Extract brewing is FAKE brewing

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

skipper1953

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
128
Reaction score
15
I recently read the following on another forum.

"Are you seriously saying that you have stuck enough LME into a pot to just ferment the small amount of sugar remaining in the extract ? Those Extracts are made specifically to give flavour and are Intended to be fermented with additional sugar - it's just in the nature of the beast !"

"... go to any brewing forum and say you make your beer using "Brew kits" and they will not recognise that as a valid method. If your not "mashing and sparging" malt (preferably home malted) you're just "Not one of us". "

Has anyone else ever encountered such nonsense?
 
Lol! Sounds like one of those other forums that they are referring to is NOT homebrewtalk. There's a whole section on this forum devoted to extract brewing.

And for the record, while I'm an AG brewer, I've never preferred home malting in my life. Not that it isn't cool, but I can say for darn sure that the pros do a better job of malting than I would!
 
LOL....I have been making extract brews for going on nearly 4yrs now. Have had more than a few people say that my brew is better than a couple of brew pubs in the area (whom brew AG), entered my first competition this winter, which I didn't come first (and was under no illusions that I would), but didn't come last either, and was actually in the top 10 (out of 29 entries), all from extract, beating out many AG brews entered.

Granted I am not using the pre-made kits anymore that you would buy, and making recipes on my own, but still. Not so bad for a "not one of us" extract brewer.
 
You really have to make your own star. First compress some Hydrogen to unimaginable pressures. Once nice and hot, Helium, Carbon, Oxygen, Iron etc. start to form. Then you let it Supernova. This is where you get all the good elements. Collect elements from the star dust, and make your own beer. Extract brewers wouldn't understand.
 
If you don't grow your own barley, malt it yourself, grow your own hops, harvest yeast from your beard, collect all your brew water from the rainy season, boil over a fire made from the tree you chopped down with an axe, ferment in a home blown carboy, and package in home blown bottles, you're not really a home brewer.
 
"Are you seriously saying that you have stuck enough LME into a pot to just ferment the small amount of sugar remaining in the extract ? Those Extracts are made specifically to give flavour and are Intended to be fermented with additional sugar - it's just in the nature of the beast !"

What? Is he thinking these are extracts like, say, Vanilla Extract or Blueberry Extract? "Small amount of sugar"?

I've heard the second one before, but not this one.
 
What? Is he thinking these are extracts like, say, Vanilla Extract or Blueberry Extract? "Small amount of sugar"?

I've heard the second one before, but not this one.

Considering they mention sticking LME into a pot, I have to wonder if they just read "Making Better Beer" where Gordon Strong explicitly states you can't make really good beer with malt extract. I was a little offended when I first read that in his book, but later realized he was talking more about the control the different mashing methods make. My brews use DME as the base grain and then BIAB mash the other grains for about a 50%/50% ratio for DME to grain.
 
For the new brewers that might accidentally encounter this thread while googling around about how to make your own beer: don't take us too seriously here. We are being very sarcastic because the idea that extract brewing isn't real brewing is ridiculous.

If there was such a thing as a good Munich DME that I could buy at my LHBS I think I'd still be mostly extract brewing.
 
If you don't grow your own barley, malt it yourself, grow your own hops, harvest yeast from your beard, collect all your brew water from the rainy season, boil over a fire made from the tree you chopped down with an axe, ferment in a home blown carboy, and package in home blown bottles, you're not really a home brewer.

You really should have also planted the tree you cut down, and the axe handle should have been made from wood you havested....from a tee you planted....
 
#NOTMYEXTRACT

lol

I wouldn't get too upset about what other brewers say. I'd actually say that brewing with extract is 'half' brewing...as in half the process with similar results.

Don't shoot!
 
What other forum might this be, OP? I must make sure I don't accidentally stumble into their nonsense.
 
Been brewing extract for 3 years now. Im now jumoing to allgrain to see if it makes amy of my current recipes better. Persinally ill always extract brew becasue i like to stock pile my beer for fishing season sometimes a quock ectract brew keeps it going
 
You really should have also planted the tree you cut down, and the axe handle should have been made from wood you havested....from a tee you planted....

That begs the question: what came first--the axe handle or the tree? You know--like a circular reference in a spreadsheet...:pipe:
 
Eh, I take stuff like that with a grain of salt now. When I first joined here and first started, it might have turned me off. Who cares now, though. I've got a few wines and such under my belt, and started brewing extract beers a few months ago.

Do I plan on entering contests? Nope. Do I care if other people like my beer? Nope. It's nice that my brother in law does, so I can be a good brother and give him some. I make beer that I like (and it usually turns out a few dozen cents cheaper per bottle)...that's why I got into brewing.

It is sad that new brewers will see things like that, though. As I said, it would've turned me off, and it would've made it a lot harder to find the information and advice I needed when starting out.
 
"Are you seriously saying that you have stuck enough LME into a pot to just ferment the small amount of sugar remaining in the extract ? Those Extracts are made specifically to give flavour and are Intended to be fermented with additional sugar - it's just in the nature of the beast !"

This part of my OP is rather perplexing. When I did extract brewing, I don't recall needing any extra sugar.
 
I'm going all grain...I hope I don't regret it though because I have made some pretty awesome extract beers...I just like to tinker and enjoy the science behind all grain. When you brew extract, you are brewing beer you just aren't being as scientific about it as an all grain brewer. If you just wanna drink good homebrew and avoid the nerdy side of things, stick with extract. Its so much easier.
 
Been brewing extract for 3 years now. Im now jumoing to allgrain to see if it makes amy of my current recipes better. Persinally ill always extract brew becasue i like to stock pile my beer for fishing season sometimes a quock ectract brew keeps it going

I can guarantee it will make your recipes better. Do biab with no sparge and no mash out and it only tacks on about 30-40 minutes.
 
A brewer at my local brew club was passing around some IPA's he made and everyone agreed they were pretty good. He made them from kits using extract.
My experiments using extract didn't suit my taste so I'm still using grain, but others have made good or great beer using extract. If some people are happy using extract in their brewing, good for them. :mug:
 
The only thing I personally would say I notice about extract (vs all-grains that I have had...but not made) is that extract has a water-type mouth feel. Of course, I don't use corn syrup or lactose, so that should be expected. I don't really mind too much, but it is something I am aware of.
 
The only thing I personally would say I notice about extract (vs all-grains that I have had...but not made) is that extract has a water-type mouth feel. Of course, I don't use corn syrup or lactose, so that should be expected. I don't really mind too much, but it is something I am aware of.

Maybe using LME with no specialty grains, but I don't find that with the DME at all.

I stopped using LME myself, as 1. it is more expensive, and 2. always get a darker color to the beer than intended as it continues to darken when heated, which DME doesn't do.

Also depends on what is being done. Using too much water and not fermenting it out to the right numbers can leave it watery as well.
 
I'm sure I'll get slammed but I see no reason to go all grain. I just brewed my 28th batch of extract beer this morning and I expect it to be as good/great as previous batches. If it's not broke, don't fix it. I'm enjoying a extract Caribou Slobber brown ale right now and can't think of anything I'd rather be drinking. JMO
 
Back
Top