Forgot how nice extracts are

[captianoats]

I've been brewing all grain for years. I am leaving my house for a month for work, and wanted to have a lager going while I was gone, but didn't have time for an all grain batch so I went extract.

Easiest brew day I've had in a long time. So much less to clean up, used a bag of ice to chill, all in the comfort of my air conditioner. I might have to do these more often.


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[ruger988]

Just did my first real AG this weekend. I'll probably be sticking with them as, when I brew, I usually have plenty of time to devote to the process. Definitely a lot more time/work/thought process than an extract brew though.

 

[hunter_le five]

Sometimes it miss the good ol' days of making the prepackaged extract beer kits (Brewers Best et al). Partial boil on the electric stove, top up with chilled water, sprinkle in dry yeast, and ferment in a plastic bucket in the closet for 2 weeks at room temp.

The beer wasn't near as good, but it was SO much quicker and easier.


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[unionrdr]

Following the lazy days of summer, I decided to go back to AE & E/SG kits to try some different beers. After brewing pb/pm biab for a year or more, it's been nice to make something a bit quicker for a change. They're definitely coming out better, with the tweaks to my process that pm demands. Besides liquid yeasts,different dry yeasts rehydrated & all that. Different spring waters as well. But after washing dishes pots & pans & bottles all day, then getting in a brew day, my back hurts. But it's a good kind of tired.

 

[kh54s10]

Extracts are quicker and do have less to clean up. But... I still prefer to brew all grain!

I do the extracts in the winter when it is below freezing on my porch.

 

[unionrdr]

The dampfbier I'm drinking was pm, so I still got one in for summer. But the other, simpler ones came out a lot better this time around.

 

[Cyclman]

When I'm wanting a quicker brewday, I do BIAB. Doesn't take much longer than PM or Extract, much less cleanup.

I think if I'd started BIAB when I went to AG, I probably wouldn't have gone to 3-vessel. But I also do like the "authenticity" of a 3-kettle system, the aesthetic and process of it.

 

[RM-MN]

Extracts are quicker and do have less to clean up. But... I still prefer to brew all grain!

I do the extracts in the winter when it is below freezing on my porch.

This isn't necessarily true. I do BIAB batches and find that if I compare an extract batch with steeping grains to all grain BIAB, there isn't much difference in either time or cleanup. The biggest difference I notice is the lump in my back pocket cause by the excess money I don't spend on the extract.

By milling the grains finer than what the LHBS usually does, I can have conversion done faster than the hour normally associated with all grain. The fine milling also allows the flavor to be extracted from the other grains much faster so I can have my all grain batch completed in less than the time normally taken to extract the flavors from the grains in an extract batch. I have the same bag of grains (plus the pale malt) to dump out and a bag to rinse and the same kettle to clean after the boil. I usually use a colander and a plastic bowl to collect my sparge liquid but when I'm done with them it only takes a rinse to clean them up and I do that while the wort is coming to a boil.