Perpetuating the myths of extract homebrewing
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Beerthoven
Well-Known Member
I actually prefer his non-ambient music...Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Before and After Science, Another Green World...these albums have formed the soundtrack of my life for 25 years.
brown_dog_us
Well-Known Member
IMHO a lot of the negative stuff about extract brewing comes from years ago when the malt was all in cans and generally had some age on it. Now you can get really fresh extract in a variety of styles. I love all three kinds of brewing and jump around from one to the other. I think that AG does give you more control over the finished products taste, but sometimes it's not for the better. 
Boerderij_Kabouter
Well-Known Member
Good is a subjective word. That is always the problem with these types of threads.
I have only made one good beer in all my brewing experience. The rest have been fine and very drinkable, but to make a truly good beer is a special thing. This hobby greatly depends on your expectations coming in.
Talking up how awesome your homebrew will be is a misnomer in my opinion. To someone who drinks BMC and is just starting to dabble in different beer styles, then yes even their first brew may be fantastic to them, but I can almost guarantee that it will not be a good beer (and that is just fine). Brewing is a skill that must be learned. Just take a look at the many, many, many mediocre to bad commercial brews... making a good beer just isn't that easy.
Now, on to the cheery side. Good beer can be made with extract. IMHO, you are more limited by style and imagination, but for simple ales and whatnot, extract is just fine and can produce some delicious product.
My main point is that if you are a big beer drinker with a refined palate who has a lot of beer drinking experience, don't expect to be blown away by your first couple brews. You will likely make something drinkable and will be honing your skills for future brews of greatness. When you do brew that special batch, taking it our with you to show your beer nerd friends what you have brewed will make years of research and brewing worthi it. Trust me, that experience is golden.
I have only made one good beer in all my brewing experience. The rest have been fine and very drinkable, but to make a truly good beer is a special thing. This hobby greatly depends on your expectations coming in.
Talking up how awesome your homebrew will be is a misnomer in my opinion. To someone who drinks BMC and is just starting to dabble in different beer styles, then yes even their first brew may be fantastic to them, but I can almost guarantee that it will not be a good beer (and that is just fine). Brewing is a skill that must be learned. Just take a look at the many, many, many mediocre to bad commercial brews... making a good beer just isn't that easy.
Now, on to the cheery side. Good beer can be made with extract. IMHO, you are more limited by style and imagination, but for simple ales and whatnot, extract is just fine and can produce some delicious product.
My main point is that if you are a big beer drinker with a refined palate who has a lot of beer drinking experience, don't expect to be blown away by your first couple brews. You will likely make something drinkable and will be honing your skills for future brews of greatness. When you do brew that special batch, taking it our with you to show your beer nerd friends what you have brewed will make years of research and brewing worthi it. Trust me, that experience is golden.
I actually prefer his non-ambient music...Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Before and After Science, Another Green World...these albums have formed the soundtrack of my life for 25 years.
I had Eno, An Ending Ascent for my Wedding processional: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOgQyIMX_XU]YouTube - Brian Eno "An Ending (Ascent)" from "Apollo..."[/ame]
Extract is a beer ingredient that has a host of implied processes when using it. When it is the primary ingredient, there is a sweet spot of style that extract (and it's supporting processes) fit nicely into.
Incidentally, when extract is used in an AG process, such as a pumping up the OG on a Barleywine or priming, you never hear about "extract twang"
