I really didn't mean to start anything on here, and it really is pretty cool how civil everyone has been. I don't see that on any of my other message boards. I didn't mean to elevate AG to being superior to extract. Good beer is good beer is good beer. But I honestly feel like I'm baking bread, using a bread machine. Just throw all the stuff in, and push a button. As opposed to making it all from scratch.
Now, it was said earlier about a wife thinking that baking a cake is opening a box, and adding eggs, oil, and water. Now, if you love that cake, congrats, you are a cake baker! I guess my goal is to ultimately manipulate all of the flavors in the beer, so I can truly call it my own.
Remember, I am a NEWB extract brewer. My hefe turned out great, but I don't feel like I really did anything. The whole purpose of my original post was to see how long one feels they should use extract before going all grain?
I guess to better phrase my question, I would ask, "If your goal is to be an all grain brewer, how much extract can you do to learn about the process before you are just wasting your time?
I want to go AG, but it's expense, and I don't understand ANYTHING about it. I feel I have a pretty good grasp on extract brewing. If I extract brew 12 more times, will that help me get any closer to the process of all grain? Or, am I stuck making a dozen box cakes, expecting it to help me learn how to do it from scratch. I'm not saying either way is better, I just want to know if I'm wasting time to get to where I want to be.