What'll it take to move from extract?

I just started brewing and want to get my feet under me before I try more advanced brewing techniques, so for my gfirst few batches I will be using extract, but eventually I want to move beyond this. So I guess I just got a few questions,


What is the difference between, Mash, mini mash, all grains, and partial grain brewing. I dont really understand this at all?

What is the better of these techniques

What kind of extra equipment will I need in adition to my ale gear ( primary fermenter, bottling bucket, secondary fermenter, wort chiller, kettle, bottles, capper)?

How hard is it, vs how rewarding is it?

Is it hard to get grains? nevermind just looked on my shops websigte they have non extract grains.

is it cheeper or more expensive?

To paraphrase a recent discussion, read www.howtohomebrew.com and you shall have all your answers.

Going all grain requires extra equipment. It will save a lot of money. Mini mash should make better beer than extract and doesn't require any additional equipment, but doesn't really save you any money. Read the info from the link above it explains it all really well.

The simplest method of brewing is to use just extract. While this can produce some reasonable beers, they often have very little body or flavor.

The next step up is to use some steeping grains. This involves steeping some crushed specialty grains (usually crystal malt) in hot water, then rinsing the grains to extract the color and flavor, and using the colored and flavored water to make an extract brew. This gives a lot more control over the brewing process in terms of color, flavor, and body. It requires a little more time, but no new equipment. In my opinion, the extra time to steep and rinse the grains is well worth it.

The next step up is to do a partial mash. This involves using some crushed base malt (typically 2 row) and "mashing" in water at 150 - 158 degrees. (You can also add specialty grains to the base malt.) Mashing is just a fancy word for steeping, or soaking, but with the mash, the temperature is more important than with steeping specialty grains. The big difference is that the mash converts the starch in the base malt into sugars by using enzymes that are naturally present in the malt. After the mash is completed (about 60 minutes) you "sparge" the grain. Sparge is a fancy word for rinse. The purpose of the sparge is to rinse all the sugars out of the grain/water mixture (the mash) The more base grains you use, the more important it is to sparge properly, otherwise you are just wasting time and money in mashing base grains that don't contribute anything to the "wort". Wort is just a fancy word for the liquid collected after sparging your grains. With the partial mash, you collect some sugars from the grains, so you can reduce the amount of extract that you need to add. Extract is simply grains that have been mashed and sparged to produce a wort which is then either freeze dried to produce DME or concentrated to produce LME.

Finally, All Grain is the extreme form of partial mash where you don't add any extract (hence All Grain). To do this effectively, you need to collect about 6.5g wort and boil it for at least 60 minutes (which requires a large kettle and good heat source), and you also require larger and more sophisticated mashing and sparging vessels. This method gives you the maximum control over the beer, and also requires more equipment. Grain is cheaper than extract as extract started off as grain which was then mashed, sparged, and dried or concentrated, so the more grain you use in a brew, the cheaper it is.

-a.

massappeal120 said:

What is the better of these techniques

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That depends on what is important to you. If you have a lot of spare time and extra space in your house/apartment then all-grain would probably be "best". If you've got limited space or want "quicker" beer, then some form of extract brewing is probably better.

massappeal120 said:

How hard is it, vs how rewarding is it?

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That's something only you can decide. I myself need to kill time and I brew because I like the crafting aspect of brewing. I bought my first piece of equipment with plans to move to all-grain. But your reasons for brewing may not be the same as mine so the amount of return you get on all-grain or partial mash might be totally different.

massappeal120 said:

Is it hard to get grains? nevermind just looked on my shops websigte they have non extract grains.

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It's as easy to get grains as extract and grains are cheaper pound for pound.

massappeal120 said:

is it cheeper or more expensive?

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All-grain requires more investment up front. You need a mash/lauter tun at the least, a larger kettle, a stronger heat source (usually). Unless you buy in small batches and have it milled at purchase you'll need a grain mill which, for some people, is the single most expensive piece of equipment they buy.

So if you brew 5 times a year, that equipment might not be worth the expense. If you brew on a weekly basis the equipment pays for itself after less than a year in savings from buying grains vs extract.

You can make good, even award winning, beers with extract and specialty grains (which has been explained by another poster) and even non-specialty grain recipies will give you a more flavourful beer that is sold in most restaurants.

It requires the ability to read stickies and use the search function

There's tons of info on this site alone, you just gotta look. But of course never be afraid to ask a question(just maybe read up a little first)

http://howtobrew.com/intro.html

Thanks everyone. howtobrew has been a very interesting read, with a lot of godo ideas and helpful info. all your suggestions were very helpful. onelove.

Then there's the matter of your AG license.
You can PayPal me the $200.00.

I also accept cash.

And paypal me the $50 processing fees.