How often do you extract brew?

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Muddbug

Muddbug

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I started brewing about 18 months ago and started with extract kits from my local brew store then moved to all grain about 8 months ago.

My question is for the long time (longer than me) all grain brews is how often, if ever, do you extract brew?

I'm brewing an extract this weekend because of time constrains.

Just corious.
 
Muddbug said:
I started brewing about 18 months ago and started with extract kits from my local brew store then moved to all grain about 8 months ago.

My question is for the long time (longer than me) all grain brews is how often, if ever, do you extract brew?

I'm brewing an extract this weekend because of time constrains.

Just corious.
Click to expand...

Never. Not to say that I'm against it but never.
 
Muddbug said:
My question is for the long time (longer than me) all grain brews is how often, if ever, do you extract brew?
Click to expand...
I brew with "extract" (DME) whenever the recipe calls for it.

For many, fresh DME (and LME) is just another ingredient to brew with.

Muddbug said:
I'm brewing an extract this weekend because of time constrains.
Click to expand...
It's common to have a couple of "short brew day" recipes. Here are a couple of starting points for those recipes:
 
BrewnWKopperKat said:
I brew with "extract" (DME) whenever the recipe calls for it.

For many, fresh DME (and LME) is just another ingredient to brew with.


It's common to have a couple of "short brew day" recipes. Here are a couple of starting points for those recipes:
Click to expand...
Thanks you very much for the recipes!

My normal all grain brew day is about 5 hours from getting all the equipment ready to final cleaning. There is beer drinking involved so that helps, then into the pool with more beer. But today I have a "honey do list" so a quick extract brew day it will be.
 
I haven't done an extract or partial mash in over 4 years. I just like the variety and control I have with all-grain. Also extract can get pretty pricey. Granted, grain prices have gone way up, but so have extract prices. I've used DME a couple of times when my gravity didn't get where I wanted it to, though.
 
When I was a COVID induced stay at home parent of one toddler, I brewed all-grain every two weeks. Now, I'm a full-time working parent of two under four years old and rarely have time to myself. So, my preferred historical all-grain recipes when I can and fairly basic extract lawnmower beers to keep the pipeline full.
 
A few times a year. It's nice to have a quick brew day sometimes. I usually base it on the above mentioned 15 minute pale ale.
 
I started home brewing about 5 years ago when I retired. Started out extract, moved on to AG after about a year, and starting this past month, I’ve moved back to extract. I brew 2.75g batches, and I’m not into the fancy pants beer recipes. I (and my drinking friends) cannot distinguish between extract and AG out of the bottle or keg (it all tastes good), so why bother (for me) with all the extra cleanup and equipment needed for AG? With small batches and extract, I’m in and out of brewing in a few hours and have as much variety as I like. The ingredients might be a little more expensive, but I have less I have to maintain on hand, and if I was worried about costs I wouldn’t be in this hobby anyway!
 
A few times a year. Like many, I started very simple with hopped extracts, then moved on to all grain. I still love it, but the boat in my avatar wants a Lot Of Maintenance. In spring if I can squeeze in a partial mash or extract, I do so. This year I actually ran out of homebrew(!) around launching. Right after that I brewed two batches in one day to fill my kegs. One was a mini mash 15 minute boil. I used Kviek yeast to ferment it quickly and had it on tap in six days.
 
grampamark said:
I extract some brew from a keg, can, or bottle almost every day. :cool:

OT- never.
Click to expand...
Most of the time multiples on any given day!!! LOL

To reply to the OP, I have not since I moved to All Grain. But, to be honest, I have been toying with the idea of doing two batches. One All Grain and one Extract of the same kit. Then doing a side by side of the two and see if there is really any difference. Then, taking it a step further, doing a comparison of the two brews and the original I was trying to get close to. I want to try it with Blind Pig as this is one of my fave beers. I just need to set aside a day or two and get them both done. It could be fun to see how it all works out.

RR
 
JohnSand said:
A few times a year. Like many, I started very simple with hopped extracts, then moved on to all grain. I still love it, but the boat in my avatar wants a Lot Of Maintenance. In spring if I can squeeze in a partial mash or extract, I do so. This year I actually ran out of homebrew(!) around launching. Right after that I brewed two batches in one day to fill my kegs. One was a mini mash 15 minute boil. I used Kviek yeast to ferment it quickly and had it on tap in six days.
Click to expand...
Nice boat!

I brewed the extract kit yesterday and saved about one and a half hours. I have done this one several times before I switched to AG so I know what to expect. What's different this time is that I use the C02 from fermentation to purge the keg then do a closed transfer to the keg.

But I do like the brew process so the extract kit wasn't as much fun to brew.
 
JohnSand said:
the boat in my avatar wants a Lot Of Maintenance.
Click to expand...
Guy down the street in NJ had a a boat called a Bugeye when I was young. is that a similar boat? He used to take us kids out sailing and make us go below and hand crank the gigantic steel centerboard up when we went across the shallow "flats" on Barnegat Bay. The boat was wood and required a lot of work, don't know what ever came of it, this was like 50 years ago, people opened cans of beer with the churchkey. Hadn't thought about that in years. Wish I had time for sailing again.....sorry for going :off:.

Back to the OP's question, like others have said summer is a busy time for me, actually I'm super busy all the time, but in the summer I do one or two extract brews, the rest of the time its grain only.
:mug:
 
I like getting 55 lb sacs of grain at a discount and when I need a short brew day I mash in around 10:00 pm and am finished by 10:00 am the next day. Plenty of time left on Sat. to do whatever. I'm also a morning guy and sometimes mash in at 4:30 am, done by 10:00 am.
 
Mostly I brew all grain, BIAB. A really good sale on extract kits with steeping grains gives me a couple on hand (stored in a cool place and hops in the freezer) for time crunch brews. So once or twice a year.
 
I do both. I have limited opportunities to brew, and so I brew multiple, complimentary beers at the same time (pseudo partigyle). I usually do one all grain, and then use some of that wort to mix with extract (and different hops, steeping grains, & yeast). By making the second beer mostly extract, I get two beers from each brew day and usually only add about 30-60 extra minutes of effort.

I've been detailing this a bit here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/partigyle-extract.698738/#post-9235993
If you want any of the complimentary recipes I've used, just let me know.
 
Muddbug said:
I started brewing about 18 months ago and started with extract kits from my local brew store then moved to all grain about 8 months ago.

My question is for the long time (longer than me) all grain brews is how often, if ever, do you extract brew?

I'm brewing an extract this weekend because of time constrains.

Just corious.
Click to expand...
I started brewing when I was 21 with extract brews then moved to all grain brewing a year or so later but would still do an extract brew routinely. For me as a two and sometimes 3 stage brewer aka keg conditioning. I like to have a new beer ready to pour into my first stage nearly right after I move to the secondary fermentor. so on those days, I would normally use an extract recipe though honestly, I enjoy doing both all-grain and extract and with today's extracts, you can still get a dang good beer. Now that I'm at a point in rebuilding that I can start to brew on a regular basis again I'm hoping to build my brewhouse to do just that. I'm still collecting bottles and kegs at the moment and need to rebuild my all-grain setup so for now, I'm back to extract till I can afford to get setup for all-grain again.
 
Muddbug said:
I'm brewing an extract this weekend because of time constrains.
Click to expand...


sounds like a good reason! i never technicaly use extract, but if i'm lazy or something, i will just dump a bunch of apple juice in a bucket. add yeast, call it a day...

i've been drinking hard seltzer recently also...
 
madscientist451 said:
Guy down the street in NJ had a a boat called a Bugeye when I was young. is that a similar boat? He used to take us kids out sailing and make us go below and hand crank the gigantic steel centerboard up when we went across the shallow "flats" on Barnegat Bay. The boat was wood and required a lot of work, don't know what ever came of it, this was like 50 years ago, people opened cans of beer with the churchkey. Hadn't thought about that in years. Wish I had time for sailing again.....sorry for going :off:.

Back to the OP's question, like others have said summer is a busy time for me, actually I'm super busy all the time, but in the summer I do one or two extract brews, the rest of the time its grain only.
:mug:
Click to expand...
You have a good eye, and a good memory. The raked (angled) masts and ketch rig do make her look like a Bugeye common to the Chesapeake. But this boat has a full keel and origins in New England. The first of these was built on Cape Cod as a gaff schooner. This one and two more were built in Florida as ketches. Mine is wood too, but still very solid.

To bring it back on topic, I will say I'm drinking the 15 minute pale currently, and it's quite good. My wife says so, and she's very particular.
 
JohnSand said:
You have a good eye, and a good memory. The raked (angled) masts and ketch rig do make her look like a Bugeye common to the Chesapeake. But this boat has a full keel and origins in New England. The first of these was built on Cape Cod as a gaff schooner. This one and two more were built in Florida as ketches. Mine is wood too, but still very solid.
Click to expand...
I'm thankful there are people who still have the will and resources to keep these old wooden boats going. You used to see old boats on the water all the time, now its a rare thing. Boatyards have gotten sold off to build condos and those that remain charge big money for everything. I can imagine what the yard bill must be in Long Island getting a full keel sailboat boat hauled for maintenance. Sadly, I've seen too many old wood boats get the chainsaw treatment after sitting for years and drying out in boatyards and then the yard bill doesn't get paid.
:bigmug:
 
The first handful of beers that I brewed were extract (Cooper's kits 🤬 ), not since then, 10+ years.

Although I'm aware that many beers brewed from extract have won awards.
 
I do extract batches when Norther Brewer has them 3 for $75 or whatever. A good deal is a good deal, and a 10 gallon extract batch takes a couple hours less on brew day than an all grain batch of the same size. Having said that, in the last 15 years, I have made may 5% extract batches. The rest have been all grain
 
I like to brew single hop and malt extract (SHaME) beers to really familiarize myself with a certain hop and how it tastes. I will use it as bittering and whirlpool. Generally they are excellent beers if not complex, but that’s the point. Malt extract is generally very consistent and takes the malt flavor out of the equation for exploring an individual hop/terrior.
 
I've been brewing all grain for at least 25 yrs. When I try to save time by brewing with extract, especially dark LME, I always seem to end up with something that tastes like homebrew.
 
rallenhall said:
When I try to save time by brewing with extract, especially dark LME, I always seem to end up with something that tastes like homebrew
Click to expand...
When I was curious about "darker than expected" color with "extract", I read a number of topics from the 2013 - 2015 time frame that were basically:
  • Person 1: "I get homebrew taste when I brew with extract"
  • Person 2: "My extract batches are always darker than expected"
  • Person 3: "When I brew with light DME, I get good results and color as expected".
In 2022, many brewers here are reporting good results using DME and solid recipes. There's also an occasional anecdotal reply that mentions good results with style specific LMEs from one (maybe more?) supplier(s).

A solid recipe and fresh ingredients go a long way towards preventing "home brew taste". How to Brew, 4e has a number of additional ideas on preventing "home brew taste".
 
BrewnWKopperKat said:
When I was curious about "darker than expected" color with "extract", I read a number of topics from the 2013 - 2015 time frame that were basically:
  • Person 1: "I get homebrew taste when I brew with extract"
  • Person 2: "My extract batches are always darker than expected"
  • Person 3: "When I brew with light DME, I get good results and color as expected".
In 2022, many brewers here are reporting good results using DME and solid recipes. There's also an occasional anecdotal reply that mentions good results with style specific LMEs from one (maybe more?) supplier(s).

A solid recipe and fresh ingredients go a long way towards preventing "home brew taste". How to Brew, 4e has a number of additional ideas on preventing "home brew taste".
Click to expand...
Oh, totally agree. I've used portions of light DME without issues. I think that the LME has it's own set of issues, especially when the age is unknown.
 
I'll extract or mini-mash brew every 5 or 6 batches or so. There are a few of my recipes that are just better extract than all grain. I've tried replicating, but it's just not the same. I'll also do an extract when I'm experimenting with something. If it turns out well, I'll move onto all grain.
 
More and more often because I only boil for 20 minutes. Big time saver and no taste difference in my case compared to BIAB.
 
I haven't made an extract batch since starting all grain, but I started a cider for the first time the other day and it only took 5 minutes, so that was a change!
 

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