Extract vs all grain

there's a bit of a learning curve with most aspects of this hobby obsession. My final extract beers were quite a bit better than my first couple all-grain attempts. However by around batch 5 or 6 of all-grain, they were the best things I'd ever made.

 

I made extract batches for four years before going all grain. I made very good extract beers but everyone I share my beer with friends, family, homebrew club have all noticed an improvement in quality. I still am fine tuning some of my recipes but overall I am happy I made the switch.

 

I all-grain brew 90% of the time, but sometimes I just want a shorter brew day and will brew extract with steeping grains. Those beers are every bit as good as my all grain beers. Fresh extract from a homebrew shop with a high turn around (midwest supplies or northern brewer for example), combined with proper yeast management and there is no reason you can't brew world-class beers with extract.

 

My best so far was an extract/mini-mash Oatmeal Brown Ale.

Best of both worlds perhaps?

 

My extract brews were more consistent (predictable) than all grain, but this continues to improve as I dial in my process and technique. Some of my all grain beers have been outstanding, while my extracts were merely excellent. With all grain, I get an occasional (rare) minor disappointment, while disappointment was virtually non-existent with extracts (but then, so was outstanding). Overall, the improvement in quality makes a return to extract in any significant way very unlikely. That said, I've been known to use extract to bump the gravity of a RIS or a Barleywine.

 

Nothing wrong with a little Pale DME to boost gravity. heck, the Belgian's use sugar to boost the alcohol.
No such thing as cheating!

 

Ray Daniels Designing Great Beers book provides a breakdown of winning recipes including hops and malts. Extract is included in quite a few champion beers. Alot more often than one might think. But I don't recall any all extract beers.

My all extract beers were perfectly enjoyable and easy. I rarely used anything other than extra light or light DME. The amber or dark extract is useless as far as I am concerned. A pound or two of DME stills makes it into about 25% of the all grains I brew. Extract works.

Great beer can be made with either, but there is far more control and chances for a screw up with all-grain. After a few all grains sessions there is no reason a brewer can't get it very nearly spot on. Practice. All grain is a fair bit cheaper too, so there is more room to experiment within the budget.

 

Light DME and steeping grains....

 

I thought my beers got a lot better after I went AG, give or take a couple of early miscalculations with regard to efficiency. I just thought the malt flavors were a lot more vivid, and of course I was able to make lighter pales, adjust fermentables to non-fermentables, etc, and all that helped.

All that said... I do sometimes think there's an over-emphasis on AG brewing, as if you're not really "serious" unless you're not mashing your own grain. I think there are probably a lot of people thinking about the hobby who don't have the time for AG brewing, or who don't want to have to delve into water chemistry and all of that, and I think it has to be said that they can make great beer using extract.

 

I don't have anywhere to use a propane burner, so AG is out. Until then I'm sticking to partial mashes with just enough two-row to convert the specialty malts.

 

I'm a partial mash guy. I use extract as my base "grain", and use some 6-row plus specialty malts in a mini mash. I've won gold medals and had a couple great clones. I've gotten a little all grain snobbiness (not from anyone here BTW) and could care less. I'm getting all my other processes down before I make the jump to all grain. I mean, you have to ferment right? So why not get the components to dial in fermentation temps before going all grain? You have to cool the wort as well, so get the stuff you need to dial that in as well. Once I get all of my boil and post boil processes down to where they are flawless then I'll worry about all grain.

 

Not sure what that means. The grains neither know nor care what kind of fuel you use any more than the extract does.

 

My all-grain batches have been better on average. When I switched from extract brewing to all-grain, I made several other significant changes in my practices:
I oxygenated wort with an airstone,
I got an immersion chiller,
I made yeast starters,
I paid attention to fermentation temperatures,
I started controlling fermentation temperatures,
I started using 5-star sanitation products,
I stopped supporting an LHBS that gave me bad advice and sold me old extract and started reading this forum.

So there you have it, clear evidence that all-grain beers are better than extract beers

Seriously, I have brewed several extract beers in the last 2-3 years for the sake of saving time: several wheats, a dark lager, a dark hoppy ale, and an English bitter. There are good extracts out there. Use good practices and you can make good beer.

 

In my humble opinion, Peter’s post above illustrates that by going to all grain a number of other aspects change beyond just the all grain vs. extract aspect. There is a tendency to ‘improve’ practices like:

· Improved aeration (oxygenation)
· You obtain an immersion chiller (if you progressed from extract partial boil to an all grain full boil)
· Etc.

There is also typically a progression in brewing. Your first batches are partial boil extract and you evolve to all grain brewing (I know there are a few homebrewers who start off all grain but that is the minority). As you brew more with improved homebrewing practices then in general the quality of your homebrewed beers improve as well (over time).

I have brewed outstanding extract beers and I have brewed outstanding all grain beers. It is not so much the ingredient selection which drives the quality of the beer as much as the homebrewing skill/process.

There is no doubt that certain beer styles need mashed grains. For example an authentic Wit needs raw wheat, an Oatmeal Stout needs Oatmeal, etc.

Cheers!

P.S. There is no doubt that from a material cost perspective that all grain brewing is much cheaper.

 

It's just a personal preference. The use of a stove makes my brew day long enough the way it is.

 

I brew all grain using my stove top. I split my boil into two kettles to bring the whole thing to a boil more quicly. But a brew day is a still a day-long thing for me.

 

I'm guessing you do partial boils when you use extract? Otherwise, the propane comment makes no sense.

 

That's my winter brewing technique. (I try to fill the pipeline in the Fall before the snow falls)

 

I try and get as full of a boil as I can. I split 5 gal between two kettles, the larger of which covers two burners. I cannot keep a decent boil unless the lid is on at least half way. This technique is not much of an issue when using extract, but as I'm sure you're already well aware, it's more risky with all-grain. I also don't always use other types of malt that need to be mashed. A 30 minute steep is time saved vs a 60/90 min mash.

I'm not trying to argue that my way > your way. I just feel that my current setup will not yield me better beer by making the jump to AG, so I choose not to do it.