Do you ever do extracts anymore?

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Desert_Sky

Desert_Sky

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Ive been thinking lately about doing a another hefe. Ive done two before using a very simple extract method. Now allthough my extract recipe is probably the easiest recipe in the world to do, I still find myself shying away from it, and wanting to go for the AG route. It would save me hours doing the extract version too. I don't know, do any of you guys switch back and forth or do you just stay strictly all grain?
 
I couldn't replicate my wife's DME apricot wheat she likes via AG so yes I do but thus far only in this case. I might consider an AG Imperial Stout topped off with another 6# of DME someday but that's still an AG. Never say never though. When time is short (or days are hot) it sure is nice to get the job done quicker.
 
I do all grain, partial (like a barleywine), mini-mash, steeped grain & straight extract. Depends on my mood and the style. I like mini-mashes the best, about 95% of the flavors of AG and just as fast as extract with steeping. Just yesterday (no yeast in that word), I was talking about this to an OBC member. He said all of his awards have been for extract batches, but he does AG for fun.
 
In 1991 I started making extract beer, in 1999 I converted to AG, and never looked back. I see absolutely no reason why I should ever brew an extract beer again.
 
david_42 said:
I do all grain, partial (like a barleywine), mini-mash, steeped grain & straight extract. Depends on my mood and the style. I like mini-mashes the best, about 95% of the flavors of AG and just as fast as extract with steeping. Just yesterday (no yeast in that word), I was talking about this to an OBC member. He said all of his awards have been for extract batches, but he does AG for fun.
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:off:

David, you have a good partial-mash barleywine recipe? Care to share? I'd like to brew something big I could let age for a while (since my brew cellar will soon be pretty full).
 
I'm with glibbidy, though I haven't been doing it for nearly as long as he has. One of the biggest considerations for me is cost - grain is way cheaper for me since I can get my pale malt and wheat malt for $15 and $25 per 55# bag respectivly from a local maltster. Another factor is recipe control. The sky is the limit when dealing with AG recipe tweaks, I always felt a little 'bound' by extract.

Bird, here's David_24's Old Bogwater recipe, I had just found it a few days ago myself...


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=9701
Or you can download the .rec file here
 
Chairman Cheyco said:
I'm with glibbidy, though I haven't been doing it for nearly as long as he has. One of the biggest considerations for me is cost - grain is way cheaper for me since I can get my pale malt and wheat malt for $15 and $25 per 55# bag respectivly from a local maltster. Another factor is recipe control. The sky is the limit when dealing with AG recipe tweaks, I always felt a little 'bound' by extract.[/URL]
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Cost effectiveness and control over making a 1st rate product are the two primary factors for me. I'm paying aproximately .40-.60 per lb of malt, and I just can't see not having control over my extract in opening a can.
 
I'm relatively new to AG and am extremely pleased with the results. I do wonder, though, where I'm going to find the time to brew sometimes. It's easy to fit a brew session into an evening with extract--much tougher with AG.
 
I brewed about 23 extract batches before switching to AG. Since then, I've done two more extract brews and 22 AG batches. There has always been an off flavor in my extract brews. Its a flavor I characterize as "the extract flavor" and I've tasted it in some of my friend's extract brews as well. Its a little bit like beer that's been fermented at too high a temp, (banana and clove flavors) but its more than that. I've never experienced the same flavor in my AG beers.

I did have problems with medicinal or solvent flavors in a couple of my AG batches, but that seems to have been solved by not being an idiot, and by brewing my lager beers at lager temps. (DUH...)

Anyhoo, I may try an extract brew again sometime, but for now, AG is the only way for me. I love the results.
 
I started with PM batches, went to AG after the first batch, but I do occasionally back up & rip off a extract batch for session beers. 95% of what I do is still AG tho. I haven't done a PM batch since batch #1.
 
I was doing PM's over the winter when it was too cold to brew outdoors. Glad that's over.
 
Alright, I'll admit I'm fairly new to brewing. I've only been at it for about 14 months. In that time I began with extracts and moved to partial mashes to a couple of all-grain. To be honest, though I've been drinking beer for 45 years, I can't tell that much of an improvement in the flavor of an all-grain over the extracts I've made. Even the extracts make beer that's far better than what I've had over most of my life. They weren't straight extracts and included steeping grains, but still... And to those who say how much cheaper all grain is, my time is worth a hell of a lot more than the few dollars I could save by going all grain. That's why my last brew was from extract and why my next will likely be extract as well. Maybe I'm not as "committed" as some but two hours is about all the time I'm willing to invest at this point.
 
summersolstice said:
Alright, I'll admit I'm fairly new to brewing. I've only been at it for about 14 months. In that time I began with extracts and moved to partial mashes to a couple of all-grain. To be honest, though I've been drinking beer for 45 years, I can't tell that much of an improvement in the flavor of an all-grain over the extracts I've made. Even the extracts make beer that's far better than what I've had over most of my life. They weren't straight extracts and included steeping grains, but still... And to those who say how much cheaper all grain is, my time is worth a hell of a lot more than the few dollars I could save by going all grain. That's why my last brew was from extract and why my next will likely be extract as well. Maybe I'm not as "committed" as some but two hours is about all the time I'm willing to invest at this point.
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wow you started drinking beer when you were 11? I can releate to all your comments but I was most impressed by the age you started drinking beer. :ban:
 
summersolstice said:
And to those who say how much cheaper all grain is, my time is worth a hell of a lot more than the few dollars I could save by going all grain. That's why my last brew was from extract and why my next will likely be extract as well. Maybe I'm not as "committed" as some but two hours is about all the time I'm willing to invest at this point.
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I'd end up sitting on my butt surfin' HBT if I wasn't spending that time AG brewing. Heck, I still surf HBT while brewing. :D

To the OP

No. Extract is for starters and bumping gravity on beer over 1.100. I went AG and never looked back.

Edit: And I posted in another of zac's Zombie Threads of Doom. Thread necromancy at it's worse... :mad:
 
Holy old threads returning without missing a beat Batman!

I know other people can do it, but I never created an extract beer worth crapping on and I'm not about to do it again. All grain all the way for me. I'm not capable of brewing good beer with extract for some reason.
 
Even if it were possible for me to brew a beer with extract that were equal to an AG, I wouldn't do it. It's hard to explain, but with an AG I feel more "At one" with my beer. It sounds silly, but it's true. The part of an AG that I love is how I get to tease it out of it's shell and lay with me in a scented meadow. In comparison, an extract brew is like a quick f#ck behind a dumpster.

It's not pretty or PC, but them is the facts, folks! (For me at least) ;)
 
I've been brewing for 15 months and all grain for 6 of those months. I stepped up to all grain because I like a challenge and I realized I had more control over the end product. I've thought about trying an extract brew lately after talking to a couple guys at my LHBS that brew AG and extract and listening to their extract process. I've had some of their extract brews and there's a couple that I would have suspected were AG. Plus now I have a 10g kettle and burner so I wouldn't have to do a partial boil. It sure would be nice to bang out a brew day in 2-3 hours; my recent barleywine took 8 hours.
 
nomadjanet said:
wow you started drinking beer when you were 11? I can releate to all your comments but I was most impressed by the age you started drinking beer. :ban:
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ok, ok - it's easier to say 45 than 42 but when you're talking about that much time, what's a couple of years? Yes, I started drinking beer when I was 14 and my grandparents were buying me a carton of cigarettes a week when I was 15. I was also driving at 14 and my friends were going to Vietnam at 17. Times were different then and believe me when I say I can feel every one of those 42 years.:off:
 
Wow......talk about an old thread.

And looking back, no....there is just no way I would ever do another extract batch again
 
I started out brewing all grain from the get go. I tried to do a couple extract batches later on just to see if it was that much easier. Those two kits were the worst beers I ever made an I didn't feel it was all that much easier. It was a ***** trying to keep the steeping grains at a consistent and safe temp. The liquid malt extract was a pain and both beers came out cloudy and wouldn't clear with cold crashing or fining agents. Neither tasted anything close to style. Both kits came from very respected retailers who's kits are raved about. I dumped both of them and never looked at them again. I find all grain easier, more flexible and a hell of a lot more enjoyable. If I can brew all grain, anyone can and you can build a good set up for cheap.
 
Just started AG, don't see myself going back anytime soon unless I am really in a time crunch. I am not a gear head... with that said...
I was walking out of the LHBS with 40-50 dollar bills with extract. Now it is 20-35, and I get a 20% discount for all grain purchase over 10 lbs. Although the dicount fked me the other day, caused my till to be $6.66 I did the spinny spin on the highway heading home but I am still alive, and still got to brew that day so it wasint all bad.
 
I started out with All Grain, and don't really ever plan on doing an Extract batch. My second brew was a Partial Mash because it was Gluten Free and I didn't feel like malting some grains so I just bought sorghum extract syrup and roasted some other GF grains. GF will be the only time I don't do AG. I might try malting some grains next time for the GF brew.
 
I am up to the "mostly grain" stage (a little DME or sugar added to help hit gravity, when needed).

However, I did an all extract brew just yesterday. I have a new burner and a new fermentation cooler I needed to test, so I decided to brew a BL clone for SWMBO (plus, I like a thin chugger when I'm hot and thirsty). Just extra light DME, rice syrup solids, corn sugar, cluster hops and S-23.

Good test for the banjo burner and the cooler.
 
I've done four AG brews now, and don't see any reason to go back.

I have factored the additional time into my brew day, have made time-saving adjustments and can get a lot done during my mash and boil.

I now classify myself as an AG guy.
 
Going back to extract for me personally would be like gene simmons going back to highschool and having to bang fuggly ladies.

Not going to happen.

But that has to do more with my need for control over processes and ingredients more than anything else.
 
I typically do an all grain batch and an extract batch at the same time. Once I dough in and have an hour to kill I start the extract batch going. Seems to work for me.
 

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