Who here started out all grain?

[Rackrunner]

I started with all-grain here. I had been thinking about brewing my own for several years off and on, but after seeing some videos of the all-in-one programmable all-grain systems (Pico, Grainfather, etc), I finally decided to dive in with both feet. I went with the GF, a couple of corny kegs and keg fridge, and a chest freezer+inkbird temp controller and haven't regretted it.

I did do a fair bit of research before my first brew, but there is SO much easily accessible brewing process information out there now for nearly every setup I wouldn't consider that a requirement. Starting simple with a straightforward, tried-and-true recipe and following basic instructions is going to get you some good beer!

Anyone not capable of that probably shouldn't have access to anything sharp enough to open the boxes

 

[bracconiere]

You always crack me up, man!

View attachment 648917

you're the only one, most people just tell me i'm stupid! lol (but i love it here, when i go out in real world, most people are to scared to even make wine)

edit: people in general in my opinion take drugs to seriously....RELAX HAVE FUN! if you get beat to death, so what. you lived life to fullest!

 

[davidabcd]

you're the only one, most people just tell me i'm stupid! lol

You're a real-type person. We/I don't have to agree with you way of life. Most of us apply filters when we speak. It's refreshing to read unadulterated material.

 

[bracconiere]

You're a real-type person. We/I don't have to agree with you way of life. Most of us apply filters when we speak. It's refreshing to read unadulterated material.

speaking of which, i was worried someone would take that as a plea for help...lol, but thanks the same! (and i also like the fact that i'm synthetic, "real-type person", like data from star trek...)

edit: on back on topic, getting into all-grain saves a lot of money on brewing! you can use adjuncts and other things, with the enzymes in base malt....

 

[davidabcd]

as a plea for help

We all get judged, right? You're the only person that can accurately judge you.
Synthetic/Simpathetic? Sure.
Kudos to the SNG reference--you won't a more average fan. Data is a top five character for sure.

 

[bracconiere]

does apple juice from concentrate count as extract brewing? been doing that the last few months....

 

[bracconiere]

Data is a top five character for sure.

lol, the're only 5 people on the bridge weren't there.....

 

[Velnerj]

This is how I started and continue to this day. My first brew was still one of the best. I guess that's what hooked me in.

 

[greenjam]

I did a workshop one week and the next went to a brewery that also sells stuff and bought what i needed (all grain), the brewer designed a beer for me in beersmith and give me the printed recipe. 2 years ago.
Fabulous beer!

 

[burntchef]

Due to volume consumed, I went all grain 10gallons and kegged right from the start. My first batches were not great, but it was home made beer. I drank all of them. I am still cranking out 1 batch per month and brewing today.
Eric

 

[davidabcd]

only 5 people

I didn't clarify that I was speaking of the Star Trek Universe and not just SNG.
Without Googling: Picard, Riker, Data, Geordi, Yar early on, Worf, the Betazoid (can't remember her name), sometimes Wesley, sometimes O' Brien.

 

[schmurf]

I feel a bit odd. I started brewing about 2 years ago, going into BIAB/all grain. I've made maybe some 70-80 batches. Started doing extract kits this summer and haven't done a all grain since. Going backwards?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Going backwards?

Welcome to the "next level" of home brewing where fresh malt extract (either dry or liquid) is considered to be another ingredient one can use to brew enjoyable beer at home.

 

[madscientist451]

I went all grain from the get-go after watching BIAB videos on you-tube, but I already had experience making wine and cider.

 

[Blazinlow86]

I feel a bit odd. I started brewing about 2 years ago, going into BIAB/all grain. I've made maybe some 70-80 batches. Started doing extract kits this summer and haven't done a all grain since. Going backwards?

Not backwards just limited base malt selection at considerably more cost. But if times id your main concern and you don't mind the lack of selection with the higher cost you made the better choice. Cheers

 

[bracconiere]

sometimes O' Brien.

i feel half that time when cheif o-brien was kicking the **** out of tom cruise, in whatever movie that was.....lol



for fun, and another quote!

I feel a bit odd. I started brewing about 2 years ago, going into BIAB/all grain. I've made maybe some 70-80 batches. Started doing extract kits this summer and haven't done a all grain since. Going backwards?

taking it easy, huh...i've recently been buying cheap apple juice myself!

 

[Norlz]

Started with All grain with a Robobrew. Read and watch videos a lot before actually doing my first batch.

 

[daddyd]

I started a year ago - first batch all grain. Used all the information from this site, Spikes tutorials, and Kals brew day walk through and it resulted in 11 gallons of an awesome blonde ale. Never brewed before and don’t know anyone that does. Jumped in with both feet and fortunate enough to be able to buy the right equipment. 9 batches later I definitely look forward to brewing the next one once I empty the next keg.

 

[Nate R]

I decided to buy a kegerator for commercial craft beer.
Found morebeer for parts for the kegerator.
Read their catalouges cover to cover. Realized like most hobbies every page i turned the costs went up.
Told myself i will never do homebrew- too much great commercial beer and way to expensive!
Years later decided to pick up the books and read. Got the required pappazain 1 & 2 and palmer. Told myself... maybe... maybe... we will see. Figured why not just learn about it for a few bucks for the books right?
Watched the technology progress. Pico, grainfather, brewie, etc. Decided to watch prices.. Decided i wanted to focus on the reciepies and not fuss with mash temps, warped coolers, diy, etc. (That is the fun part for a lot of home brewers.)
Found a new brewie for super cheap last year. Pulled the trigger.
Then spent way too much money on a conical and temp control but oh man does it really make the difference!!
Batch 1 was a kit (brewie pad). Batch 2, 4 had to go down the deain. Batches 3, 5 and on were good.

There are still some brew days when i think- i might pay extra for dme amd get this brew done!!! Lol.

I think as mentioned above... geeat beers have been made with extract or grain. Dry or liquid yeast.

But bad beers are made with unsanitary equipment, poor temp control, and old ingredients.

Making the wort is where most of our time, money, and effort goes but that is not really where the good beer is made.

I would tell any new brewer spend your money on the fermentation aspect- temp control and stainless. Work backwards from there

 

[Drifted88]

I started with throwing bread yeast in honey water then apple juice and champagne yeast. Messed up a bunch of cheap stuff before getting fed up with waiting a year to taste the mistakes I made. Decided to try brewing beer. By that point I had a handle on sanitation and the basics of the processes so I went straight for all grain. First batch was with a water cooler and fly sparge at the local homebrew shop. A month later I brewed my first biab batch.

 

[DVCNick]

I did four extracts before moving to all grain. Did a good bit of research before my very first batch, which was a partial boil extract, with steeping grains, on my electric stove in the kitchen, then top off to 5 gallons with water. It actually turned out just fine and to this day I remember it fondly. In fact I just kegged the all-grain version of it yesterday for the first time. I sent a few bottles to a very experienced homebrewer, and he said they were good too. Not sure to what extent he was blowing smoke up my ass.

After that I got the 10 gallon kettle, cooler mashtun, and did a number of full volume boil all grain kits.

Then I started buying bulk ingredients, and that is where I am today, but still using the relatively basic hot side equipment.

I had a stuck sparge on my second all-grain, from stirring the mashtun WAY too hard at dough-in which I'm assuming lifted up the false bottom and allowed a bunch of grain under there. Had to lauter it one pitcher at a time through my hop spider. Added all the corn sugar I had on hand, still came up low on OG, but, even that batch made a drinkable beer that I put down no problem. That stuck sparge was just one of those things that I don't think could have been avoided without doing it. Reading about process was not enough to prevent that particular mistake. Had that been my first batch EVER, and I hand't yet proved to myself that I can make decent beer, it might have been a bit more discouraging.

So, CAN you start with all grain, yes of course. Especially if you have a buddy to actually show you the ropes live. BUT, in my case, I'm glad I did extracts first that let me focus solely on the most basic parts of the process of boiling, transferring, fermenting, and bottling, to get a few reps of that under my belt before focusing on all the stuff that is unique to mashing: Getting the crush right, temp right, lauter speed, not doing my ridiculous over-stirring, etc. I was able to really focus only on the mashing when I went AG, rather than learning every single thing from the ground up.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Still an absolute beginner, but I started out with all grain as well. Mainly due to lack of options.
This was an all grain kit, small volume (7 litres) and BIAB.
The beer was very drinkable, but I made plenty plenty mistakes. These were not due to the instructions, but simply because of lack of experience, not thinking things through properly etc.
I've now got some better equipment (grain mill etc) and made an all grain batch (still BIAB)that I think tastes very well. Still room for plenty improvement.
Need to brew more, but with current temperatures of 40-44 oC (100-110 F) I think I rather wait a bit....

 

[Miraculix]

Started all grain, only brewed one or two extract based beers after brewing for some time because I was curious how it would taste like.

 

[thehaze]

I started all-grain in January 2017. I've brewed 85 batches and never done a kit/extract or anything like that. I brew 5 batches every 2 months or so - that's around 180 gallons a year ( aprox. 680 liters ).

 

[mongoose33]

I did 3 extract brews before switching to all-grain on my 4th brew.

I think that, generally, new brewers should start with the first 3-5 brews in extract, and once they have the details from the boil forward figured out, then go from the boil backwards to making their own wort. Unless.....

....I taught a buddy to brew all-grain from the get go, but all he had to do was master the process--I made all the decisions as to recipe (with his input), water, temps, the whole bit.

The first time, he watched me do a brew, asked questions, I explained what I was doing and why, and so on.

The second time, I watched him do a brew, I kibbitzed, steered him back to the straight and narrow when needed, so he did the whole process with me "supervising."

The third time he did a brew on his own, at his home. I got about 5 texts and one phone call during, but he did it.

He's since produced some terrific beers, including a delicious coffee version of my dark lager, and a blood-orange IPA that was one of the best IPAs I've ever had.

He had the wisdom, I suppose you could call it, to let me teach him, as well as a willingness to learn. We accelerated his learning curve hugely doing things this way.

 

[mashpaddled]

I brewed four or five extract kits before jumping to all grain. When I started brewing ten years ago it was common to brew for a year or two with extract before making the jump. I see a lot less of that now which I think comes from a combination of more resources to watch brew days take place and generally more familiarity with how brewing works. If you have taken a few good brewery tours and watched a few brewing videos you already know enough to brew an all grain batch right from the start.

 

[kh54s10]

I brewed four or five extract kits before jumping to all grain. When I started brewing ten years ago it was common to brew for a year or two with extract before making the jump. I see a lot less of that now which I think comes from a combination of more resources to watch brew days take place and generally more familiarity with how brewing works. If you have taken a few good brewery tours and watched a few brewing videos you already know enough to brew an all grain batch right from the start.

The problem lies in those that don't read, watch videos, research. They might be able to brew a decent extract, high fermentation temperatures and all. But when you add milling grain, strike temperature, mash temperature etc into the mix, odds for a good first batch go down significantly.

All grain right off the bat can be done well. Or, without enough thought - disastrous.

 

[HB_ATL73]

I did 3-4 extract batches before I moved to all grain and this probably happened in a month or twos time. I still occasionally do an extract batch if I am limited with time. All grain to me is much more rewarding to see a finished product that was made completely from scratch

 

[evsol]

Started with a Mr.Beer kit from my MIL over 20 years ago...only went all grain 6 years ago...went from Mr. Beer kits to partial mash to all-grain eventually....Miss the old 1.5 hour brews...but can't complain about the quality jump over the years..now make award winning brews....

 

[BruceH]

Started with 3 or 4 extract kits, then a few extract no kit, then ponied up for the equipment to brew all grain in the garage.

I've been brewing all grain for some time now but if I find a sale on dme I'll do an all extract brew. I've even contemplated purchasing a sack of dme but it never happens. I keep buying grain.