Keeping The Pipeline Up

I was wondering how many out there brew a mix between AG batches and partial mash type brewing. I am fortunate enought to have a small second kitchen in the house. I use this for all things beer. It allows me to keep my brewing things in there with little hassle. So I can jump in there and knock out a partial mash kit in three hours.

I also do AG brewing as well but these days need to be planned and are of course longer. I am currently getting a single teir system built to do bigger batches as well.

I love doing the AG but it is nice to be able to use the partials as pipeline fillers. Do a lot of you do this as well? It seems there is a lot of brewers who do one or the other. How many do both?

Cheers

I haven't gone back to extract since going AG for a number of reasons. Although at this point in my homebrewing I'd love to try one again..maybe a partial mash with only dme who knows.

I did a whole bunch of extract batches a couple of years ago, because I had bought many pounds of extra light DME at bargain basement prices from a shop that was going out of business.

Now I am out of DME, except for the pound or so I have around to make starters with. The last beer I made with extract was in February of last year, when I needed to substitute some pilsner LME in a recipe for 10 gallons of a Belgian quad, since I couldn't fit that enough grain into my MLT to brew it all-grain. Even with subbing out some of the pilsner, my 12 gallon MLT was full right up to the rim.



I don't actually drink that much beer, and my wife drinks almost none even though I have one of her favorite beers on tap. So, I don't have too much trouble keeping my pipeline filled, and if I brew as much as I have so far this year, my pipeline actually gets backed up very quickly. Some of those kegs will end up going to parties and homebrew club events and whatnot, but for the most part it doesn't take many batches to keep me in beer for a few months or more. One of the beers on tap in my kegerator has been there since September of last year. It's a great beer but I can only drink so much, and I have two other taps.

This is a timely thread for me. I brewed for a few years back in college, took 5 years or so off and recently got back into the hobby with an extract/grain kit. That particular batch at the time was probably the best I had done up until that point, but it was still lacking something that I wanted from my homebrew. I decided to try to move to AG and did rather successfully, and have 5 AG batches under my belt which have all been fantastic beers with the exception of the first. But I have a hard time keeping up the pipeline, because with a wife and 3 kids it is hard to find the 6 hours that are required (i know I can probably get this down).

I've been wondering if the success I've had with AG is completely attributable to the AG process, or if some of the success is attributable to the fact that I've dialed in a lot of other processes (e.g. ferm temp, yeast, starters, full boil, water, etc.).

Fast forward to this past weekend, I decided to pull the trigger on a partial mash/extract recipe and see how it turns out. I will be excited if I can get some of the same quality that I've gotten from going AG...we shall see.

The only drawback, the ingredients cost me $60 for this 5.5 gal batch, when I could have probably made it for $20-30 if I had done it AG. $60 is getting pretty damn expensive...

I've been doing all-grain for a while now but did an extract kit a couple weeks ago. It was a Monday night and my girlfriend was having people over for some kind of party (purses, cleaning products, jewelry ... I have no idea). I wanted something that would keep me in the garage for a few hours but not the level of time commitment an all-grain brew can bring.

I bought a simple American wheat kit from Northern Brewer and it worked great! I'll be kegging the batch this week.

I have no issues with extract + specialty grain beers and don't mind doing them/drinking them when their around... upside with them is that I can knockout a full wort boil extract brew in half the time it takes for AG... so if I want to do two brews back to back, no problem... downside is that I can't get the level of control (and as a result the mouthfeel and depth of flavor) that I do with AG and it costs about 2x as much.

I have never fooled with a partial mash beer... for my money, if I am going to take the time to do that, I am going AG

I have never fooled with a partial mash beer... for my money, if I am going to take the time to do that, I am going AG

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Have you tried partial mash BIAB? It only adds about 1/2 hour over extract+steeping grains. Let's you make brews that you cannot do with just steeping.

beergolf said:

Have you tried partial mash BIAB? It only adds about 1/2 hour over extract+steeping grains. Let's you make brews that you cannot do with just steeping.

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Maybe my post wasn't clear... I guess it could look like it said I am an extract brewer that could go AG if I wanted to. What I meant was that I am an AG brewer that does the occasional extract + steep beer for one reason or another, and if I was going to do anything more than that I wouldn't bother with the extract and just do it AG. One of the main reasons I would brew an extract beer is time, and anything that tacks onto the schedule at all is chucked out the door. KISS method!

I've been going between extract and 2.5 to 3 gal BIAB. I currently have only two fermenters and can keep them both busy. I even bottled my first Biab while brewing the 2nd batch.That kept me busy and productive the whole time. I just need to work on the over all process to make sure I'm not missing steps.I'm not set up for any thing bigger AG wise at this point. But it allows me to work on things on a smaller batch while I start getting set up for something bigger. Also I can make a wider variety of beer to fine what I prefer.

Doing the extract batches gives me quanity for the pipeline.

Both allows me to do my brewing in the kitchen after the kids go to bed and not make for an extremely late night.

When I first got my mill I was so excited to brew and I had read plenty on BIAB so I felt confident. I didn't try to figure any numbers but I probably should have because then I would have known that 5lbs of 2-row really isn't enough to make anything other than a slightly skunky smelling water. BUT IT WAS FUN! I can easilly see myself trying another BIAB partial mash for the sake of ease, I just need to make sure I have a larger bag for my grains on hand + some DME.

How can a partial mash BIAB only be 30 minutes longer than an extract batch? If you're mashing, isn't it adding closer to an hour?

As to the topic, when I first started AG I did the partial route a few times to keep the pipeline up. I don't bother with partials now, I started to buy bulk grains and I can't justify the expense of DME/LME.

How can a partial mash BIAB only be 30 minutes longer than an extract batch? If you're mashing, isn't it adding closer to an hour?

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30 mins longer than extract w/ steeping grains. The steep is 30 mins, so a 60 min mash is only 30 mins longer. I just did my first BIAB partial mash, it was about 25 mins longer than just steeping. 45 mash, 10 minute sparge.

Since I went BIAB and AG I haven't gone back. BIAB doesn't take much longer than extract w/steeping grains. Since there is less water to bring to mash and sparge temps it really cuts the time it takes me to do AG. This only applies to my equipment set up. I don't know how it is for other brewers.

I started with extract + steeping grains and quickly went to all grain. I enjoy the all grain process and have noticed moderate improvements in my beer. I typically brew every other weekend but have recently been brewing almost once a week. I currently have 4 batches bottled and ready to drink, 2 batches bottle conditioning and 3 batches in some stage of fermenting/conditioning. Seems like a lot of beer, but it goes pretty fast around my house. I don't necessarily mind the extra time all grain takes but I also don't have kids and my wife is pretty cool with all the brewing I do. Extract or partial mashing may be more up my alley when kids come into the picture though.

I do both AG and extract + steeping grains, not so much to keep the pipeline up but when I'm experimenting with secondary additions, I'll do an extract brew.

I would say about 75% of my beers are AG at this point, but I still brew a fair amount with extract and specialty grains because I can sneak in a batch after work on a weeknight. I mainly do simple beers this way, like pale ale, IPA, Hefeweizen, and so on. Keeps the kegerator full.

I was a full time all grain brewer until I was able to pick up some DME for less than most HBS charge fro a LB of grain so let’s just say I got a few pounds! But I still brew 1 – 15+ gallon AG batch a month since I literally have a ton of grain and then 2-3 smaller 10 gallon extract with steeping grains. Going from brewing 15+ gallon day long all grain batches to only spending a few hours to kick out an extract is really nice. And I have to be honest if I can get a good price on DME again I will switch to buying 75% DME and 25% grain and only using AG for special brews. Brewing 15 gallon AG batches solo is just becoming too much work to keep up with especially when you factor in the cleanup, kegging/bottling, water preparation and such.

I have considered an occasional extract batch. January has been nice weather here in Houston. Highs in the low 70s, lows in the upper 40s. I have been in the garage making beer.

My pipeline is still not over full. I have about 3 gallons in the keezer, 5 to go in this week, and 10 in a couple. The keezer is set up to hold 15 gallons. I like to keep another 15 aging. Haven't gotten there yet. Need another 15 gallons.

My wife is pissed at me. Go figure.