Partial vs all-grain brewing. What do you prefer?

[Elysium]

I am just wondering if people here find partial brewing and all-grain brewing very different(regarding the final product...not the actual brewing)?

My idea is to get some liquid malt extract and only boil it to get the hop acid into the beer. (basically to move from all-grain to partial extract brewing to save time on brewing)

Now.....I am wondering if the final beer of partial brewing can be as good as all grain brews? Or will it be relatively different?

To be honest....I have brewed extract brews from kits and they were really decent, but I have never done partial brews (while I have done all-grain brews) and I am wondering if it could be an option for a small beer club to cater for the needs of its members.

Any thoughts on this?

UPDATE: I'll read through this post today (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/do...use-extract-partial-all-grain-recipes-211741/)

It deals with the same topic I am interested in.

 

[flars]

Partial mash and all extract brewing can equal all grain brews if done correctly. Some of the beers may be darker in color, depending on the type of extract used, due to the heating the extract, Maillard Reaction.

 

[Elysium]

Partial mash and all extract brewing can equal all grain brews if done correctly. Some of the beers may be darker in color, depending on the type of extract used, due to the heating the extract, Maillard Reaction.

Thanks for the info.

That's what I thought.

I brewed a year and a half ago my first extract batch (turned out to be "meh")...went onto all-grain and learning every bits of brewing (which I am still learning though). Then a month ago made an extract batch again and it turned out to be really really good (mainly thanks to my knowledge on sanitation).

 

[unionrdr]

I do pb/pm biab myself. I mash 4-6lbs+ & add any extract @ flame out. So the fresh wort from the mash & sparge give me the boil volume & gravity to do all the hop additions. Adding DME or LME @ flame out gives lighter colors & cleaner flavors.

 

[bobbrews]

I am just wondering if people here find partial brewing and all-grain brewing very different(regarding the final product...not the actual brewing)?

All-Grain allows for more malt depth, brewer creativity, and recipe flexibility. Partial-Mash costs less than Extract, but still allows for a very good amount of wiggle room if your system is limited to mashing a reduced amount of grain. Extract is restrictive and pricy, yet it is the most simple method.

I remember seeing a double blind analysis/review of beers brewed using all three methods. Extract versions scored the lowest for quality/flavor and seemed to be the least favorite of the bunch (yet still produced fine beers). All Grain and Partial Mash versions were scored highly and enjoyed equally.

My idea is to get some liquid malt extract and only boil it to get the hop acid into the beer. (basically to move from all-grain to partial extract brewing to save time on brewing)

Are you getting Hopped LME or are you getting regular LME? I would not recommend buying Hopped LME. My preference for extract in regard to attaining lighter color, longer shelf life, less mess, and better quality (IMO) is unhopped Briess or Muntons Extra Light or Light DME. Add half at boil start and half at flameout, which will help keep the color light. Extract does not need to boil for long to ensure sterility; it is already quite sterile.

 

[Elysium]

Extract is restrictive and pricy, yet it is the most simple method.

I am getting German (weyermann) LME at a price that is competitive with the price of the malt grains. It is unhopped and as you were saying it needs a shorter boil too. I am in Spain where extremely hoppy beers are not popular amongst the local population. So...that wont be a big issue either.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Yooper]

Keep in mind that while PM brewing can make excellent beers, it doesn't save time.

It still requires a full length mash, and a boil, so if you're doing it for time savings only, it won't do that. Many people do PM brewing for reasons like they don't have room for a full MLT set up, or to do a full boil. In that case, it's a great choice for them.

 

[unionrdr]

That's the long & short of it. I don't have the stuff to do full boils or handle large amounts of grains that're heavy when wet. So partial mash is a great fit in that regard, or you also want to add freshness & flavor complexities you just can't get with extract alone. But no, it doesn't save time at all.

 

[kh54s10]

If you use good quality ingredients, your beer should be pretty close to the same in quality of taste whether doing extract, partial mash, or all grain. Not knowing what went into extracts limits your control of the end product, but the beer should still be very good. Some of my best have used extract.

The only noticeable difference I have had is in color. It is difficult to keep light colored beers as light when using extract.

 

[solbes]

You can reduce/eliminate the darkening of the wort by adding half of your extract late in the boil, though this can increase hop utilization. Not sure if thats true or not, but was in Palmer's book.

I think PM can make brews that are equally as good as AG. I sometimes supplant with extract when I have a really big brew. They even make Maris Otter LME, Rye LME, etc now. Its more expensive due to the cost of the extract of course.

And I agree it will not really save you much time. Suppose maybe in heating the strike water, but you later need to add water to the boil anyway so this doesn't really help.

 

[Imperator85]

Everyone I've met who does partial mashes does so for practical reasons (where they live, inability to do a full boil, etc.). An apartment dwellers, for example, may not have the space to do all-grain brewing even if they had all the equipment. I heard a story once of someone who brewed all-grain in his apartment building's parking lot. His landlord didn't seem to mind, but he was always getting weird looks from people. I'm sure to someone who doesn't know much about brewing, it looks rather suspicious.

You can make a partial mash beer that is just as good if not better than an all-grain beer. Plus, it lets you make certain styles or use certain grains that just wouldn't be possible using extract alone.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, I've said that alot myself. Some malt flavors you can't get from extract, even now. Mashing isn't as hard as many of us thought when we started. But there was no thought about this biab stuff either. Another thing I'm sure many of us wish we'd have thought of in the beginning.

 

[Allergic2hops]

I prefer all grain to partial grain /extract simply because it produces a cleaner tasting beer using the same method. All of the bottles that I used with my extract beers left a film in the bottle that had to be scrubbed off using a bottle brush. I have not had to do this with any of my all grain beers. I do BIAB so my method is similar to steeping grains, whereas using a Mash Tun would be a different process.

 

[aprichman]

Everyone I've met who does partial mashes does so for practical reasons (where they live, inability to do a full boil, etc.). An apartment dwellers, for example, may not have the space to do all-grain brewing even if they had all the equipment. I heard a story once of someone who brewed all-grain in his apartment building's parking lot. His landlord didn't seem to mind, but he was always getting weird looks from people. I'm sure to someone who doesn't know much about brewing, it looks rather suspicious.

You can make a partial mash beer that is just as good if not better than an all-grain beer. Plus, it lets you make certain styles or use certain grains that just wouldn't be possible using extract alone.

I'm not alone! I've been considering brewing bigger batches right outside the front door of my apartment! Right now I'm running ~2.5 gallon all grain batches but I would love to freak my neighbors out with an 8+ gallon stockpot and propane burner blasting a few meters away from their front doors

 

[aprichman]

As far as all grain vs. partial vs. extract I imagine it comes down to the ability not to produce any off flavors while making the beer AND the quality of your malt extract.

However I have a hard time believing that malt extract could be processed in such a way that it wouldn't lose some of it's flavor. Here's my personal anecdote, I used Briess liquid malt extract for my extract beers and the apartment always smelled sweet, hoppy, and overall really nice while brewing beer. The first time I brewed an all grain batch my apartment smelled identical to a brewery - the smell had much more depth it was incredible.

So that's my totally unscientific "evidence" that something seems to be lost in the process of converting the liquid malt into extract.

 

[Elysium]

As far as all grain vs. partial vs. extract I imagine it comes down to the ability not to produce any off flavors while making the beer AND the quality of your malt extract.

However I have a hard time believing that malt extract could be processed in such a way that it wouldn't lose some of it's flavor. Here's my personal anecdote, I used Briess liquid malt extract for my extract beers and the apartment always smelled sweet, hoppy, and overall really nice while brewing beer. The first time I brewed an all grain batch my apartment smelled identical to a brewery - the smell had much more depth it was incredible.

So that's my totally unscientific "evidence" that something seems to be lost in the process of converting the liquid malt into extract.

Although I agree with you.....the processes are not identical. With extract brewing you dont do the mashing at all. So, how could your appartment smell the same during AG and extract brewing? You skip the mashing part with extract brewing and you get the sugar in a concentrated form. That should make a massive difference when it comes to the smell. It doesnt mean it is any worse....but it surely makes a massive difference.

 

[castillo556]

Keep in mind that while PM brewing can make excellent beers, it doesn't save time.

It still requires a full length mash, and a boil, so if you're doing it for time savings only, it won't do that. Many people do PM brewing for reasons like they don't have room for a full MLT set up, or to do a full boil. In that case, it's a great choice for them.

It does save time, namely in the amount of time to heat up water and cool down wort (assuming less than a full boil)

PMs didn't take near as long as AG, but I enjoy it so I wouldn't go back.

 

[unionrdr]

Differences in volume would be the only way PM saves time. but that also depends on how you're applying heat. Electric stove, gas stove, gas burner from a turkey fryer, etc. Different heating rates also govern total time.

 

[bobbrews]

With extract brewing you dont do the mashing at all. So, how could your appartment smell the same during AG and extract brewing? You skip the mashing part with extract brewing and you get the sugar in a concentrated form. That should make a massive difference when it comes to the smell. It doesnt mean it is any worse....but it surely makes a massive difference.

The mashing process hardly produced any odor that permeates your house.

The strong smell you are speaking of comes from the boiling of the wort, technique aside, with all of that vapor evaporating and creating aromas. No massive difference in that regard.

I prefer all grain to partial grain /extract simply because it produces a cleaner tasting beer using the same method. All of the bottles that I used with my extract beers left a film in the bottle that had to be scrubbed off using a bottle brush. I have not had to do this with any of my all grain beers.

I've never noticed this problem after hundreds of gallons brewed via each method. Maybe it is due to your processes when using extract, e.g. a quick/limited boil, use of old extract or flawed yeast, bottles that you've used 6+ times already, using primarily LME over DME, or something else. The only real issue I have with extract beers is the limited control and creativity the brewer has over his recipe. You can't mash anything and FG tends to be a bit higher because of this. Knowing exactly what is in the extract is also a mystery.