1st brew: All extract or Kit w/grains?

Hey brewers,

First off, I am glad I stumbled upon this site. I am looking forward to the wealth of information on this site.

I have been reading "The complete joy of Home Brewing" and have a question. The author suggests making your first brew from a hop "flavored" malt extract, and nothing else.

Would you recommend doing that, or do you think I would be ok trying a kit recipe like this one: http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...act-ale-kits/extra-pale-ale-extract-kit.html?

I would prefer to try the latter of the two, but I don't want to skip any crucial steps along my journey of homebrewing.

Also, any idea where I can get some clear plastic tubing/hosing?

Thanks in advance for any information you can offer!

-Casey

Make the extract kit with grains. It will be a better product. Here is a local store in your city

I did my first brew(Full boil)about a month ago,and had no problems with some grains and hops.I just planned well and turned out good beer i think.If i were you,I'd go with the kit from Nb.


Tubing can be found at hardware stores,Lowe's/Home depot.

Just picked up six kits at NB the other week; one all extract, one partial mash, four extract with specialty grains.

Love the specialty grains--I would definitely advise you to embrace any opportunity to incorporate grains prior to moving to AG.

I've never done an all extract kit. It is simple to add specialty grains. Go that route.

Another vote for specialty grains. Sure, it's another step, but with all extract, especially hopped extract, you might not feel like you're really doing that much. But that's just my opinion.

yet another vote for specialty grains. My first kit contained grains. My next attempt is an a la carte recipe, no kit, just went to the lhmbs and picked out the ingredients from the recipe I plan to use.

It really is simple, pretty much anyone could do it.

Another vote for the speciality grain kit you are looking at from Northern Brewer. Tell me how it goes, I'm looking for a recipe to do in about 3 weeks once my Pilsner gets out of the primary in a couple weeks.

Go with the specialty grains. It is as easy as steeping tea.

I agree, steeping some grain is not hard. I don't feel there's anything wrong with doing an all extract kit or a hopped extract. I even do them occasionally, but for a first time home brew experience I think steeping a little grain might be a little more, oh, I don't know, fulfilling I guess.

Thanks a lot for all the replies. Blender, I used the store you suggested, and they were great. I ended up going for a specialty grain kit like everyone suggested. The kit I chose is suppose to be close to that of the dogfish 60 minute IPA. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I hope I made it correctly. I'll let you all know how it turns out!

Thanks again!

I've never done all grain, but I've spoken to a guy that used to compete in beer making competitions. He recommended mixing extract and all grain, since it's a lot easier and the product comes out significantly better than an extract brew.

I'd like to eventually move on to AG, but at this point I'm sticking with extract for a few more batches.

When I steep grains I put my head over the brew kettle and just enjoy. They smell great.

Not to hijack the thread, if you move up to a full boil, do you need to modify the amount of grains or the steeping time compared to a partial boil?

For a first brew, I have no problem recommending a simple extract kit. You will learn from that experience. But if you are a little more adventurous, using steeping grains will give you a better tasting beer hands down. And yes, if you can make tea, then this will be an easy step.