expand...

BM, I was just gonna start a thread on this subject. What's the big difference between all-grain brewing and some of the Brewkits?
Is it quality? Taste?
Is it just being bored like he said, and wanting to start something different..
Is one better than the other?

I was wondering that too...

It's a world of difference.

It's the difference between opening cans and packets when you are cooking and making a meal from fresh raw ingredients.

For me it's like the difference between spam and steak.

You can step up to partial mash with nothing more than a cheap do-it-yourself cooler MLT which FlyGuy describes over in the DIY forum. If you want to go all grain you'll probably have to buy a bit more equipment but it's not too bad.

BlatzBeer said:

BM, I was just gonna start a thread on this subject. What's the big difference between all-grain brewing and some of the Brewkits?
Is it quality? Taste?
Is it just being bored like he said, and wanting to start something different..
Is one better than the other?

Click to expand...

Until you go through the process and pour a finished beer made from scratch. It's hard to describe.

I liken it to comparing Ragu (which tastes fine) to your Grandmothers home made red sauce, made from the tomatoes she grew in her back yard.

Both are good, but the difference between a from-scratch process and something that you open and heat are amazing.

Among the most noticeable things?:

All grain beer will be lighter and truer in color.
All grain beer will not have that distinct "twang" that extract beer produces.
All grain beer allows you to tweak your recipe to suit your tastes.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference, is when your freinds take a sip and look at you and call you a "Liar" because they don't think this is homemade beer.

I think i will stay with the Beer kits for a little while...

Kits have their place. They are usually quicker to brew. Some of the specialty kits now available from some retailers now have grain in thekits for steeping. This is a great next step in brewing your own beer. No real investments in equipment. Special grains are milled (and can be bought that way), put into a mesh bag, and boiled with the wort. You can expand your repertoire easily.

When i brewed last week, my kit had steeping grains...

Think about going to Partial Mash. All you need is a 3 gallon cooler and if you use a grain bag you don't have to modify the cooler. I am doing Partial Mashes now but will eventually move into AG when I purchase the extra equipment.

If you brew extract and get bored, the only logical step is PM or all grain. If you get bored then, you're just not cut out for brewing.

I liken extract vs. AG to instant vs. real iced tea.

NurseNan said:

Special grains are milled (and can be bought that way), put into a mesh bag, and boiled with the wort.

Click to expand...

granted, I'm new to all of this, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be BOILING grains...you want to STEEP those grains in water less than 170°F.

paranode said:

You can step up to partial mash with nothing more than a cheap do-it-yourself cooler MLT which FlyGuy describes over in the DIY forum. If you want to go all grain you'll probably have to buy a bit more equipment but it's not too bad.

Click to expand...

Nope, nothing different. Just a bit bigger for AG, that's all.