Help a new homebrewer setup!

[Caleb Pudlo]

Hey all,

I am looking for advice on what route yall would go if you started homebrewing all over again. My two brothers and I have been talking about home brewing for about a year now. None of us have brewed yet, but Ive read Big Book of Homebrewing and How to Brew. We want an all-in-one electric system that produces 10g or 15g (split into 3 corny kegs makes sense for us). My brother just redid his garage and is about to add a sub-panel for 30amp 240v outlet. We want something that simplifies the brewing process so we are still enjoying it years down the road and are not frustrated with 7 hour brew days.

Since we are splitting everything 3-ways, Ive been looking into a nicer setup like the 240v 15/20g Brew-Boss. What other options would you consider better for the price? The Blichmann Breweasy looks great but pretty pricey at $2230. I've read some people say SS and ClawHammer should be releasing a 240v 10g system soon... Should we wait? What about Unibrau, High Gravity or Grounded Brewing? We're looking for an all-in-one type setup. Some have mentioned waiting for Black Friday for possible discounts.

Also, we live in Houston and will need a fermentation chamber so any advice in this area will be much appreciated. Essentially, Im looking for advice on how you would do your entire setup if you had to start all over...the system, fermentation chamber, fermenters, grain mill, etc. Im setting up a budget so we can get the process started.

Any and all advice is much appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[Noble J]

Clawhammer just released their 240v 10g this week. I just ordered their 120v last week and can’t wait to try it out. I’ll reply again after my first brew. DONT BUY A ROBOBREW! Ours fried after only 15 brews! Piece of crap! The board melted in the middle of a boil [emoji35]

 

[Addiktion]

Spike brewing has a buy once cry once system. However if your getting electrical work done I’d go with a 50A service so you can run two elements at the same time if you want to back to back brews. I have 30A and I’m limited to what I can do because of it.

 

[Caleb Pudlo]

Spike brewing has a buy once cry once system. However if your getting electrical work done I’d go with a 50A service so you can run two elements at the same time if you want to back to back brews. I have 30A and I’m limited to what I can do because of it.

Thanks for the recommendation on 50A vs 30A. We're getting it done next week so I think I can switch it up. Also putting in a couple 20A for fermentation chamber and room to grow.

The cheapest Spike system is a $4,750...we're trying to stay close to $2K.

 

[Caleb Pudlo]

Clawhammer just released their 240v 10g this week. I just ordered their 120v last week and can’t wait to try it out. I’ll reply again after my first brew. DONT BUY A ROBOBREW! Ours fried after only 15 brews! Piece of crap! The board melted in the middle of a boil [emoji35]

It did! However, it's just a 10.5 kettle...I dont think you can do 10g brews on that, right?

 

[Addiktion]

SsBrewtech has a new line of electrical brewing systems for the home brewer. Not sure how much they are but I’d imagine they are close to spike prices.

 

[Caleb Pudlo]

SsBrewtech has a new line of electrical brewing systems for the home brewer. Not sure how much they are but I’d imagine they are close to spike prices.

They are still offering the same 3-kettle setup. I havent seen their all-in-one electric system they promised a few months ago.

 

[SEndorf]

Check out "The Electric Brewery"
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com

Complete step by step. Do as much or as little hands on in the building process as you want.

 

[TechFanMD]

You're setting up something different than what I have/want/need.....but my advice is to buy big. I've never heard a homebrewer say that they wish they had a smaller brew kettle or a smaller propane burner. In your case, I wouldn't settle for less than the ability to do 15 or even 20 gallon batches. Go big on the electric service like another poster said. Buy once, cry once.....nothing sucks worse than buying something and outgrowing it in a year and spending a lot more in the long run.

This is really cool, what you're doing. You are going to have a blast. It will be interesting to see how it goes - I'm guessing one of you will kill a keg much quicker than the others (definitely the 'host' of the brewery will go through homebrew on brew days......your pipeline will get out of whack unless you each have several kegs at your disposal.....but more kegs is an easy expansion.

 

[Dland]

System based on 15 gallon 1/2 kegs, like mine, gets the job done within budget. Way in budget if you fabricate yourself, but even if you buy kegs modified by someone else, or have a local welder add the fitting though hulls, you can get a good system pretty cheap. Not as pretty as the store bought ones though. I can brew 10 gallon plus batches. Recently added electric elements, just by welding on tri clamp ferules.

 

[Addiktion]

You're setting up something different than what I have/want/need.....but my advice is to buy big. I've never heard a homebrewer say that they wish they had a smaller brew kettle or a smaller propane burner. In your case, I wouldn't settle for less than the ability to do 15 or even 20 gallon batches. Go big on the electric service like another poster said. Buy once, cry once.....nothing sucks worse than buying something and outgrowing it in a year and spending a lot more in the long run.

This is really cool, what you're doing. You are going to have a blast. It will be interesting to see how it goes - I'm guessing one of you will kill a keg much quicker than the others (definitely the 'host' of the brewery will go through homebrew on brew days......your pipeline will get out of whack unless you each have several kegs at your disposal.....but more kegs is an easy expansion.

To add on to this I fully regret my kettle size. However one was bought for me as a gift so I stuck with the 10 gallon kettles. I wish I had 20

 

[Bill Huelsman]

I started off slowly here, doing brews on the stove for two years. I'm currently working on setting up a 240 V electric brewing system now.

Currently i have a half barrel converted into a Keggle. Had 2 tried Clover's added to it by a welder. (Tig welded for food grade). Brew hardware.com is a good source for the raw hard ware.

If you're the type that is Handy, you can build a control panel for less cost. I wired my setup with #6 THHN wire, good for up to 75 amps. ( Buy once, cry once!) I plan on using2 Auber ez boils PID controller units. One for the HLT, other for the boil Keggle. Bought 2 5000 watt elements. Use a spa panel before your control panel! With a GFCI breaker!

Take some time, do your research, check out your options. Nothing wrong with a used propane burner to start you out with!

 

[bkboiler]

If I had to start all over I’d do it exactly the same way.
I honestly would recommend starting the way a lot of us started...small.
Dropping $5k on a bling rig sounds awesome and yes, a lot of us salivate over one day owning something that cool.
But I HAVE heard brewers say they wish they had bought smaller. Kids, work, life. Stuff gets busy.
Maybe attending a local homebrew club meeting you can help on a brewday for a guy with a similar system to the one you’re looking at.
My $0.02, start extract 1 gallon. Maybe $200 worth of equipment invested including ferm chamber. Make your mistakes on small batches not 10 gallon ones.

 

[eric19312]

I agree with advice about starting small. At least a few batches. The big shiny equipment will not necessarily make better beer. It will make it easier to brew more beer but the process and product can be pretty much the same. And your beer will get better pretty fast with experience. Make sure all three of you really enjoy the process before putting in the bigger $ and aren’t siting around trying to drink 15 gallons of beer nobody really likes.

Also make sure your host brother is comfortable about the brewery footprint. Mine takes bulk of my garage when you consider brewstand, fermentation chamber, keezer, grain storage and milling station, gear storage, bottle and keg storage, work table, gear washing area....I’ve got a deep two car garage and between brewery and some typical garden equipment...lawnmower, snowblower, bikes and a bit of stuff stored by my daughter it’s full with no room for a motercycle let alone a car.

 

[TechFanMD]

If I had to start all over I’d do it exactly the same way.
I honestly would recommend starting the way a lot of us started...small.
Dropping $5k on a bling rig sounds awesome and yes, a lot of us salivate over one day owning something that cool.
But I HAVE heard brewers say they wish they had bought smaller. Kids, work, life. Stuff gets busy.
Maybe attending a local homebrew club meeting you can help on a brewday for a guy with a similar system to the one you’re looking at.
My $0.02, start extract 1 gallon. Maybe $200 worth of equipment invested including ferm chamber. Make your mistakes on small batches not 10 gallon ones.

I agree with you to a point. You want to be sure it is what you want to do. Starting small is actually what got me away from brewing for a long time, and I hear this a lot from others as well. When you have a cheap turkey fryer and a pot, and it takes so long to heat water - people lose interest because the brew day takes so long.....but you still end up with a few hundred dollars spent by the time you buy racking canes, buckets, airlocks, hydrometers, etc. etc.

If I would have bought a high quality burner or gone electric and could have cut a lot of that time spent down back then, I'd probably have been brewing for a lot longer, and would have spent a lot less on equipment in the end.

Stuff does get busy - that's why you buy or build a rig to shorten brewing and cleanup time. If you recognize the limitations in advance, then you can design your brewery around them. Start small and you spend money that makes it difficult to find time for the hobby and with equipment that takes up more room in the garage.

It would be cool if people bought these together more often and just rotated them between a couple of guys.....or rented them out or something. Rentals would be cool, so you could see if you like to do it and if the setup makes sense.

 

[bkboiler]

I agree with you to a point. You want to be sure it is what you want to do. Starting small is actually what got me away from brewing for a long time, and I hear this a lot from others as well. When you have a cheap turkey fryer and a pot, and it takes so long to heat water - people lose interest because the brew day takes so long.....but you still end up with a few hundred dollars spent by the time you buy racking canes, buckets, airlocks, hydrometers, etc. etc.

If I would have bought a high quality burner or gone electric and could have cut a lot of that time spent down back then, I'd probably have been brewing for a lot longer, and would have spent a lot less on equipment in the end.

Stuff does get busy - that's why you buy or build a rig to shorten brewing and cleanup time. If you recognize the limitations in advance, then you can design your brewery around them. Start small and you spend money that makes it difficult to find time for the hobby and with equipment that takes up more room in the garage.

It would be cool if people bought these together more often and just rotated them between a couple of guys.....or rented them out or something. Rentals would be cool, so you could see if you like to do it and if the setup makes sense.

Good point, I completely agree to buy good quality proper equipment. Not having the right tool is just frustrating in any context.
I’m referring to small batches, not inadequate tools. Clearly a cheap turkey fryer used to heat water for 5 gallon batches sounds not fun.
A home stove is more than adequate for a 1 gallon batch.
I’ve talked to many people who drop big $$ and get frustrated at how expensive it is to waste/dump a large batch since they haven’t been brewing very long and made a silly mistake. Expensive equipment isn’t murphy proofed, since it never does everything.
I recommended starting with extract to build on sanitation practices and fermentation control. Introduce mash considerations after sanitation and yeast are well understood.
And spending $200 on small batch equipment is a better idea even if you sell it for half price later when you go big, it’s better than dropping $5k on bling and deciding you dont like brewing. That’ll be a much bigger loss when you sell the equipment used.
Anyway, just my opinion. I support y’all who go big or go home, but it doesn’t work for everybody.

 

[Addiktion]

Just my .02 but I started 1 gallon brew and ruined it. The equipment was so difficult to use compared to my big gear. once I had my gear set up I have never made a bad beer or had an infection. My one gallon brew was poured down the drain. Also I only did at the most 3-4 extract batches and said screw that and went all gain. I did the same with bottling. I hated it and went to kegging. All of this in less than a year time. I never really wasted money because everything I have still plays a role in my brew day (to an extent). I hated propane and went electric. As a new brewer all the gear may be hard to get used to but if you have the resources I say just do it. Money has always been a restriction for me and at one point my dad and brother were investing in the equipment in exchange for free beer.

 

[TechFanMD]

Just my .02 but I started 1 gallon brew and ruined it. The equipment was so difficult to use compared to my big gear. once I had my gear set up I have never made a bad beer or had an infection. My one gallon brew was poured down the drain. Also I only did at the most 3-4 extract batches and said screw that and went all gain. I did the same with bottling. I hated it and went to kegging. All of this in less than a year time. I never really wasted money because everything I have still plays a role in my brew day (to an extent). I hated propane and went electric. As a new brewer all the gear may be hard to get used to but if you have the resources I say just do it. Money has always been a restriction for me and at one point my dad and brother were investing in the equipment in exchange for free beer.

I agree. I found that brewing a gallon took a lot of time for little return, and the process was much more frustrating than making larger batches. Either way - the OP is looking to split beer between 3 guys so I'm not sure why anyone suggested making small batches anyway. Costs, work, and enjoyment are split among three people.

 

[bkboiler]

That’s very true about the ROI on a small batch. Sounds like they should rent a huge system to try their first batch on like you suggested.
Maybe commit to purchasing a ferm chamber and kegerator since they’ll need that either way.

 

[RevKev]

Well I'll say how I started and maybe you'll take something away from this.

Sorry to say you'll still have a several hour brew day no matter what you'll do... I suggest looking into Kal from electric brewery if you wanna go for a full AG system or getting an eBIAB set up. If you wanna go all out, spend more money on your fermentation equipment than your brew setup.

I was an apartment brewer. Still am and jumped into BIAB for multiple reasons some of them are below.

1) limited storage space
2) limited brew space
3) simplicity of the brewing

If I had a home with dedicated space I would simply upgrade to eBIAB. I don't think I'll want a HERMS or RIMS three kettle setup for a long, long time. I jumped directly into a 20gal kettle from SS. Wish I got the one from spike due to the welded fittings, it's simply less to take apart after cleaning, but now SS has a new BME kettle which seems quite nice.

After getting the large enough kettle I won't outgrow, I never feel the need to make more than 14 gal of beer. I started compiling fermenters. And expanding my kegging setup. Truth be told, start simple but with quality and expand as you need it.

Just buy a kettle with welded fittings, one for a thermostat, one for a valve, and one for a whirlpool. If you like hops. And a glycol system... Yes.

 

[Addiktion]

Kal is big on this forum as well. I'm sure he would be happy to help you design a system. I love my spike kettles and they are totally customizable. I built my brewing panel from Kal and Doug's help.

 

[Caleb Pudlo]

Thanks for all the input. I completely understand why most of yall are saying to start small, but after reading about homebrews for the last years, I believe most people get burnt out b/c their brew day is literally all day. Also, the price is fairly substantial but we're splitting it 3 ways so easier to swallow. Who is Kal?

 

[Addiktion]

Thanks for all the input. I completely understand why most of yall are saying to start small, but after reading about homebrews for the last years, I believe most people get burnt out b/c their brew day is literally all day. Also, the price is fairly substantial but we're splitting it 3 ways so easier to swallow. Who is Kal?

Kal made http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/

He has a good page set up for all the DIY you would need to do. From the control panel, to the fermentation chamber.

 

[eric19312]

If goal is faster brew day make sure to think about easy set up and cleaning. Wish I had a floor drain in my brew garage. Tippy dump mash tun be nice too. And think you are already on right track re getting plenty of power if going electric, waiting for water to heat can be painful if heating under powered to scale. Well planned storage and a quality grain mill also will help. But really do spend time thinking about cleaning including all the brewing gear, fermenters and kegs too.

 

[Addiktion]

Forgot to mention Doug293cz is an electrician I believe who helps people design control panels. I sent him a parts list and he made changes and made me a complete wire diagram which made installation a breeze. If you build it from scratch it’s cheaper and for me I love the DIY part of brewing. It’s half the fun and the beer is the reward. But if you want plug and play that’s cool to.

 

[BeardedBrews]

The best advice is to go brew with someone that has the configuration you're considering. It will let you discuss the parts, get a feel for the process, and learn what they would tweak in the "Version 2". I understand that's not always the easiest thing to do.

I've re-built and re-bought 3 times now, and I think I'm finally pretty happy with my setup. The key for me was to keep cleaning and ease of operation in mind. I was willing to sacrifice a bit of the "traditional" approach, and probably compromise some of the control and efficiency, to get a system that is easy for me to operate and faster to break down at the end of the day.

My beer gets better the more I practice, but I won't practice if it feels like a chore.

 

[Brewfreedom]

Looks like this finally dropped. https://www.ssbrewtech.com/pages/electric-brewing

 

[Brewfreedom]

SsBrewtech has a new line of electrical brewing systems for the home brewer. Not sure how much they are but I’d imagine they are close to spike prices.

Looks like they are going for cheaper than Spike but not a complete system so its not quite apples to oranges. Just controller + kettles.

 

[Brewfreedom]

No mention of herms coil in the HLT looks like its single infusion mash with rims in the near future? Still the controller looks interesting. Price is cheaper than building a Kal clone or even their kit.

 

[augiedoggy]

Spike brewing has a buy once cry once system. However if your getting electrical work done I’d go with a 50A service so you can run two elements at the same time if you want to back to back brews. I have 30A and I’m limited to what I can do because of it.

Thanks for the recommendation on 50A vs 30A. We're getting it done next week so I think I can switch it up. Also putting in a couple 20A for fermentation chamber and room to grow.

The cheapest Spike system is a $4,750...we're trying to stay close to $2K.

Things to point out, if you are really looking for a simple all in one electric setup your looking at biab and you do not need the double cost of 6awg wire and a 50a circuit at all... If your looking at a 3 vessel system or at brewing with two systems at once then yeah 50a may be worthwhile.. there are plenty of us using a 3 vessel system on 30a without issues.

My point is dont stray off track from what you want, its going to be easy to be talked into higher costs and a system that others find better for themselves but it sounds like you guys arent the hardware/techy type so you wont get enjoyment out of the complex systems.. I'd try a simple biab setup first (maybe borrow a turkey fryer) to make sure its what your going to be happy with and then from there.

 

[augiedoggy]

You're setting up something different than what I have/want/need.....but my advice is to buy big. I've never heard a homebrewer say that they wish they had a smaller brew kettle or a smaller propane burner. In your case, I wouldn't settle for less than the ability to do 15 or even 20 gallon batches. Go big on the electric service like another poster said. Buy once, cry once.....nothing sucks worse than buying something and outgrowing it in a year and spending a lot more in the long run.

This is really cool, what you're doing. You are going to have a blast. It will be interesting to see how it goes - I'm guessing one of you will kill a keg much quicker than the others (definitely the 'host' of the brewery will go through homebrew on brew days......your pipeline will get out of whack unless you each have several kegs at your disposal.....but more kegs is an easy expansion.

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

 

[augiedoggy]

Thanks for all the input. I completely understand why most of yall are saying to start small, but after reading about homebrews for the last years, I believe most people get burnt out b/c their brew day is literally all day. Also, the price is fairly substantial but we're splitting it 3 ways so easier to swallow. Who is Kal?

The more sophisticated and fancier the system also means more times than not, longer setup and cleanup times.. Not always but more times than not. Most people with your frame of mind on here end up going with BIAB setups because they are the quickest to brew on and easiest to setup and teardown. The majority people you'll find commenting in the equipment section are not those same people, They are the people like myself who made the equipment and system into a whole additional hobby here... Many of the ones who just want to make beer came here, got the info they needed and now spend most of their time in other sections or the forum like the all grain area..

 

[TechFanMD]

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

I have heard many people on here say they were convinced to go with 20 gallon 3 vessel systems and they wished they hadnt. Ive even heard more than a few say they have gone from a 3 vessel herms or rims system back to a single biab setup...way less setup and cleanup time and space needed... and the OP already indicated they werent looking for 7 hr brew days..

I have and love my 3 vessel setup but they are not for everyone... again this is why I agree the OP should actually try brewing on a biab setup before spending thousands like many who jump into this hobby thinking more expensive equipment will help make it easier to make good beer... It doesn't necessarily work that way.

I didn’t mean to go THAT big! I just meant to buy a bigger kettle than you think you need. Big difference between getting a 15 or 20 gallon brew kettle and going all the way to a 20 gallon 3 vessel system.

Keep in mind they plan to brew for 3 people here - either way the brew day will be at least 3-4hrs with extract and longer if they go all grain. The bigger kettle means that they can each get more than 1/3 of a 5g batch for all of their efforts.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

If had to to do it all over again I'd do it the same way I already did.
A 20 gallon pot for 10 gallon BIAB batches and a homemade electric control panel ...so simple...so effective.
No pumps or bells and whistles. After brew day I stick the control panel, IC, spoon ETC in the pot and store the pot in a spare room. My entire brew setup is stored in one pot. Couldnt get any easier

 

[augiedoggy]

I didn’t mean to go THAT big! I just meant to buy a bigger kettle than you think you need. Big difference between getting a 15 or 20 gallon brew kettle and going all the way to a 20 gallon 3 vessel system.

Keep in mind they plan to brew for 3 people here - either way the brew day will be at least 3-4hrs with extract and longer if they go all grain. The bigger kettle means that they can each get more than 1/3 of a 5g batch for all of their efforts.

20 gallon is often recommended by people who have never used electric for brewing 10 gallons at a time. 1 2 or 3 vessel it doesnt often matter although you make a good point that in biab systems the single kettle is usually larger.

I assume they want to brew all grain. most who brew extract do so on the kitchen stove and in small quantities due to cost and kit size.
I started with extract and did it for a long time before all grain myself and its just my opinion but its like making a cake from a box mix kit to me compared to baking from scratch.. Most people I know who love to bake no longer use duncan hines box kits and thats all im going to say about that since im sure people will get upset about my comparison on this . Ive got a friend who been brewing for longer than me and all he does is extract brewing hes never tried all grain and keeps putting it off. If a persons content with that great, you can mix up some great beer that way.
We all get different pleasures out of this hobby and some of us have different priorities, again that was my point here, To some the brewing system and process is just as important or maybe more important than the beer it makes.

 

[rudylyon57]

I'm using a 3 vessel, one-pump, 16 g pot(s) RIMS setup for reference. Being a tinkerer, I made this the DIY route building on the many great ideas found right here. But if I was to start over I would go eBIAB. On top of that, if I was NOT a DIYer, I would likely purchase something like this. 12 gallon batches are tops but close to your budget.
https://www.cobrewingsystems.com/co...er-home-electric-brew-system-20-gallon-kettle

 

[TechFanMD]

20 gallon is often recommended by people who have never used electric for brewing 10 gallons at a time. 1 2 or 3 vessel it doesnt often matter although you make a good point that in biab systems the single kettle is usually larger.

I assume they want to brew all grain. most who brew extract do so on the kitchen stove and in small quantities due to cost and kit size.
I started with extract and did it for a long time before all grain myself and its just my opinion but its like making a cake from a box mix kit to me compared to baking from scratch.. Most people I know who love to bake no longer use duncan hines box kits and thats all im going to say about that since im sure people will get upset about my comparison on this . Ive got a friend who been brewing for longer than me and all he does is extract brewing hes never tried all grain and keeps putting it off. If a persons content with that great, you can mix up some great beer that way.
We all get different pleasures out of this hobby and some of us have different priorities, again that was my point here, To some the brewing system and process is just as important or maybe more important than the beer it makes.

I don't think that 'most' extract brewers do so on the stovetop, and aren't necessarily doing smaller batches. I do agree that all-grain can lead to better beer and more control of the process. I do both, doing extract when I just need shorter brew days when time gets tight. I hear it a lot, but I don't see the similarity to using a cake mix in baking. Sure, all grain gives more control and requires a bit more skill - but either way you're just making wort......a cake mix comparison would work better if the whole thing wort were already all put together and all you had to do was add a bit of water and warm it up and wallah! Beer. Maybe those cans of hopped malt extract are like a cake mix.....brewing with extracts in general is not.

Remember - not everyone who does extract is brewing pre-assembled kits either. Why do you think brew stores sell LME and DME.....because people are using it to brew beer that didn't come in a kit. There is still sanitation, technique, water chemistry, etc involved either way.

Your experience is different, but I have yet to meet someone (in clubs, at events, etc) that has lamented buying too big of a kettle, but met plenty who lament the extra money spent in upgrading late or wish they had gone big in the first place. Yes - there are people on both sides of every issue, but I don't think that the majority wish they went smaller. FWIW, the secondhand market around me is polluted with 8 gallon pots because people get them when they start and buy bigger later.

 

[augiedoggy]

I don't think that 'most' extract brewers do so on the stovetop, and aren't necessarily doing smaller batches. I do agree that all-grain can lead to better beer and more control of the process. I do both, doing extract when I just need shorter brew days when time gets tight. I hear it a lot, but I don't see the similarity to using a cake mix in baking. Sure, all grain gives more control and requires a bit more skill - but either way you're just making wort......a cake mix comparison would work better if the whole thing wort were already all put together and all you had to do was add a bit of water and warm it up and wallah! Beer. Maybe those cans of hopped malt extract are like a cake mix.....brewing with extracts in general is not.

Remember - not everyone who does extract is brewing pre-assembled kits either. Why do you think brew stores sell LME and DME.....because people are using it to brew beer that didn't come in a kit. There is still sanitation, technique, water chemistry, etc involved either way.

Your experience is different, but I have yet to meet someone (in clubs, at events, etc) that has lamented buying too big of a kettle, but met plenty who lament the extra money spent in upgrading late or wish they had gone big in the first place. Yes - there are people on both sides of every issue, but I don't think that the majority wish they went smaller. FWIW, the secondhand market around me is polluted with 8 gallon pots because people get them when they start and buy bigger later.

All grain is the complete "brewing process" whereas extract is pretty much the point of the boil on.. There is a big difference and I'll leave it at that. again just my take on having done plenty of both.

When it comes to electric brewing there are additional precautions one has to take because the extract can easily burn to the element but its totally doable.. I guess a poll could be done but I stand by my original comment that most extract brewers use stoves or at the most, propane turkey fryers to make beer since they are already taking the simplier route to brewing as it is. I cant recall one thread where someone has come to the electric brewing section asking about building (or buying) a system without any type of mash or temp control because they are only extract brewing. Honestly all you need is a kettle and a heat source for that so why buy an all grain brewing "system"?

 

[Radboud]

I'd go all-in-one too if I had to start over. I have a 5G 2-tier Igloo system and a mini-BIAB setup. Loads of time have gone into finetuning and refactoring the 5G which while fun distracts from finetuning recipes/beer itself. Those all in one things are quite popular around here these days, the main Dutch LHBS sells white-labelled cheap Chinese ones.