Extract or All Grain?
Hi all,
I am new to home brewing and so far I am having a great time doing it. I am currently waiting on my second batch(Irish Red ale) to finish out. The first batch was a Nut brown ale, It came out pretty darn good for my first batch and finished out with a 5.7 ABV. I have studied the craft/Art form of home brewing for about two years now but waited until I had some time to devote to brewing before I started.
My question to you veteran home brewers is, what is the difference or benefit from doing all grain versus extract/steep grains like I am doing now?
I would like to try it sometime down the road but am having fun brewing with DME and steeping grains.
Thanks,
David Luedecke II
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by ASH Editor on -
The benefits are more control with your grains. There are some styles that require base grains that just don't translate very will with extract. These include Munich and Rye. I understand that these are becoming available, but you are stuck with the extract maker's targeted wort and not your own.
I suspect that some of this will be covered at Brew Camp on September 17th at Gangplank.
-
Permalink Reply by David Luedecke II on -
Thanks for the info, I understand it a little better now.
ASH Editor said:
The benefits are more control with your grains. There are some styles that require base grains that just don't translate very will with extract. These include Munich and Rye. I understand that these are becoming available, but you are stuck with the extract maker's targeted wort and not your own.
I suspect that some of this will be covered at Brew Camp on September 17th at Gangplank.
-
Competition CommitteePermalink Reply by David Schollmeyer on -
Mashing does give you full control but I think there are steps you can take to improve your extract batches before you are ready to go all-in with a full all-grain system. In my opinion, the most important things for beginning brewers to focus on are:
1. Fermentation temperature control. This is really the most important thing I think beginning brewers should focus on, especially in the Phoenix heat. Most of the cheap solutions here suffer from a couple flaws. First, it is very difficult to dial in a specific temperature. Second, it is hard to maintain a constant temp. A constant raising and lowering of the beer temp will shock the yeast and cause it to either under-attenuate or produce off-flavors. I think the biggest thing I did in my first year of brewing that helped improve the quality of my beer was building a Son of Fermentation chiller (google it). That cost about $60, although you can probably pick up a used fridge on craigslist for not much more.
2. Pitching & aerating the correct amount of yeast. Starters are very important here. Play with the pitching rate calculator on mrmalty.com to get an idea of how much yeast you need for a particular batch. Pitching the correct amount will help you avoid problems with stuck fermentation, under-attenuation, and fusel/hot alcohols. Aeration is important too. A very easy way to make sure you are aerating enough is a cheap aquarium pump with stainless-steel aeration stone. This setup should cost less than $30. I use it for about 30-40 minutes. Make sure you use one of the inline sterile filters that places like More Beer or Northern Brewer sells.
3. Full-volume boils. This is going to be required for all-grain anyways, so you should work towards it before going all-grain. This allows you to boil the full volume of beer at the correct gravity instead of having to do a concentrated boil that is then diluted in the fermenter.
As far as going all-grain, you may want to consider getting your feet wet with partial mashing. If you have a small 2-3 gallon cooler, you can try this with a portion of your extract. See http://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/511-countertop-partia... for more info. If you do a few batches of partial mash, going to a full all-grain brew is just a step up in volume.
-
Permalink Reply by David Luedecke II on
-
Hey Dave, Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I will take your advice and refine the craft before I move on into all grain. What you have shared has given me a good foundation to start and to grow from. I am really enjoying the beginner stage right now and have been lucky so far with some decent brews. : )
-
Permalink Reply by David Luedecke II on
-
OK ASH vets, I have another rookie question. I have brewed, bottled and drank two styles of brew. I brewed a Nut Brown ale and an Irish Red Ale. Just out of curiosity I drank one of each on the same night. I noticed a similar hint in both of the brews. I almost did not like that. Is it the fact that I am using dry yeast and not liquid? I know there are several styles of yeast that are made specific for each style of beer. Dry yeast is dry yeast. Is that the reason why I have similar flavors in both styles? Thanks in advance for your feedback.
© 2012 Created by ASH Editor.
