Is it really this easy?

I found this series of videos on youtube (most of you have probably seen them) and found his method extremely simple assuming that he is using the extract method?

I'm still just in the research process of brewing beer and have yet to even purchase a kit but I'm getting close and was just curious if this is the basic method of extract brewing?



Also how much harder is all grain brewing for a novice?

Yeah, if you want to make really BAAAADDDD beer...

It's not that much more difficult to make great beer....but part of it involves NOT doing what Craig does...

There's plenty of thread discussions about him already to get an idea of why.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/gtsear...6893:xvnx8yvgpla&cof=FORID:11&q=craigtube#968

Step away from teh You Tube!

There are soem very good videos from members of this site that are nearly as easy, and geared to making higher quality beer. Plus, lots of information in the postings.

Also, check out the website www.howtobrew.com for some good reading.

Extract can be much easier than AG, depending on how serious and anal you get with it. To do a good job it takes practice, but after a couple of batches it gets much easier. AG can also be "easy" with experience and the right equipment.

That guy is a dummy. Follow the instructions from your LHBS.

I always like to research my ass off before any purchase even if it's a candy bar.


Are there any good AG video's around to watch the process step by step besides that Yur's Star Wars Brewing set up? WOW!

I'm more of a visual learner.
None of you all are from or near Roanoke, VA by any chance are you? Theres a huge micro brew festival this weekend maybe I can meet up and learn a thing or two.

Hey, finally someone else in the BIG LICK. I thought I was the only one. And oh yes I will be at the Microfestivus.........

I like Chris Knight's 8 part series...

Here's 1...

[youtube]eIGrsGPVA_Y[/youtube]

I didn't pick my name cause I like stars brotha

Did he just wink at me?

there it is again

+1 on the howtobrew.com. You will learn all you need.

Thanks a lot guys, I'll be sure to read up and watch the video.

Have you been to Blue Ridge Hydro yet?
http://blueridgehydroponics.com/

I actually started off doing extract, but quickly moved to all grain. It's all fun, but you can better control what's going into your beer with AG. And to me it's not that much harder, just takes more time. But either way, you will end up with the same thing:

BEER

If you want to, you can PM me.

My first batch was pre-hopped extract similar to what is shown on the video. Yes, it was that easy....though not that great.

The extract kits you find stocked at your LBHS where you have to steep the grains for 15-30 min, add the hops, boil for an hour, is almost that easy.

The kits are ~$30 and it'll take about 3 hrs to brew it (cleaning, brewing, cooling, pitching). I have tried a couple and find the extremely easy and I enjoy those kits a lot, not just simplicity but the taste too.

But in the end I'm guessing everyone agrees......To make truly great tasting beer you have to go AG

But in the end I'm guessing everyone agrees......To make truly great tasting beer you have to go AG

Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. With AG, there's a lot more variables to screw up- and you really have to be on top of your process. AG isn't the holy grail of homebrewing if your sanitation and brewing techniques aren't up to par. Trust me, you can make some really lousy AG! My first AG was a humbling experience.

There are some really tremendous extract + specialty grain kits available that make some excellent beer! A really well-made extract beer can be quite tasty and rivals some AG brews.

flyangler18 said:

Not necessarily true. With AG, there's a lot more variables to screw up- and you really have to be on top of your process. AG isn't the holy grail of homebrewing if your sanitation and brewing techniques aren't up to par. Trust me, you can make some really lousy AG! My first AG was a humbling experience.

There are some really tremendous extract + specialty grain kits available that make some excellent beer! A really well-made extract beer can be quite tasty and rivals some AG brews.

Click to expand...

fa show mang!

Ive had some really wonderful PM beers. My first AG beer I missed the gravity and finished way to high.

But as with most things, practice makes perfect. Now 3 ag batches in Im hitting my OG right on target.

No, I think you got us all wrong. Yes you can make a great beer with AG, but you can also make a great beer with extract. You just have better control over the ingredients with AG. That's all were saying..............

This poor guy's already been discussed at great length. Enough.

CraigTube:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=74193
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=60573
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=50365

Yes you can make a great beer with AG, but you can also make a great beer with extract. You just have better control over the ingredients with AG. That's all were saying..............

Click to expand...

Without a doubt- I can't dispute that. But that's not what was said below:

But in the end I'm guessing everyone agrees......To make truly great tasting beer you have to go AG

Click to expand...

and what I was responding to.

But in the end I'm guessing everyone agrees......To make truly great tasting beer you have to go AG

Click to expand...

Though I'm not an AG brewer, I wouldn't agree; extract beers have won awards at homebrew competition beating out a ton of AG brews in the process. You can make great extract beer. That said, given a good knowledge of the process, AG gives you the ability to tweak nearly every variable in brewing as well as giving you -- at least I would think -- a fresher wort since you aren't rehydrating the fermentables; the potential for creating a better beer goes way up. But you can make great beer using just extract and steeping specialty grains.

I think the primary point is that the video you chose is a bad example of a simple way to brew beer; with a few tweaks you can make still make beer very simply, just a better, more flavorful brew.

Rick

Thats the post I wanted to see!!!

So most of the ingredient kits sold in local brew shops are the extract kind and I don't have to worry about AG stuff for now?

StarCityBrewMaster said:

But in the end I'm guessing everyone agrees......To make truly great tasting beer you have to go AG

Click to expand...

No, not everyone agrees....A Good solid process makes great beer, regardless of whether it is extract or all grain...

Read this.

http://blogs.homebrewtalk.com/Revvy/Why_can/

about half of the award-winning beers at competitions are made with some extract, usually partial mashes.

read my partial mash brewing process. the link is in my sig. easy as hell.

StarCityBrewMaster said:

Thats the post I wanted to see!!!

So most of the ingredient kits sold in local brew shops are the extract kind and I don't have to worry about AG stuff for now?

Click to expand...

Nearly all of the "kits" you will find at your LHBS will be of the extract variety. Some will also include some specialty grains that you steep, creating in effect a simplified mini mash. This is probably the best way to get started and get a feel for the hobby. You can make some deelicious beer with a good kit and the equipment you will get with a starter setup can still be used if you make the jump to AG. You could stop by your LHBS in the morning, grab a kit, and have a batch of brew in the primary by that evening.

I love you guys :fro:



..........gone to the LHBS.......

I've made about 10 extract + steeping grain kits before I transitioned into PM (3 batches) and onto AG.

Steeping grains (not mashing) will definitely add a level of color and flavor that straight extract kits can't serve up. Think giant tea bag- you aren't converting starches into fermentable sugars like in AG.

flyangler18 said:

Not necessarily true. With AG, there's a lot more variables to screw up- and you really have to be on top of your process. AG isn't the holy grail of homebrewing if your sanitation and brewing techniques aren't up to par. Trust me, you can make some really lousy AG! My first AG was a humbling experience.

There are some really tremendous extract + specialty grain kits available that make some excellent beer! A really well-made extract beer can be quite tasty and rivals some AG brews.

Click to expand...

What Jason says here is very true. I myself like to use the lightest DME extract available so I can make any type of beer. By using specialty grains you can color and flavor your beer how you want it to be. Of course there is always the exception to the rule. Most german lagers as well as most lagers are best brewed as AG. You just can't replicate a great german helles as a extract beer.

I stopped watching at "this is dextrose...its like sugar...you NEED a kilogram of it..."

its 'like sugar' because it IS SUGAR!
Anyone that advocates 2.2lbs of corn sugar in every batch...should not be making youtube instructional videos...no matter how many decades they've been doing it.

bobbyM has some videos on AG brewing on teh youtubez...

If dextrose is LIKE sugar, then is what he made LIKE beer?

Here's an extract batch:

...but is "now a good time"?? lol...

Great vid Bobby... I like the rockin' out soundtrack to open the video.

Kidding aside... nice vid. This is probably the start of another whole thread but I noticed you dropped in your bittering hops at... what looked like... pre-boil??

My brew club is friendly with Wil Gilson up at Moat Mountain Brewing up in New Hampshire (a small but very very good brewery) and he's always saying to a hard boil for a good 15 minutes before adding any hops and just do a 75 minute boil.

Any thoughts? Maybe I'll start a new thread....