Extract brewing?

I`m new to beer brewing and this forum. I`d like to know what "extract brewing" means. I am sure I could find out by digging into the site or at my local B&W shop but can someone explain the process here? All replys appreciated.
Cheers,
Joe.

Brewing with ether liquid or dry malt extract instead of grain. Basically the grain has already been converted and the sugar extracted and then condensed into ether a thick syrup or powder form. This extract is then diluted with water to form a wort or wort concentrate which is then turned into beer. Often small amounts of specialty grain is steeped when using extract.

Grain brewing starts a step earlier and the conversion and sugar extraction process (mashing and lautering) is done by the brewer to make the wort.

Check out How To Brew by John Palmer.

Think of the beer like orange juice.

Extract brewing is like openning a can of frozen concentrate orange juice and mixing with water. Only in this case, your openning a can of Liquid Malt Extract (LME) or Dry Malt Extract (DME) and adding water and cooking.

All grain brewing is like using whole oranges and squeezing the juice yourself.

Extract brewing is a great method of brewing if you don't have the equipment or time to deal with steeping large amounts of crushed grain (mashing) and boiling more than 5 gallons of wort. It is very convenient and has many advantages. There are also limitations to extract brewing.

Thanks for the input, guys. Very helpful and that "How to Brew" site is a treasure trove.
Joe.

When you make your first extract brew, add some extra steps to make it even better, such as:

1. Use good yeast from a known brand (White Labs, Wyeast, Saf) instead of the yeast packet that came with the kit (If you brought a kit).

2. Steep a small amount of specialty grains (Basically boilling up some extra grains and straining in to the wort, to make the beer taste better).

3. Instead of just using dextrose sugar, use a mix of dextrose, corn sugar and more malt extract.

4. Use a secondary. Once the beer has fermented, siphon it in to another bucket or preferably a carboy and let it sit for 2 weeks to allow the yeast to drop to the bottom. This way you don't end up with ugly cakes of yeast on the bottom of each bottle.

2a. don't boil your grains, steep them at 150-160 F

3. And don't use dextrose at all unless you are making a big beer and need it.(Dextrose IS corn sugar). I don't put sugar in my beer at all except to prime.

I think most people start with extract brewing and either stick with it due to convenience and space limitations, or start with all-grain brewing fairly soon. No way is "better"- they both make good beer.