What got you into All Grain?

I wanted more control of the whole process. And another way to spend more money faster.

 

The guy who sold me my all grain equipment never told there was another way to brew,lol

 

I ordered an AG kit from Northern Brewer by mistake. Did some quick reading up on AG, put together a half-assed tun and carried on. Have never order another kit of any kind. AG is just so much more interesting, cheaper, versatile, and challenging.

 

Huh, I think you might be missing the most important option:

- produces better beer than extract.

That might be an important one to have in your poll...

 

i went: one extract, 3 partial mash, each with increasingly more grain, then AG. because why not run before you can walk

 

The challenge of hitting your target OG with all grain - not an easy task. I like the challenge, and the more interesting tasting beer.

 

I just wanted to make an oatmeal stout and partial mash just seemed like a useless step to take.

 

I believe that the main benefit to AG brewing is the ability to make any style you want without the limitations that extract can have. I went AG with the idea that my beers would instantly be so much better than my extract beers. Eventually my AG beers did probably become better but not till I got a better control of my process, knowledge of particular ingredients and knowledge about water.

I do not agree that all grain makes better beer than extract. One of my favorite beers to date was a couple of the northern brewer extract kits. With the fresh extract that they have, anyone can make an awesome beer especially with correct pitching rates and fermentation temp control.

 

I agree that you can make fine beers with extract. An analogy I use to differentiate all grain vs extract brewing is like having access to a 50 different colors to paint with vs 10 colors. You can make fine art with 10 colors, but you can add in more of the nuance and detail with the 50.

 

Burnt some lme, gave up with that. It also feels like your making something from a box, not homemade.

 

I just got bored very fast with stirring extract into a pot, adding some hops and chilling. It was too much like making brownies from a Duncan Hines box. I have a peculiar case of adult attention deficit disorder and simple processes piss me off so I strive to make everything as complicated as possible.
That's honestly why I got started with all grain, but since then I've really learned to love the process, the total control over the final product and the underrated economies of scale I get by buying ingredients in bulk.

 

In some ways that's true. But I would say that for the majority of beer styles you can make great beer using extract. I don't think we want to say that all AG brewing is better than all extract brewing just because it's AG.

 

At the risk of inciting a flame war, I'll say it. It's not just that the ingredient choices are broader. With All Grain brewing, you can control your mineral profile, which affects flavor. You can also use mash temp and time to dial-in the fementability of the wort (without necessarily changing grain types). Then there's the freshness issue..the freshest extract is still not as fresh as wort you made that day.

I'm not saying that you can't make great beer with extract. But I do believe the potential for great(er) beer is higher with All Grain brewing.

 

All of the above, with lots of reasons under 'other'.

You can get consistently excellent cakes from a Betty Crocker box, but you have the potential to make outstanding cakes if you do it from scratch. No guarantee it will be better, but it's the only way to open up the potential. And you're not limited to the ten varieties that are available plus whatever tweaks you make to it.

Then there's the pride that can only come from hand-crafting it from start to finish.

 

I do both. I brew all grain when there is a need for a grain that is not available via extract. I also brew extract and specialty grain for beer styles that are suited to that method. You can indeed make great beer via both methods. I value my free time (I have interests beyond homebrewing) so I greatly appreciate the time savings that extract provides.

Below is a post I made in a past thread that is relevant to this discussion:

A BIG +1 to:” As an aside, I think it's possible to brew great (yes, great) beer in many, if not most styles using extract, ..”

The vast majority of beer styles can be brewed (and great beer made) using extracts. The ‘mainstream’ malt extracts are perfectly suited to many beer styles: APAs, IPAs, numerous Belgian beer styles, numerous British beer styles, and on and on. Plus there are some ‘specialty’ malt extracts available which include Munich Malt, 100% Maris Otter Malt, Wheat Malt, Rye Malt, ….

Having state the above there are some beer styles which greatly benefit from grains that are not available in malt extract form. For example, I really believe that to make a quality Wit you need to brew with raw wheat (I used flaked wheat).

Extract vs. all grain brewing is to large measure a time vs. material cost trade-off. Extract brewing has the disadvantage of having a higher material cost but takes less time. All grain brewing has the advantage of having a lower material cost but takes longer (and requires more equipment).

If your free time is important to you (and it is to me) then all grain brewing can be onerous.

Cheers!

 

When my wife kicked me out of the kitchen I went to all grain.

 

All grains was more of a challenge 20 years ago, I like challenges. The cool kids were doing it!

 

Other: Peer pressure - all the other kids were doing it.

 

I voted for the first 3 but probably could have added other as well. I saw AG brewing as the next step in this hobby and saw it as a way to really hone in on certain styles and recipes, tweak things to be just the way I like.