Good Beer?

[dhaas66]

Can I make a good beer with Extract brewing..? Do I need to invest in an all grain system right away....?

I have heard in Ale competitions that it is a 50/50 mix of winners from both sides.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ivan Lendl]

Can I make a good beer with Extract brewing..? Do I need to invest in an all grain system right away....?

I have heard in Ale competitions that it is a 50/50 mix of winners from both sides.

Thanks in advance.

You can make great beer with extract.
steep grains,use dme, be very sanitary, control temps, use starters, and off ya go.

 

[Cheesefood]

Can I make a good beer with Extract brewing..? Do I need to invest in an all grain system right away....?

I have heard in Ale competitions that it is a 50/50 mix of winners from both sides.

Thanks in advance.

A great extract will be better than a lousy all-grain 9 times out of 10.
A great all-grain will beat a lousy extract 9 times out of 10.

It's all about how good of a brewer you are.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I have been making excellent beers with extract. I do use specialty grains and DME rather than LME.

I haven't entered any competitions so I don't know how my brew stacks up to "styles" but I sure like it.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I've been brewing extracts for over 13 years...even got a Best of Style and Best of Show on extracts...

In its simplest form you are adding the water back in.

 

[BierMuncher]

I do all grain in the nice weather and extract (steeping) in bad weather.

One of my all-time favorites is my extract stout. Personal favorites of my Irish inlaws as well.

 

[todd_k]

there's nothing wrong with extract brews, don't let anyone tell you otherwise! there is a natural progression to mini-mash and all-grain brews but you don't have to do it if you are satisfied with your results.

 

[Orfy]

It depends on the quality of the ingredients and how you treat them.

I reckon if you use quality ingredients and brew well then an extract beer will equal the majority of commercials available.

I only brew AG but I loved the extract I did.

 

[knipknup]

I do all grain in the nice weather and extract (steeping) in bad weather.

One of my all-time favorites is my extract stout. Personal favorites of my Irish inlaws as well.

View attachment 1164

Is drinking this like kissing toads?

I brewed about 8 extract batches and every one of them were excellent. No fear, get a brew kit, do some extract. If you enjoy it, you will pick up the AG eventually (or not). Some I know have never brewed AG and have been brewing for quite a while.

 

[newguy]

I do all grain in the nice weather and extract (steeping) in bad weather.

One of my all-time favorites is my extract stout. Personal favorites of my Irish inlaws as well.

View attachment 1164

Nice pic Muncher! I like the spider-webbing as the foam crawls down!:rockin:


On topic... I think that would be a matter of opinion. I definitely agree with the others here you can make excellent and I mean excellent beers from extract. For me personally I'm a lazy brewer. there is a ton of cleaning in this hobie and well thats not a very fun thing to do. So less things to clean IMO the better. I have recently started to experiment with partial mashes. Doing this after I tried a friends AG pale ale. It was quite delicious. But for my needs and wants, extracts steeping and partial mashes are producing me some of the best beer I have ever drank!

Good luck and my advice start with extracts develop your style want and needs, and go from there.

cheers,

 

[david_42]

AG is not required for great beer. Straight extract without any specialty grains can be tougher, you are totally dependent on the manufacturer, except for very hoppy styles.

My preferred method is mini-mash and the only extra equipment is the really big grain bag.

 

[Rook]

I've brewed two extract with steeped grain batches and one mini-mash, which isn't even bottled yet. My 2nd batch, the 2c Copper ale, is only 2 weeks in the bottle but it is fantastic, and exactly what I was shooting for, infact, its much better than the beer I was trying to imitate.

Don't fear, extract brewing is easy and fun, but don't feel like you're not getting the whole deal. I think minimash is probably the best bang for your buck as far as equipment goes. You still use extract for the majority of your fermentables, but you're still able to use things like vienna and munich which you can't get in extract form.

 

[Tony]

I have only brewed two extract beers in my brewing life. My first was a creme ale from Brewers Best, and the second was a wheat from True Brew. Both were great beers, and I honestly was sad when they were both gone. Especially the creme ale, as that batch was friggin fantastic.

I went all grain from there, only because it allows for many more alterations and personalizations on your beers. You control the mash temps, body, alcohol levels more than extract brews. Plus, I wanted to brew a Hop Rod Rye, and no extract kit would work. BUT, do not let anyone tell you extract brews are inferior or less of a beer than all grain.

Brew on dhass66...brew on!