Dont get me wrong. the guys who all grain or partial have the space and time. also i would go on record and say this is more of a past time than hobby. the thing is once brew day is over you are waiting for weeks on end to bottle. thats lots of down time. bottling happens then again down time to condition. don't get me wrong i have a pipe line going where I'm always doing something. Im a beer drinker.
if the extract brews can win countless awards vs all grain. why is there so much effort to push people to all grain ? why is there a push ? is it really better or does it give something to do ?
going on the fact there is 90% of home brewers doing extract. why isn't more HBSS "home brew supply stores" offering more verity for extract brewers ?
I'd like to know where you get the fact that extract brewers are winning countless awards against all grain. Is there a list of competitions winners and their brewing style that we can all see?
Also, I am suspicious of the 90% extract brewers number. I'm sure that there are a lot of brewers starting out who use extract, but I'd guess that many of them do a few batches and then drop the hoppy. Like anything else, some people are not going to stick with it.
I can't say why stores don't offer more. I'm not sure what more there is to supply though either.
With AG you can have greater control over the mashing and they beer in general. With extract you are somewhat at the mercy of the extract company for certain things, most importantly the attenuation of the wort.
Also now that for MANY years there was a VERY limited amount of extract options available to most people. I think a lot of old time brewers went to AG for this reason.
I switched to AG for a few reasons, but one of them was cost. If you compared the cost of extract to grain, you'd see what I mean. I often think about brewing extract in the winter where the stove inside the house seems like a wonderful option. Then I price the batch with extract...
Most of all for me was the desire to go deeper into the hobby; to more fully understand the brewing process and have more control over certain aspects. I love the DIY factor and have built my own grain mill, Mash Tun, etc.
I refute that going AG is costly or difficult. I've seen many posts from people who have done their first AG batch and exclaimed how easy it really ended up being. And the cost is simply a paint strainer bag for BIAB method. You don't even need a larger burner since you can simply scale down the recipe or make a concentrated wort and top off if you really wish to.
Finally, I don't see a sudden rush to switch to AG as you claim. Lots of people switch, but lots of people stay. I think there may be more AG brewer now than ever, but mostly because of a better understanding of methods like BIAB and No Chill which take some of the equipment cost out of the equation.
There are many considerations on what will help make a great beer than extract vs AG. Yeast Health, pitching rate, ferm temp, O2 levels, etc. are all much more important IMO than whether you use extract or mash grains to get the wort.
IMO if you aren't doing all of those things right, then switching to AG is a waste of effort.