Looking to start: Extract vs. All-Grain

[Rypcord]

Ok, I'm looking to start brewing, hoping for the end of August to start.

I am debating on if I want to do extract brewing or All-Grain brewing.

Which should I do? I am planning on eventually going to All-Grain either way, like most people do.

What are the pros/cons to doing extract/all-grain to start with?

Thanks.

 

[UndeadFred]

Buy big enough equipment to do all grain, don't cheap out on the boil kettle*. Build up a temperature controlled fermentation chamber (this is actuall IMHO the most important thing). Sanitizer, auto siphon, a fermenter of your choice (bucket to start off with isn't a bad idea). But overall, decide what your final setup would be before you start buying stuff.

Having said that, you can jump into doing BIAB for only a little more than what I suggested above and probably be okay. The suggestion of most people telling you to start off with extract is that it takes out 1/2 of the process, which in the beginning isn't a bad idea. You can get your boil and "cold" side stuff down that way, and if done correctly extract/steeping grains and especially partial mash (use a bag at first) can give you beer that is the same quality as AG, despite most of what you will read.

* I will make an exception to this rule for people only wanting to "try out" beer brewing. A five gallon cheap stainless pot (or an 8 gallon Aluminum) is handy to have around anyway as an extra vessel for brewing, and since you can find them for $20 and use them for soup if you don't think brewing is for you.. eh.. OTHERWISE, if you are convinced that you will pick up the hobby, go off and buy a 15 gallon pot or convert a sanke keg and don't look back...

 

[kh54s10]

With extract a lot of the work has already been done. (in making the extract). With extract there are pre-hopped where you basically just add water. Or there is extract with steeping grains. With this you start heating about 2.5 gallons of water. Add the steeping grains somewhere between 150 and 170 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes. You then start the boil. Most will add about 1/2 the extract, add the hops at the appropriate times, then the rest of the extract when the boil is done. This keeps the beer lighter in color. All the extract in the beginning will get pretty dark. More water is added to get to the proper volume.

For all grain you mash a base grain, and specialty grains at a specific temperature (as steady as possible) for usually one hour. Then you drain the wort out of the grain. Depending on whether you are doing BIAB or using a mash tun you may now need to sparge (rinse the sugars out of the grain) with more water. After the right amount of wort is collected the boil is the same as with extract.

All grain requires more attention, but is not really any more difficult. Depending on the type of equipment setup All grain will require only a larger pot and a grain bag, or a hot liquor tank, a mash tun and a boil kettle. There are many different ways to go with your all grain equipment, each has advantages and disadvantages. You can make great beer with any of the different setups.

Most will suggest you start with extract, learn the procedures while studying about all grain then progressing. That is what I did. But if you research and learn the procedures there is really no reason that you can't start with all grain. Many do.

 

[Photopilot]

Keep it simple for your first batch. You can start brewing extract today with stuff you have at home provided you have a large pasta pot and a $100 worth of stuff at a brew shop. You could be drinking your own beer in August versus starting the huge task and possible large expense of building an all grain rig.

Anything you purchase for all grain will apply to your future all grain brewing. I do agree though if you have to buy pot to brew in, go bigger either 8 or 10 gallons.

 

[ThunderKhajiit]

I would just start with all-grain if that's what you're going to do eventually anyway. I did a few batches with extract and honestly when I went to AG the whole process just made more sense to me though it does take longer. You can have your grains milled when you buy them, and do biab to minimize the amount of upfront equipment cost if needed.

 

[mongoose33]

In my opinion, new brewers should start with extract. By doing that, you split the process into two halves, from the boil forward for extract, and from all-grain forward to the boil.

There's enough to learn at the start that two or three extract brews will allow you to focus on that. How to do the boil, how to rack to a fermentor, pitch the yeast, then eventually bottle it. The more things you try to do at the outset, the more that might go wrong--and then when you're trying to figure out the problem, the more suspects there are.

Part of all-grain brewing is getting the water right--and while you may luck out, you may not.

My only caveat would be getting a brew kettle large enough so that if you wanted to do Brew in a Bag (BIAB), you could go that direction. I did all-grain after my first three extract batches, but I lucked into a mash tun so I could do that. If I hadn't lucked into a mash tun I probably would have gone BIAB. The reason I didn't was I didn't have a large enough brew kettle for that.

My other suggestion would be to see if you can find someone local who brews, and see if they'd let you watch a brew session. I did that before my first time and it made things much more understandable for me.

And--welcome to the club!

 

[Pariah3j]

Knowing you want to go AG now, will help save you some money on the backend(as in not having to replace equipment to move up). I started extract because I didn't know about AG or if I would even really enjoy brewing.

I say start start with Extract, but buy whatever you need for Extract with the mindset/goal of ending up AG. So if you need to buy a Kettle(or when you do) buy a nicer one that fits your budget/expected needs. I was given a 5.5g Kettle from a friend and I've been using that for Extract for the last couple years and it did me well. I finally decided that I wanted/was ready to go AG so I bought myself a nice 15g Kettle w/ the bells and whistles - I haven't used it yet, but I already know its money well spent because I won't need to replace it anytime soon.

By starting with extract, its like paint by numbers or the analogy I often use is, learning to brew 'hamburger-helper' style. If you get one of the kits that has the grains you steep plus the extract - you learn the basics of how the boil goes, what to expect with fermentation, and the process of transferring vessels and pitching yeast, temperature control, etc. This also allows for early basic experimentation like adding fruit or other flavors to your beer.

The starter kits w/ bottling bucket, auto-siphen/racking cane, etc would probably be a good place to start. You should end up using all of this equipment(or at least most of it) with extract or AG.

 

[Rypcord]

Thank you everyone for the information. Always looking for more opinions, ideas, pros/cons.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Go straight to All grain..First time I did it I said "that's it,thats what I was worried about" BIAB

 

[kh54s10]

Research all grain processes and the equipment required. There is basically BIAB and Mash tun with a boil kettle. (and variations of these) With that in mind, and the size of the batch you will eventually want to make, try to purchase equipment that will work in the end. If you set up only for extract you might be buying the same equipment in a larger size pretty quickly.

 

[Lepetitnormand]

Whatever feels confortable to you.

Biab is a simple as extract i my opinion, just add an hour of mashing to the brew day give or take.

I personally do 2.5 gallon batch of extract beer ( try the 15 minutes cascade) and 1 gallon all grain. I only invested in a bottling wand, capper, $10 scale from amazon, and a siphon and some tubing and a paint strainer and adequate fermenting vessel. I use the family pasta pot in both case in the kitchen.

Any choice you make, look into how you will keep your fermenter at a "controlled temperature" during fermentation. 1 gallon, 5 gallon, 10 gallon and anything in between will all benefit from controlled fermenting temperature.

Get some grain some yeast a paint strainer and start brewing next week ...

Have fun

 

[SteveHeff]

I'm a big fan of starting with extract. As a previous posting stated, there is simply much less for you to be concerned about by starting with extract. The more complicated you make the process, the more that can potentially go wrong. Keep it simple for the first few brews. Concentrate on getting good at the basics before jumping off into the deep end. It is a pretty quick learning curve on extract, but trying to start with all grain can be a challenge if you don't have another brewer to bounce questions off of.

The one thing all the posts have in common is this: make sure you buy big enough equipment to go all grain if you ever choose to do so. Otherwise you may end up purchasing a new pot ($100-250) after you've already purchased a smaller one. Go big. 10+ gallons AT LEAST. That was my mistake. I thought 8 gallons was plenty. I ended up buying a 10 gallon pot...and it's still too small :-(

 

[PADave]

I also am in the camp that says start with extract. Do a couple brews with it, get your process down then move to AG. Yes, you can go straight to AG, but IMO there's too much to worry about for your first brew. Keep it simple at first and get the basics down. Like others have said, get a big enough kettle from the get go. I do BIAB, which is super simple AG brewing, and have a 10 gallon, but kinda wish I had gotten a 15. Start with extract, then it doesn't take much more equipment to do BIAB, then if you feel the need, go from there. Plus starting out slow you can get a feel for what equipment you need. I've got several items that I bought starting out that somewhere, someone said I would have to have. Now they sit in a bin, used once or never used because my process doesn't need them. Also, fermentation temp control is huge. Get that figured out or no matter what method you are doing or you are not going to make good beer.

 

[thaymond]

BIAB is a very simple way to get into AG. If you have the pot, pick up a bag from http://biabbags.webs.com/store , and begin rolling. Most lhbs will mill grain for you, or you can visit the "my ugly junk" Corona mill thread and look at the bastid versions of cheap and easy DIY mills. If you have the extract equipment, you can BIAB.