Extract vs. All Grain

I am making some amazing extract brews. I have completed about 15 batches since April when I started brewing.

So, my question is; why switch to all grain if I am making great extract brews?

http://www.*****ebagreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Beating_a_dead_horse.jpg

The search feature can work wonders.

It comes down to - if you like what you're doing, and you're comfortable with it, stay where you are. If you want the challenge/experience of AG, do it. You can make solid beers either way.

Control, cost, pride, curiosity.

You don't. It's all about preference.

I've been brewing since 1994. I just did my first AG last weekend.

Compared to the batch before that one (a Partial Mash of the same recipe), the PM tastes much better.

We have at least a thread a day on this topic...it is one of the most hotly contested, discussed and debated questions on here....

This thread was from yesterday, and it will pretty much give you the same answers that have been given on all the other threads, and people are bound to post in here..the same re-treaded answers.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/better-151067/

So that should give you the answer you either are or aren't looking for, because there really is no answer, just opinions.

Revvy is right.

I think people who only AG and say they would never go back to AG isn't necessarily the flavor of the beer they produce between the two methods, but rather that they like the process of being able to control every aspect of what's going into their brews.

I bet Revvy has already typed what I just said above before and doesn't feel like retyping it for ya.

I personally brew both AG and Extract. Although I brew AG more often, it is probably because I like to experiment with different styles of grain in recipes and because it's just plain fun, but I made an extract brown ale a couple of months ago that is fantastic. Here is the recipe https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f67/session-mild-e-51884/ I decided to make this because I wanted to brew and was just too tired to drag all of my AG stuff out.

Although I can brew AG in about 5 hours now (most of which is sitting and drinking) Extract is just so darn easy and therefore also fun.

Crap, I'm rambling and giving one of those answers like Revvy was talking about.

Jacob out.

I'm not sure that I can give you a reason why you should switch to AG, but here are the reasons I did:

1. I now have much more control of the fermentability (hopefully this is a word ) of the wort

2. I can use all sorts of different grains

3. I just feel like I personally make better beers this way. I like being in control of all aspects of my brews.

That being said, hey its all up to you.

I just upgraded to all grain: 8 gallon pot + 5 gallon mash tun + wort chiller was $100 doing it myself. The main reason it took me so long to upgrade was cost. I think it will take me a year to make up the equipment cost. But at this point I had to do it to make a light colored wheat sour beer. Wheat LME seems to always be amber color, so all-grain is the only way to make a light colored sour wheat beer. Plus, the all-grain learning process is incredibly fun.

I think the amount of time it takes to brew is the biggest difference. Both methods can produce great beer.

For me, I liked the added control and increased variety when customizing my recipes.

I also like the fact that I'm the one extracting the sugars from my grain, with local water...truly making it MY beer. Total geek factor in play here.

I've tasted many outstanding extract beers. Anyone slamming extract brewer's probably isn't worth listening to

It's hard to brew some kinds of styles of beer with extract. Belgian Wit comes to mind. Also, the same Light Extract is substituted in extract recipes for: American 2-raw Malt, Marris Otter, Belgian Pilsner, German Pilsner... You get the point. Unless you think German Pilsner and American 2-raw are the same of course.
On the other hand you can still brew some awesome beers with extract, and a lot of extract beers win lots of awards in various competitions.

I'll gladly slam extract brewers; but not for taste. Yes, some good extract beers can be made. But your not a true brewer if you brew extract. It's simply a cheating method. People have been brewing for thousands of years with grain, not extract. So the next thing thats going to happen is they will start selling large sealed containers of wort. And all you will have to do is add it to your sanitized fermenter and pitch the yeast. ha ha maybe this wont happen, but you get the point.
Brewing with extract is cheating. People will deny it, but I will only agree with them that extract can produce a great beer too.

Tmeister, I'll agree that AG makes one a greater craftsman of a given beer. However, by your logic I could accuse you of "cheating" for using yeast cultivated in a lab or hops bred and grown commercially. Yes, using extract makes the ensuing beer less original, but it doesn't detract so much as to qualify as cheating. Fermenting pre-packaged worts is questionable, but extract brewers at least formulate their own recipes.

Tmeister said:

I'll gladly slam extract brewers; but not for taste. Yes, some good extract beers can be made. But your not a true brewer if you brew extract. It's simply a cheating method. People have been brewing for thousands of years with grain, not extract. So the next thing thats going to happen is they will start selling large sealed containers of wort. And all you will have to do is add it to your sanitized fermenter and pitch the yeast. ha ha maybe this wont happen, but you get the point.
Brewing with extract is cheating. People will deny it, but I will only agree with them that extract can produce a great beer too.

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Twice in one thread, this is exciting!

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I'm assuming you grow your own hops and malt your own (homegrown) barley too, then??

Shockingly, some people don't find the idea of a 5
+ hour brew day appealing.

Just because I can (and prefer to) brew AG batches for maximum control etc. doesn't mean I'll rule out extract as an option. Convenience is a factor. Am I still a brewer? YES! You can still craft excellent recipes of your own that you'll never taste from a commercial brewery. Saying that it's cheating is just silly talk. Does a musician have to build his own instrument before becoming a real artist? Of course not. The option is there, sure, but I'm pretty sure Ansel Adams didn't build his cameras from scratch.

Tmeister said:

I'll gladly slam extract brewers; but not for taste. Yes, some good extract beers can be made. But your not a true brewer if you brew extract. It's simply a cheating method. People have been brewing for thousands of years with grain, not extract. So the next thing thats going to happen is they will start selling large sealed containers of wort. And all you will have to do is add it to your sanitized fermenter and pitch the yeast. ha ha maybe this wont happen, but you get the point.
Brewing with extract is cheating. People will deny it, but I will only agree with them that extract can produce a great beer too.

Click to expand...

I will say that I think it's "cheating" only as much as using purchased chicken stock is cheating in cooking.

That's all that's being done with extract- purchasing malt that has already been converted. Everything else- technique, recipe forumulation temperature control, specialty grains, yeast propagation, involves the same exact skills as any other brewer.

If you don't grow, malt, kiln, and roast your own grain, are you cheating as well? To say that using extract instead of mashing the grain is a very ignorant statement. Mashing is the easiest part of the brewday. Any doofus can do it, even me.

I love the whole AG process , everything!!My advise to extract brewers who want to stick with extract and make better beer would be full volume boils, and yeast starters.These will make a huge difference in your brew.When you switch to AG most brewers utilize these processes anyway so why not on your extract too?

My feeling is that if an extract brewer is happy with his/her beer and the process for making it, then they should continue with what they are doing.

I'm one of those people who will never be satisfied. Oh, the beer is fine! But as soon as I feel comfortable with one process, I start learning something new. Yeast propagation, water chemistry, decoctions, etc. I'm always a noob at each brewday, because I'm always wanting to tweak something!

If I had a beer and said, "This is IT! There is no way to improve this!", instead of being happy I'd probably quit brewing.

YooperBrew said:

I will say that I think it's "cheating" only as much as using purchased chicken stock is cheating in cooking.

That's all that's being done with extract- purchasing malt that has already been converted. Everything else- technique, recipe forumulation temperature control, specialty grains, yeast propagation, involves the same exact skills as any other brewer.

If you don't grow, malt, kiln, and roast your own grain, are you cheating as well? To say that using extract instead of mashing the grain is a very ignorant statement. Mashing is the easiest part of the brewday.

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Ditto. Well said.

No doubt you can make fantastic beer either way. I think it is just important to understand the cost/benefit of each and then decide what works best for you. I recently started AG simply because I brew as a hobby (and because I like to drink) and this allows me to be more challenged and expand my hobby. AG is much more time consuming, requires some additional equipment and incudes additional steps in the process, but it gives you more control, product is cheaper and opens you up to many more recipes and variations. Extract is a simple way of brewing, and is quicker and easier to pull off.

Either way, once you figure out the differences (costs/benefits) of each style, just do what you like and what is fun for you and who cares what anyone else thinks.

Good luck!