Is it ok that I don't really feel like going all grain?

I extract brew. I appreciate the convienience of extract brew. I know I pay a premium on ingredients, but at the same time I don't have to invest a ton of money into the gear to go all grain.

Is it ok that I like extract brewing, or do I just need to see the light and go AG?

It's your hobby so you should do what you like with it. I have a brew buddy that is more than happy staying with extracts and I still like him.

maybe we can be friends?

Of course its okay. There are some benefits from going AG, but for some (myself included) the costs (right now for me) outweigh the benefits. You can still make plenty of good and delicious beers from extract only. Also, most recipes that you find here can be converted to extract. And if you ever want to experiment, there's always DeathBrewer's guide to Stove-top partial mashing.

It's your beer, your money, do what you want!

It's all about your situation, that's it. I switched and haven't looked back, but did make 2 extract brews after switching. I will probably do a couple soon because I am trying to have 8 kegs full before October when my daughter comes and I can do more than one extract brew in a day.

You're fine. And FWIW, I do both. For me it's a matter of time and space. I could give details but it's not about me, it's about you. Go forth and brew my friend.

One beautiful thing about home brewing is that you can get as advanced or as simple as you want to be, and you still come out with beer in the end.

It's your hobby, do whatever you want.

I do all grain, but not all the time.

The choice is yours and that's all there is to it.

It's totally okay.

It's definately okay to not brew all-grain

Not trying to criticize in any way, but going to binny's (or whatever your local liquor superstore happens to be) and grabbing a six pack of craft brew is more convenient than brewing altogether .........

Extract is "more convenient" than brewing all grain in the sense that you shave about an hour to hour and a half off your brew day.

As far as all-grain equipment goes, you really only need a tun ($40-50) to "make the jump" (as they say) to all-grain. No need for fancy pumps, multiple burners and all that stuff. Nice stuff but definately not necessary.

You can make great beers with extract. You can make crappy beers with all-grain. or vise-versa. I did extract for years before finally going all grain. I do enjoy all-grain better. I was kind of getting bored with extract so I made the jump.

And all-grain equipment does not have to be expensive. I spend about 100 bucks total to go to all-grain with a cooler, turkey fryer, and some random fittings and parts.

yeast_infection said:

It's definately okay to not brew all-grain

Not trying to criticize in any way, but going to binny's (or whatever your local liquor superstore happens to be) and grabbing a six pack of craft brew is more convenient than brewing altogether .........

Extract is "more convenient" than brewing all grain in the sense that you shave about an hour to hour and a half off your brew day.

As far as all-grain equipment goes, you really only need a tun ($40-50) to "make the jump" (as they say) to all-grain. No need for fancy pumps, multiple burners and all that stuff. Nice stuff but definately not necessary.

Click to expand...

Really, you only need a large nylon mesh bag ($5-10) to start doing all-grain brew in a bag. It should only take about 30 minutes longer than extract+specialty grains, too.

But it's fine to brew extract; all-grain requires more attention to water chemistry, hitting mash temps, tracking efficiency, etc. Some people enjoy that involvement, others just want to relax and make beer.

I've been doing all extract brews for almost 2 years now. The most I have plans to 'upgrade' is possibly a few partial mash oatmeal stouts. Other then that I am happy. My friend who is getting into brewing is trying to convince me to jump up to all grain but I have no interest. I enjoy the beer I produce and it works for me in time, quantity, and storage constraints. Everyone always assumes you don't go all-grain because of equipment costs but obviously thats not the case for everyone. As long as you enjoy what you do and produce I see no issues!

See the light! You need to be saved brotha!

do I just need to see the light and go AG?

Click to expand...

The light at the end of the tunnel is a train running over your wallet. I do AG, PM, and extract. I have a strong preference for PM. Using easily stored DME instead of grain for the bulk of the sugars just makes sense in my book.

This is your hobby, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You can do as much or as little as you want in the hobby, and if you make beer that you are happy with, then that is really all that matters.

Read this old blog of mine, and enjoy brewing!!!! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/blogs/revvy/100-why-cant-we-all-get-along.html

mosquitocontrol said:

I've been doing all extract brews for almost 2 years now. The most I have plans to 'upgrade' is possibly a few partial mash oatmeal stouts.

Click to expand...

That's basically it. You only need to do AG or PM if the recipe calls for certain
grains that need the mash. Extract is exactly the same thing you get out
of a mash, so there's no difference in taste. Cost can be a factor but you
only save money over the very long run.

Ray

Its all about opportunity costs for me. The money savings going all grain doesn't make up for the additional time involved with it. I understand most say an additional 30 minutes, but you still have to clean it, pack it up and store it.
I will say I am definately interested in doing more PM's. Sometimes to use the ingredients you want you just have to do it.

If you're making good beer with extract, then by all means keep doing it if that's what you want to do.

Even though I brew all-grain now (mainly because I enjoy the process), the elitist attitude of "if you're using extract you're not really brewing" is what has kept me away from a certain club in my area.

I know a guy who has been an extract brewer for 20+ years. He makes some of the best beer I've ever had. His ESB got a 42 last year at a regional homebrew competition, and I recently tried a porter he made that got a 44 a couple months ago at another.

Most of the elitist AG pricks I have met wish they could make beer that good.

I brewed with extract for about 9 years before switching to AG... and then it took me another couple of years to get my quality back to where it was with extract.

Tlylebrew said:

Its all about opportunity costs for me. The money savings going all grain doesn't make up for the additional time involved with it. I understand most say an additional 30 minutes, but you still have to clean it, pack it up and store it.

Click to expand...

In my BIAB all-grain setup, there's nothing additional to pack or store over what I used for extract, really--I replaced my old paint strainer bags (which I used for steeping grains) with a somewhat larger mesh bag. The process is almost identical to extract+steeping grains, except you need to worry about water chemistry and have good temperature control, and you "steep" 1/2 hour longer.

I use more equipment (the mash-tun cooler and 2 pot setup) when I'm doing a complicated mash schedule or a 10 gallon batch, but for the vast majority of 5-gallon all-grain brews it's totally unnecessary.

That said, there's a bit more mental effort that goes into AG, and it is a half hour longer. Extract brewing is more relaxing and basically impossible to miss your OG in; AG takes some time to dial in a process, know your efficiencies, and get consistent. Both have their place, and both can make good beer; no reason to switch if you're happy with what you're doing.

Whoa.........You, or I do not have to ask anyone's permission to Brew the way we want to. I have been making Beer with Extracts since about 1992. I have never made the change to all grain. I'm happy doing what I want to, Extract Brewing. I make good drinkable beer. Last year, I made 65 gallons, that is 13, five gallon batches. And all of it was made with Malt Extract.
I mess with the recipes to suit myself. And to top it all off............I do single stage, blow-off tube brewing. It works for me. I've never had a bad batch. I'm happy.
Have Fun!

I'm going to have to diverge from the general consensus here and say you should try a partial mash. Why? It's incredibly easy, improves the flavor, and only requires a nylon bag to accomplish.

I still brew one type of extract brew, a fruity american wheat that doesn't require steeping, which cuts over one hour off my brew time. Otherwise, however, I've noticed a great improvement since switching to AG/PM. It's not difficult, I promise.

rexbanner said:

I'm going to have to diverge from the general consensus here and say you should try a partial mash.

Click to expand...

I always bristle when someone tells me what I should do. Reminds me of this song.

Why even ask the question? Who cares how you brew?

Of course it's fine to do whatever you want in this hobby.

If I remember correctly, my main reason to go AG was to be able to do 10gal batches. I have to admit though, that midway through the first AG batch, I did indeed "See the light" I enjoy the process much more with AG, and I do believe I make better beer. However, everyone's situation is different. If extract suits your time limitations and lifestyle, then do it! If you have the time and a little extra cash, then AG is recommended for the amount of control you have in the process, but in the end, it's all beer!

Revvy said:

I always bristle when someone tells me what I should do. Reminds me of this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD-VZ2_Csks

Click to expand...

Um, I think that "Should" was intended simply as a recommendation. Nothing to bristle about.

NBABUCKS1 said:

I extract brew. I appreciate the convienience of extract brew. I know I pay a premium on ingredients, but at the same time I don't have to invest a ton of money into the gear to go all grain.

Is it ok that I like extract brewing, or do I just need to see the light and go AG?

Click to expand...

I've been brewing for a year now and I've not moved on to AG either. Not sure why. I've thought about it some, but just haven't done it.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

Um, I think that "Should" was intended simply as a recommendation. Nothing to bristle about.

Click to expand...

I know, hence the smiley on the bottom. I was just using it as an excuse to post that song.

Do what you like. For me all grain was a natural progression. As my wife says, it gives me more to "geek out" on (I'm an engineer and enjoy science and tinkering). I think I did 4 extract batches, one partial mash (which made me realize I wanted the full control of all grain) then all grain ever since.

This past weekend however I tasted the last bottle of my 2nd batch ever that had been aging about 9 months, an extract IPA, and it tasted great.

You can brew however you like. If you're satisfied with what you make then that's all that matters.

That being said, I hate when people claim going all grain is more expensive. That's just plain wrong. The equipment can be as cheap or as expensive as you like. My mash tun was $15. If you want to stay from AG because you don't have space, you like your extract beer, or you don't have an extra 30 minutes to devote to brewing then that's acceptable. But, claiming monetary reasons when you're paying a "premium" to brew extract is not a good reason to stay away from AG.

I couldn't make a good extract batch for the life of me lol. So I switched to AG because people said it allowed more control and I couldn't agree more. I've been much happier with my beer since switching.

david_42 said:

The light at the end of the tunnel is a train running over your wallet. I do AG, PM, and extract. I have a strong preference for PM. Using easily stored DME instead of grain for the bulk of the sugars just makes sense in my book.

Click to expand...

I totally agree.

I haven't done an all DME brew in a year or so, but I've done them since 1994.

I do find the taste of a PM better though.

weirdboy said:

Most of the elitist AG pricks I have met wish they could make beer that good.

Click to expand...

Just because people choose not to go all grain, that doesn't make those of us who do, pricks.

I've actually wanted to do a extract brew quite often but then change my mind when I start looking at extract prices. I just can't bring myself to pay that much for sugar.

wildwest450 said:

Just because people choose not to go all grain, that doesn't make those of us who do, pricks.

Click to expand...

He wasn't calling all-grain brewers pricks, he was calling elitist pricks, pricks. He was replying to my post, in which I said (in part): "the elitist attitude of 'if you're using extract you're not really brewing' is what has kept me away from a certain club in my area."

One thing I noticed is that several people have said that it only takes 30 minutes to brew AG. If the mash takes 30 minutes and you still need to sparge and lauter, how does that equal 30 minutes? Plus there is more cleanup. Granted, you can clean while waiting for the boil to start but you may have other things to focus on.

I brewed years ago and I feel I jumped to AG too early, i.e. I did not have certain fundamentals down before going AG. I recently came back and decided to focus on extract for several reasons. One of the reasons was already mentioned in terms of my past mistakes. Another reason is that I have a busy life, as do most other people. I work ( thank God! ), play music ( thank God ) and play poker ( then I pray to the poker gods ), so time is a premium. Another reason is space. I live in a NYC 1 bedroom apartment and I have 5 basses, 2 guitars, a keyboard among other things.

I have a long way to go as a brewer, but for now it is extract with specialty grains. I even get my specialty grains crushed at the LHBS.

Brew how you please.

So here's my $.15 from someone who is more or less brand new to homebrewing...

I live in an apartment with a somewhat crappy kitchen. It's big enough, but the stove is a 20 year old gas stove. I don't really have a garage, or a safe "porch" to set up a turkey fryer on (not to mention, the landlord would be angry if I set the porch on fire).

To cut to the chase, the logistics and investment of going AG at this point in time is too much for me.

I started to think, how can I make better beer that could be a happy medium between AG and extract - do a partial.

I'm looking into how to convert part of an extract recipe to partial grain. Figuring the biggest investment would be a second pot.

Depending on the style of beer you're doing, extracts may create exactly what you want and as long as you and your friends enjoy what you're brewing - that's the ticket.



But if you ever want to experiment, consider trying a partial.

SumnerH said:

That said, there's a bit more mental effort that goes into AG, and it is a half hour longer.

Click to expand...

What the heck am I doing wrong? When I started AG a couple years ago, it took me 7 hours. I've since got it down to 5, including prep and cleanup. Extract brewing never took longer than 2 1/2 hours.

I would never brew extract (or PM) again. I did about 10 non-AG batches, and the last 35 have been AG.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the final product. I just really really like all the steps of brewing, aid I wouldn't want to leave any of them out. I love milling my grains, and dumping that steaming tun into the woods behind my house. I don't have any logistics issues (I always brew outdoors).