I am going to start home brewing and wanted to know what your opinions are on using either extract or all grain. Is extract seen as the easy way out? Thanks.
With extract brewing you can make really good beer for not a lot of work and much less equipment. However there are many beer styles that even the best extract recipes will not give you very good success. If you want more control over every batch's destiny and are interested at all in the process of how great beer is really made then all-grain is a great way to go. You'll need to read a good book or two to get started either way. The go-to book these days is How to Brew and is available free online at howtobrew.com. Personally I learned a ton from Designing Great Beers as well, excellent book that teaches how to form your very own recipes. If you have more questions along the way of course we will help you right here on forums like this.
I would start with extract. It teaches you the steps and it's easier and cheaper. After you have some extract brews under your belt I would try an all grain batch. I would also brew with an experienced brewer. That way you will not make every mistake in the book (like I did).
Like Primrose, I recommend starting with ectract for the first few brews until you get the basics down. Not that all-grain is that much more difficult, but it's that many more things to watch and worry about when you're already overwhelmed. Yes there are some styles that don't really lend themselves to extract, but those are generally the lightest, most delicate ones. Plenty of award-winning beers have been made with extract. The things I would recommend keeping an eye on are freshness of the extract, pitching a good amount of yeast, sanitation, and fermentation control, specifically temperature. Keep those things under control and you'll be well on your way. And lastly, relax, don't worry, have a (home)brew. There really are very few ways to truly ruin your beer, so don't stress terribly about that.
I have heard this said, but whenever there are stats available, it seems that all grain entries are pretty dominant. I think the statement was more true many years ago. ETA: But I agree with everyone who said that for beginners, extract makes sense.
Emphasis on less equipment for me. Space could be an issue for you. What is an issue for me is needing to keep my operations under wraps, so to speak. My family is a bunch of tea-teetotalers, but one day soon the chest freezer, kegs, Better Bottles, etc. will one day be noticed, investigated, and there will be a confrontation. How much of one, I won't know until it happens. I feel my dad already knows that I "partake" to some degree. But really, I don't feel the need to go all-grain either at the moment. I'm content to brew clones of beers that are not readily available around the Nashville, TN area. If I had a buddy that had the space and wanted to share in doing all-grain, I guess I'd do it. Not even John Palmer does all-grain 100% of the time. I wonder how many ppl there are here who have brew for a number of years and have never done all-grain or have tried it and are content to use extracts.
I brew all grain, mini-mash and extract (with specialty grains) depending on the beer style in question. Lots (most for me) of beer styles can be brewed to high quality using extracts. I appreciate the time savings that come with extract brewing. For me time is more precious than ingredient costs. For those beer styles that require it I brew all grain but the longer brew day is definitely a non-plus for me Cheers!
I won a blue ribbon at the state fair with an extract beer. I would say that all grain stands a better chance, but since all grain is the popular way to go it would hard to quantify the difference. OP I would suggest to go extract at first. Most of the equipment I used then translates to BIAB when you want to go all grain.
I would definitely recommend starting with extract. It takes less time and less equipment, but most importantly you don't have to worry (much) about water. Virtually any water that tastes good to drink will make good extract beer. For AG, you have to mash pH, calcium levels, and a few other factors. It's not rocket science, but it's a relatively tricky variable to throw into the mix at a point when most people are still going to be focused on learning the basics of sanitation, pitch rates, and that sort of thing.
It may be hard to quantify. But I'd bet the farm that the percentage of winning entries that are extract is smaller than the percentage of total entries that are extract. But even without stats, it stands to reason... see if you can poke holes in any of the four following statements. - With All Grain, you can better control the fermentability, mineral profile, flavor, and mouth feel of your beer than with Extract. - If you can better control the fermentabilty, mineral profile, flavor, and mouth feel of your beer, you are more likely to be able to get closer to the result you want. - If you get closer the result you want, you're more likely to win. - Extract brewing does not itself add any result-driving advantages compared with All Grain. If you can accept the above as true, then it follows that All Grain gives you a better chance to win. I've said many times that it's possible to make good, even "great" beer with extract. But if you want to have the most control over your result, All Grain is superior.
Not sure where you think I was poking holes in your premise. I was completely agreeing with you without your detail. I was saying that most entries in a contest are all grain. Most winners are all grain. All grain gives you a better chance. Where did we disagree. Now I will poke a few holes You can control fermentability and mouthfeel with specialty grains. Mineral profile is dependent on your water not extract. Flavor is certainly obtained with specialty grains. With extract there can be less chance of mistakes in the mash that lead to you being way off from what you intended with fermentability and OG.
I read your post to mean that because all grain entries are more numerous ("popular"), that may be the reason more all grain entries win. Rereading, I suppose that may not be what you meant. But you can't get more fermentability (say, with a mash temp that maximizes it) that way. And you can't get less mouthfeel that way. Try removing the contribution of crystal/dextrin malts that are a part of most "base" extracts. It's dependent on the minerals in the water and it's dependent on the minerals in the extract. Where do you think the minerals in the extract manufacturer's mash went? With all grain, you can build whatever overall profile you want, starting with distilled/RO water. You can't with extract. How would you propose getting a flavor contribution the same as Victory malt, for example? Or flaked maize? Or unmalted rye or wheat? Or Golden Promise malt? Or... I agree with this, but only if your process is not sound and consistent.
No reason you can't start extract. Upgrading to all grain requires all the stuff you need for extract, so you're not losing anything on the equipment layout. The simpler procedures allow you to master the basics first and expand on that later. And of course mastering the basics is the first thing you'll need to do. fermentation temperature (<70F) yeast pitching temperature (<70F) sanitation patience full boils wort chiller bottling or kegging technique etc etc
If you already have both pot types, then use whichever is bigger. The closer that you can get to a full boil without a high risk of a boil-over is the better way to go.
For many homebrewers, extract is the easy way in. It's a good place to start because it allows you to concentrate on some of the absolute basics that you need to master to produce decent beer. Most notable among those basics is sanitation. However, increasingly, I think more people are starting with all-grain brewing. Great beer can be made either way. For me, all grain brewing gives me some flexibility that extract brewing does not allow. However, extract brewing is faster, and there have been times when I opt for extract just to save some time. I urge you to read How to Brew by John Palmer. It might help you decide which way to start, extract or all-grain, and, either way, it will give you the info you need to pull it off.
Neither has an impact on the flavor of your beer. Aluminum heats up better. Stainless is, well, stainless. I use both, because I acquired my brewing gear in a piecemeal kind of way. If you can afford stainless, it's probably going to be more durable if it is a well made product. However, my stainless pots have pretty thin walls and one of them has a tear on the lip. My aluminum looks somewhat stained, but is structurally fine.
