Any all-grain brewers "re-discover" all-extract brewing?

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Kent88

Kent88

Sometimes I have to remind myself
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I typically brew 3 gallon partial-extract batches where I mash around 5lbs of malt and grain in my 3-gallon Igloo cooler and add extract from there. Part of the reason I started with that method is I couldn't find any Munich malt DME. Well I found some and figured I'd give it a try.

Last night I mixed up 3lbs of Munich DME in some hot water, added some homegrown hops at the beginning of the boil, and ended up with enough wort to generously fill 2 one-gallon carboys (they're all that fit into my lager fridge) without picking up much gunk or hop sludge. I actually chilled it down so well, and the ambient temperature in my garage is so low, that it hasn't warmed up enough for the yeast to wake back up.

I'm not planning to switch back to all-extract anytime soon, but I didn't have to worry about hitting certain temperatures for a mash rest, I didn't have to think about adding salts to the mash/sparge water, and no problems with stuck sparges. I wasn't completely exhausted by the time I put the carboys in the fridge. Usually I'm tired by the time I pitch yeast. It was a really smooth brew day.

Anyone other mashers switch to extract for the occasional batch or two and find it to be almost easy?
 
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I recently went from all grain to partial mash. I have done all three but I think partial mash is the one I enjoy most. All grain is a lot of work and some heavy lifting for BIAB. I do not know that I will ever do all extract.
 
I recently did a 11 gallon all extract batch to get my pipeline going again. The recipe was:
9 lbs light dme
3 lbs amber dme

2 oz Polaris (20.8)15 min
2 oz hallertau blanc (9.7) 1 min
2 oz mandaria Bavaria (9.5 %) 1 min
1 oz cascade (6.3) 1 min

15 minute boil

Fermented half with imperial joystick and half with nottingham.

Starting gravity 1.047
Ibu: 42

Both batches exceeded expectations. Joystick had a slightly fruitier taste, and both were really tasty! I bought more extract and I'm brewing another batch this weekend with different hops and us-05. Both turned out way better than I thought, and I'd definitely recommend this for a quick brew day, quick turnaround beer. Btw, the fermented around 64.
 
I have too much fun with all grain to go back to partial mash or all extract. Although I might do a couple this summer to avoid having the burner going too long in 90+ heat. Also trying to get my hands on a couple of 3 gallon carboys to do smaller test batches, if I do I will definitely do partial mash.
 
I've brewed only 1 extract batch and it was back in the mid-nineties. Never going back. LME/DME is expensive and too much like the "cake mix" of homebrewing.
 
JohnSand said:
Do you give up drinking it too? I can knock out a partial mash batch in a couple of hours start to finish, or spend $100 buying craft beer. Buying the beer is really fast, but painful. I choose to brew.
Click to expand...

LOL! No, I'm good. I haven't stopped drinking. Even after 23+ years of brewing I still find brewing to be fun. Why rush "fun"?

I'm not like many brewers who can only afford to brew from paycheck to paycheck. I retired at 55 because I could afford to (financially speaking). I'll be 64 in July.

I do my best to keep a minimum of 5 kegs on-hand at all times. I just pre-plan my brewing sessions, mostly on Sundays.

Right now I have 2 kegs in the kegerator and 7 kegs in the keezer (and another 10-12 kegs that are empty) and 3 batches ready to keg (1 Wheat) and bottle (2 Hefe Weizen's).

I also have the grains weighed out for 4 upcoming batches.
 
Funny, recently I made an all extract IPA just because I need had a bunch of leftover hops around and some DME and was just like eh, bleep it , let's see what happens. It actually came out really well. Of course it's not like a commercial quality medal winner. But it's really tastey, really drinkable, and was super fast to make. I started with all grain. I had never had used DME before to make beer (just using it for starters really) , but I was pleasantly surprised how good it tasted and how easy it was to work with, so much easier than the LME I've used before.
 
I really enjoy the all-grain process but I wouldn't be opposed to doing an extract brew here and there. Every time I see those Palmer kits for dirt cheap, I'm very tempted to buy a few...
 
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I brewed one extract batch.

The color was off.
The malt flavor was off (LME was a couple months old).
The water chemistry was off.
Plus the added expense? Hah!

I won't try to convince anyone else to switch, but count me out. Extract goes in starters only, until I develop ambition to start freezing wort to use instead.
 
For days when I'm lazy and for sour beers it's pretty awesome. I'll just pour some hot water into a bucket with my DME and once it's cool enough to pitch I'm good to go.
 
No, but I've recently done a 30 minute boil and fermented in my pot with the lid taped on. Got a 33 on an American porter brewed this way in the NHC Denver region. No comments about off flavors whatsoever. They said that it was a little too high in ABV for the style and they wanted more roast barley flavor.
 
lablover said:
No, but I've recently done a 30 minute boil and fermented in my pot with the lid taped on. Got a 33 on an American porter brewed this way in the NHC Denver region. No comments about off flavors whatsoever. They said that it was a little too high in ABV for the style and they wanted more roast barley flavor.
Click to expand...

Funny how that goes sometimes, huh?
 
If you are talking "all extract" as in only extract without steeping grains, I cannot "re-discover" that at all. I did 4 extract with steeping grains then for partial mashes before going all grain. Before moving from Rhode Island to Florida I would do an occasional extract or small batch BIAB indoors during the winter. But I enjoy brewing and do not expect to "re-discover all extract brewing"
 
I doubt I will ever go back to extract exclusively, though I did start in the mid 1990's with kits and I did nothing but kits for my first 40-50 batches. Then I got into AG brewing in 2012 and have 80-100 batches under my belt. So much more to it which means I will always learn something in every batch.

I do buy extract on sale when I can find it so I am not opposed to brewing that way. It all comes out beer...
 
I still like to do all grain sometimes, but for me, the savings in cost of time can sometimes make up for the cost of extract! Two 5 gallon, 15 min boil batches in less time (including cleanup) than it takes for a single all grain batch? Yes, Please....
 
I did brew a basic extract kit recently when my pipeline run dry but it wasn't great, Oldish LME.
I will brew extract if beer & time is in short supply but with my 3V eHERMS all grain is pretty easy and I get better results.
I just like the control and experimentation with all grain,
Extract is to make beer, all grain is a hobby.
I like the fact I can spend a day brewing and completely forget about software (my day job)
 
I’m lazy. I’d do it if I could stop getting the extract twang. But the twang is always there so no luck.

Never considered it for sour beers tho. Interesting. @Comfort_Zone is this just for simplicity sake? Or does the twang get blended/erased/overpowered by going sour?
 
If I was going to do extract I’d just buy beer. Costs less and in most cases is better.
 
SanPancho said:
I’m lazy. I’d do it if I could stop getting the extract twang. But the twang is always there so no luck.

Never considered it for sour beers tho. Interesting. @Comfort_Zone is this just for simplicity sake? Or does the twang get blended/erased/overpowered by going sour?
Click to expand...
Simplicity. I was feeling lazy one day and it worked. Totally worth it.
 
Havent used dme yet but would really like to. Stuff doesn't even need boiled really. Have thought about buying it in bulk, but brew all grain as it is way cheaper. Kits do go on sale though. Would love to try 15min pale ale basic brew recipe.
 
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I tried it last year. The Morebeer rye malt extract is very similar in composition to what I'd normally put in a Rye Pale Ale, and that's a style that doesn't need low mash temp / extreme fermentability, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Don't see myself doing it again. With all the stuff I still ended up pulling out for chilling (full rig, pumps, etc), the "fun" of messing with bags full of sticky LME, the reduction in time from mash/boil was not a big enough reduction in overall brew day time to make it worth it. Especially when the cost of extract for a 10 gallon batch was QUITE a lot higher than what I normally spend on grain.

Normally a brew day for me is somewhere between 5 and 6 hours. I think this still ended up being 4, and with all the cleaning/etc, was nearly as much work. If I'm going to put in 4 hours, I might as well put in 5 1/2 and walk away knowing I've done it all "from scratch".
 
^^it took four hours to make the 15 minute pale ale?

I agree that by the time you pull out all the stuff, and finish sometimes it seems like might as well go all in. I would start with 5.7 g or so to account for short boil, throw steeping grains in, pull grains at 155ish, put dme in, boil for 15 and chill in ten. Total time 1 hr I am guessing. My normal brew day is 2.5 hours for 5g and 3 hrs for 10g. So i know what you are talking about. If it took me 2hrs then might as well just mash. But if i could make 10g in 1 hr that would be interesting. Essentially a hop tea could be made on the side and dme only brought to 170. Since it was boiled to powder when made, no real need to boil. Would love to try, but price and fear of "twang" has kept me away.
 
Recently started showing a new brewer the ropes as he got a couple extract kits. About a week ago I tasted the first batch and...no desire whatsoever to back to extract.
All grain just makes me feel more personally involved with the final product (which also taste better imo), and the fact that it takes longer is of no concern for me whatsoever.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
LOL! No, I'm good. I haven't stopped drinking. Even after 23+ years of brewing I still find brewing to be fun. Why rush "fun"?

I'm not like many brewers who can only afford to brew from paycheck to paycheck. I retired at 55 because I could afford to (financially speaking). I'll be 64 in July.

I do my best to keep a minimum of 5 kegs on-hand at all times. I just pre-plan my brewing sessions, mostly on Sundays.

Right now I have 2 kegs in the kegerator and 7 kegs in the keezer (and another 10-12 kegs that are empty) and 3 batches ready to keg (1 Wheat) and bottle (2 Hefe Weizen's).

I also have the grains weighed out for 4 upcoming batches.
Click to expand...

You...are a brewing machine...
 
Interesting comments about extract in here. I brewed about a dozen Mr Beer extract batches before going to all grain and they were all good. I even continued buying the occasional seasonal release before they sold to Coopers. (I didn't stop because of that, it was just about the same time).
My batches have been all grain for the past 8 years but once or twice a year I'll still do an extract batch. Sometimes it's a recipe I created way back when that is good and I don't want to change it so I brew it as an extract batch. Sometimes it's because I need to do a quick brew day.
I've done the 15-minute pale ale route a few times and the beer comes out great. If you adhere to the same brewing principles as always (fresh ingredients, sanitization, temp control, pitch rates, good recipe) there is no reason you can't make a stellar beer using extract.
 
Every year at Christmas my club holds a raffle with stuff donated by members. Last year I won a Northern Brewer Ace of Spades extract kit. I steeped the grains on the way to 170F. At 185F I turned off the flame and stirred in the extract. Then I dumped in the hops along with a couple leftovers from my freezer and whirlpooled for 20 minutes before cooling off. Fastest brew day ever and turned out mighty tasty.
 
I do some small extract batches (2-2.5 gallon) to try out different hops or different hop stand temps/times. Some no-boil (180 degrees), 5 min boil or at most 15 min boil. Only DME (no twang, no sticky mess). Much less overall time and cleanup. Surprisingly good results for some of my extreme combinations. For 2.5 gallon batches I'm not seeing the big price difference, $5-6 maybe, but I also don't buy 50lb bags of grain. Hops, yeast and water all the same.
 
I have been doing about 50/50 AG/Extract and using extract for Belgian or Brett beers so for me the focus is the yeast anyway
 
I could go nuts with extract and no boil beers. I could whip out a 6 month pipeline in a day, and make all grain on the side.
 
I made some delicious beer with extract. Since going all grain, I have done 2 extract batches and likely will never do another. The benifit was a slightly shorter brewday. The end product was not as good. :(
 

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