if 90% are extract brewing. why the sudden rush to all grain ?

[BronxBrew]

Dont get me wrong. the guys who all grain or partial have the space and time. also i would go on record and say this is more of a past time than hobby. the thing is once brew day is over you are waiting for weeks on end to bottle. thats lots of down time. bottling happens then again down time to condition. don't get me wrong i have a pipe line going where I'm always doing something. Im a beer drinker.

if the extract brews can win countless awards vs all grain. why is there so much effort to push people to all grain ? why is there a push ? is it really better or does it give something to do ?

going on the fact there is 90% of home brewers doing extract. why isn't more HBSS "home brew supply stores" offering more verity for extract brewers ?

 

[neosapien]

grains are generally going to be cheaper than extracts. you get more flexibility in your recipes with grains than with extract alone.

 

[pohldogg]

1) extract is much more expensive than grain the less I spend on ingredients the more I get to brew.
2) control of mash temp and fermentability of wort.
3) can use adjuncts and grains that need to be mashed and don't come in extract.

 

[AmandaK]

Sources for your fact? I doubt that 90% of homebrewers are extract brewers.

Northern Brewer offers a ridiculous amount of extract options. They even have Rye Malt syrup and Munich malt syrup. So... there is variety.

The "push" to all grain is about controlling your system fully and being able to fully exploit ingredients that you can't without a mash. You know, nerd stuff.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Maybe 10% of homebrewers started out on all-grain and never brewed an extract batch. That's plausible.

 

[jperry]

Because opening a can of extract and dumping it into a kettle is really boring, even if it does turn out tasty. I got into brewing because it is DIY, which is the reason why I'm not satisfied with watching syrup boil. I like to crush grain myself, and even grow hops in the backyard. I may be a control freak though... haha

 

[HawksBrewer]

+1 to everything said above. Almost thought someone was trolling when I read the OP. More control and cheaper batches was a no-brainer for me. Average extract batches before cost me $40-60. With AG I have brewed 5 gal batches as cheap as $10.

Most importantly, my beer GOT BETTER when I switched to AG. That's really all that mattered to me.

Oh, and for the most part BJCP judges are usually, well, never mind.

 

[BronxBrew]

]Sources for your fact? [/B]I doubt that 90% of homebrewers are extract brewers.

Northern Brewer offers a ridiculous amount of extract options. They even have Rye Malt syrup and Munich malt syrup. So... there is variety.

The "push" to all grain is about controlling your system fully and being able to fully exploit ingredients that you can't without a mash. You know, nerd stuff.

Charlie Papazian ? is he not he god father of home brew ? I'm not starting a debate between extract and all grain brewing. just wondering why so many HB shops as well as HB companies haven't given more to the extract community ?

 

[HawksBrewer]

I started brewing extract w/ specialty grains for the first year before switching to AG and never had any problems obtaining extract from my LHBS. Granted I only ever used Extra Light DME as a blank slate for every beer, but they also had light, amber, dark and wheat DMEs and LMEs. Not sure what else you would need to brew extract besides the extract itself, unless I'm missing something.

 

[BronxBrew]

this is the "extract part of the forum" no ? All grain has its own section i think. Why belittle extract brewers to think we have to go all grain or else ? seems kinda segregated if you ask me.

 

[knuckleheadbrewing]

im not sure what you mean "give more to the extract community" I could brew any style of beer with Light LME, and specialty grains, no problems...


What else do you want? Munich LME? BLack LME? AMBER? etc. Just use LIGHT and control color with your steeping grains/partial mash.

 

[Cranny04]

Charlie Papazian ? is he not he god father of home brew ? I'm not starting a debate between extract and all grain brewing. just wondering why so many HB shops as well as HB companies haven't given more to the extract community ?

There is only so much they can do specifically for extract brewers...

I think the reason HB shops try to push people to All Grain is they can sell more stuff to the all grain brewer.. Also (just a guess) but they probably make better profit on grains than extract..

 

[pohldogg]

Aside from the occasional all grain snob what support are extract brewers missing? Online all the kits have extract and ag options (unless mash is necessary) and the same goes for my lhbs. New extract varieties have been developed. Nott sure what you think extract folks aren't getting.

Now business may encourage moving to ag because they can sell gear, but at least locally extract brewers are the ones buying the kits so there's money on both sides.

 

[kh54s10]

So who is PUSHING all grain??

My LBHSes sell only extract kits. Most online sell mostly extract or both.

All grain gives you a lot more control over the product, you know exactly what is going in. You don't know what was used to make the extract.

All grain bought in bulk is cheaper.

If you don't want to go all grain there is no need to!

How you brew is your choice and only your choice!

 

[cfonnes]

Have you ever put anything together that came as a kit (model, furniture, shed, etc...) and then made the same type of thing from scratch?

Which did you take more pride in?

 

[sidepart]

All-grain is fun. Don't get me wrong, my first two (and only) extract batches turned out great and all... but grains are fun. There's more than I'm capable of controlling at this point, so it's a new challenge that requires more math and more research.

Neither is the wrong way to brew beer. But with all-grain I feel like I'm getting back some some simple earthy ancient human roots. ...and the science.

 

[cd38]

Have you ever put anything together that came as a kit (model, furniture, shed, etc...) and then made the same type of thing from scratch?

Which did you take more pride in?

THIS^

Im an extract brewer but man you hit the nail on the head

 

[david_42]

going on the fact there is 90% of home brewers doing extract.

Where did this number come from? It certainly doesn't match my observations over the years.

 

[evrose]

Dont get me wrong. the guys who all grain or partial have the space and time. also i would go on record and say this is more of a past time than hobby. the thing is once brew day is over you are waiting for weeks on end to bottle. thats lots of down time. bottling happens then again down time to condition. don't get me wrong i have a pipe line going where I'm always doing something. Im a beer drinker.

if the extract brews can win countless awards vs all grain. why is there so much effort to push people to all grain ? why is there a push ? is it really better or does it give something to do ?

going on the fact there is 90% of home brewers doing extract. why isn't more HBSS "home brew supply stores" offering more verity for extract brewers ?

I'm moving from extract to BIAB/all-grain for two reasons:

1. More control over recipes and ingredients.

2. All-grain batches are significantly cheaper than extract. In addition, I can use my minimal hardware (a 5 gallon kettle and some plastic buckets) for BIAB with no complicated or expensive upgrades.

 

[JohanMk1]

seems kinda segregated if you ask me.

This kinda hit home tonight. I went to a local AG "club" meeting. I felt so "welcome" that I turned around and left before the meeting even started.

 

[zeg]

I did two extract + specialty-grain batches. Both came out pretty well (Though the second, quite sadly, went bad after a few months in bottles. The truly unfortunate thing was that I discovered this when the scoresheets came back with dismal numbers and comments about its being astringent, unpleasant, and, "hard to drink," which was completely at odds with my opinion... opened the last bottle that was lying around and, well, there was a bug of some sort in there!)

I've been doing partial mashes since then, mostly because I can. The beers have been as good or better, though I think that's as much a function of some experience and recipe choices as anything. I am just doing BIAB partial mashing, so the additional equipment is just a mesh bag, and it takes an extra couple hours on brew day. To me, though, I enjoy the additional process steps. I'm not just brewing beer for the beer itself, I like to take part in as much of the process as I can. Someday I'll probably go to all-grain, but the space and equipment for that step are not going to fit in my lifestyle right now.

Projecting my own thoughts on the world at large, I think this is probably a common reason. Many people like to DIY all the way, and all-grain is "more DIY" than extract brewing. Note that there is a lot further you can take it---developing and propagating yeast strains, etc---but all-grain is a definite plateau in terms of cost and complexity. Taking over much more of the process at home requires a much larger investment in equipment, time, and expertise, so it's a natural spot for a lot of people to settle.

I don't know that I see people who look down on extract brewers very often, though perhaps people are sometimes quick to encourage others to go to all-grain. That's a bit unfair, as not everyone does or needs to aspire to go to all grain, but at the same time I don't see this as being a serious problem. If you don't want to, just ignore that suggestion. It's been mentioned above that "support" in terms of kits is plentiful for extract brewers. It's perhaps true that recipes are harder to come by on here for extract brewers, but that's probably because the people who are involved enough to be developing their own recipes are more likely to be working with an all-grain process. However, it's not difficult to convert an all-grain recipe to extract or partial mash, so even this isn't a huge hurdle.

 

[thughes]

extract = cake made from a box of cake mix

AG = cake made from scratch

....both cakes can be delicious (or not), some folks just prefer to make their cake from scratch.

 

[XXguy]

Where did this number come from? It certainly doesn't match my observations over the years.

I wouldn't argue the 90% number too hard as in a total number of homebrewers. Think how many people out there got a Mr. Beer kit as a gift at some point in time. They might only make 5 gallons a year, but they would make a large % of the homebrewing world.

Now, if you're going to measure quantity as in how many gallons of homebrew each year are made from extract vs. AG, I think the 90% is way off.

 

[bobbrews]

if the extract brews can win countless awards vs all grain. why is there so much effort to push people to all grain?

Agree to disagree. The opposite is true. Though both can be tasty.

The majority of brewers are brewing via all grain.

The majority of beginners are brewing via extract.

Partial mash brewers are the rarest of the bunch.

 

[D_Ranged_Eskimo]

Have you ever put anything together that came as a kit (model, furniture, shed, etc...) and then made the same type of thing from scratch?

Which did you take more pride in?

This. Not knocking extract as I started out with Mr. Beer, and then on to a handful of extract recipes, but personally, it was just a little boring.

One of my best beers to date was an extract brew, and I made one of my worst beers on the first AG attempt, so it's up to what you want out of this hobby as both methods can produce great or dismal results.

After going AG, there's no turning back for me. Although it is more time consuming, it's more involved and challenging.

 

[edmanster]

going on the fact there is 90% of home brewers doing extract. why isn't more HBSS "home brew supply stores" offering more verity for extract brewers ?

I think this should read, 90% of homebrewers started with doing extract.. !!!

 

[zeg]

Partial mash brewers are the rarest of the bunch.

You think so? That seems odd, it seems like a nice sweet spot where you can brew essentially any recipe, but you don't need to invest in (or store) extra equipment.

Without actual surveyed numbers about who is brewing how, I don't think guesses about the relative numbers are worth much. Even trying to work out the numbers from a survey on this site would be untrustworthy---I'm sure there's a ton of bias induced by selecting people who are interested enough in brewing to be frequenting a discussion site dedicated to it!

 

[bobbrews]

I'm pretty sure about that.

I agree that it makes the most sense in terms of convenience while also achieving flexibility and quality, but a lot of people like all grain better. Even though they're spending more money on equipment, they spend less on ingredients.

 

[emjay]

I think this should read, 90% of homebrewers started with doing extract.. !!!

Nah, I can buy the way it was written. We don't see it here as these kind of brewers are much less likely to seek out a community, but there are a TON of brewers who stick to Mr. Beer, kit&kilos like Coopers, etc.

I promise you that the number that started with extract is much higher than 90%.

 

[solbes]

I've been all 3. The biggest benefit of PM and AG over extract for me was the much larger array of grains to be mashed. The biggest benefit of AG over PM has been the cost savings. I make batches for $13-22, some of them heavy on malt and/or hops. I went 4 extract, 4 PM, and 20+ AG. I felt like this was the perfect progression as I wasn't trying to learn everything all at once. Quality wise, I feel like all 3 can make excellent brews.

Equipment wise with AG and Brew In A Bag, I'm sitting at maybe $150 in extra equipment costs over AG (mainly a grain mill). It takes me an extra 90-120 minutes on brew day, which are enjoyable as ever.