too soon to move on?

[underwaterdan]

I am on my second kit beer and I think I want to move to non kit brews. My question is do I have to go to partial mash brewing(don't have the space for it right now) or is there another way?? Most of the recipies I see talk about mash time etc...

 

[noisy123]

I'm not sure what you mean by kit beers, do you mean purely extract-based beers? You can start brewing from recipes (which do not require partial mash brewing) anytime. Its the same process as a kit beer with the added step of acquiring the individual ingredients.

I think you may be confusing "kit" beers with all-grain or partial-mash beers. Most recipes in books are given as extract-based with steeping grains for character. Have a look at "Brewing Classic Styles" by Zainasheff and Palmer. All 80 recipes are extract-based with partial-mash or all-grain options.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

If you're talking about a kit, like a Cooper's pre-hopped kit or something like that, I'd suggest moving on to an extract kit from an online supplier. This will give you a good feel for all the different ingredients, and if you get a kit with steeping grains it will also improve the taste of your brew. Here's a few extract recipes that I think would be good:

AHS Northwest Pale Ale: Austin Homebrew Supply

AHS Nut Brown Ale: Austin Homebrew Supply

Autumn Amber Ale w/ Munton's 6 gm dry yeast :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

 

[Jewrican]

i have never done a kit brew and I am on my 5th. I have not gone all grain yet (need a larger boil pot ) but will as soon as i get one.

If you are asking if you should move to a regular recipe, go for it!

 

[Homercidal]

Well, your terminology is hard to understand. If you are doing Mr. Beer, then yeah, why not try using your own ingredients! If you are talking about a Coopers kit, then YEAH!

Basically, you can find recipes online and just buy the ingredients individually at the store, or even purchase a recipe kit from online and they will send you the ingredients (same as the other way, just less hassle).

If you DO have a Mr. Beer kit, then I suggest you find a fermentation bucket, and a Stainless or Alum boiling pot, airlock, etc. A few simple items will allow you to brew a 5Gallong batch, which most recipes are designed for.

 

[Orfy]

The logical progression is.

• Extract only
• Extract and steeping grains (gain no fermentables from the grain)
• Extract and partial mashing of grains. (gain some fermentables from the grain)
• All grain

The further along you get the more equipment you need and the bigger brew pot you need and generally more time.

The good news is it tends to get cheaper per brew.

 

[bmorris1]

Following Orfy's progression, I did one Mr. Beer Batch, then two extract and steeping grains recipes, skipped partial mashing and jumped right into All grain.


the beer gets better and better as well as cheaper. Although the extract and steeping grain recipes were really good.

 

[underwaterdan]

I guess I should clarify, by kit I mean midwest brewing kits, like this(brewing tonight)
I steep the grains, then add some malt extract(liquid or powder), hops etc, then cold break it and put it in a primary with the yeast.

Hopefully that is a little clearer.

I want to move on to that same idea, but not getting it from a kit, I want to pick my own grains and my own malts and hops etc.... Just not sure where to start or if I can do that.

 

[Yooper]

Sure, you can easily do that. Many of us have recipes under our avatar (and they are posted in the recipe database), so you can see a recipe and buy the ingredients you need.

 

[Orfy]

I guess I should clarify, by kit I mean midwest brewing kits, like this(brewing tonight)
I steep the grains, then add some malt extract(liquid or powder), hops etc, then cold break it and put it in a primary with the yeast.

Hopefully that is a little clearer.

I want to move on to that same idea, but not getting it from a kit, I want to pick my own grains and my own malts and hops etc.... Just not sure where to start or if I can do that.

Your talking about recipe formulation.

The easiest way is to copy someone else's tried and tested recipe and make that.
You'll soon start to learn what the individual components add to the beer.
You can then start tweaking recipes to your taste.
You'll soon be able to make recipes to copy other beers and eventually unique recipes of your own.

 

[underwaterdan]

Sure, you can easily do that. Many of us have recipes under our avatar (and they are posted in the recipe database), so you can see a recipe and buy the ingredients you need.

Oh wow, look at that, I didn't realize you had all those recipes.... All I kept seeing were the mash recipies... Thanks a ton, is there anything particular these types of brews are called, like malt extract brews or anything?

P.S. I am looking at that dogfish clone, sounds good!

 

[Yooper]

There are three main categories of recipes: extract, partial mash, and all-grain. You'll be wanting an extract recipe, but can probably do a partial mash recipe as well. In addition, many AG recipes can be converted to be done with extract.

I'd recommend looking at the extract recipes first, and thinking of a style you might want to brew. If you look up in the links near the top of the page, "recipes" is one of the choices, and they are all listed by style. They are tried and tested recipes by our forum members.

 

[CBBaron]

There are three main categories of recipes: extract, partial mash, and all-grain. You'll be wanting an extract recipe, but can probably do a partial mash recipe as well. In addition, many AG recipes can be converted to be done with extract.

I'd recommend looking at the extract recipes first, and thinking of a style you might want to brew. If you look up in the links near the top of the page, "recipes" is one of the choices, and they are all listed by style. They are tried and tested recipes by our forum members.

Extract can be divided into prehopped extract, extract+hops, and extract+grains+hops.

If you have done an extract+grains recipe kit like one from Brewers Best or one of the online stores listed above, and feel comfortable with the process and results then you can start putting together your own from recipes you may find here or by tweeking a recipe for your own tastes. A program like Beersmith makes conversions, substitutions and scaling much easier than doing it my hand but you can do it the hard way also.

You do not need to do partial mash to make a recipe from scratch however it is not that much more difficult if you research the steps. I did two extract+grain recipe kits, then tweeked a kit to a partial mash before moving onto all-grain brewing from recipe.

Craig