First home brewing experience

No, you're not dumb for going straight to all grain as long as you have a solid understanding and a real passion for brewing beer. However, if you're jumping into this head first very quickly, and treating it like any other hobby, then you may encounter some trouble along the way. Brewing well requires more knowledge than most hobbies. You really have to understand the intricacies or you will be wondering why you didn't hit your target OG, got an infection, or didn't have the aroma or the body you were searching for. Therefore, if you're deciding to go all-grain right off the bat, I really recommend researching as much as possible in order to have a smooth brew day. You have to have a real understanding of mashing, dryness vs. sweetness in brewing, and how this all affects body/mouthfeel. If you want to make a bit easier, you could always looks into minimash/partial mash - which is a combo of extract and all grain.

 

i say go for it. i did 4 extract batches before switching to all grain and its not any big deal. when one f my friends started he went straight to all grain and its been fine for him as well. f you have a friend already brwing all grain than you especially dont have anythng to worry about.

 

it's doable as long as you have an understanding of the brewing process. i tried reading about all grain and it didn't really make much sense until i saw people brewing all grain on youtube. there are a lot of really helpful videos out there, so watch a few different ones, because everyone has different setups/techniques. that way, you'll be able to get a thorough knowledge of the basics while understanding what you can do with your setup to make the best beer possible.

 

Sure, you can start with all grain. First though, I'd recommend reading every read word of this (free on line) book...

http://www.howtobrew.com/

Then decide how you want to start. Good luck!

 

My advice: Don't spend a wad of cash on pre-made stuff from a home brew shop.

Make your mash tun, wort chiller, etc... You'll save tons.

And yes, read How to Brew thoroughly, then watch another brew session and then you're likely good to go AG. I remember how nervous I was for my first AG batch, but it was like magic. Beer is hard to screw up (and not make beer), but it is hard to perfect. To me that is the joy of the hobby.

 

I did my first all grain brew a few weeks back with a friend of mine who does it all the time. Prior to that, I'd done 3 extract kits, sort of just on my own... I watched a few youtube videos, and just kinda jumped in. All in all, I REALLY enjoyed the all grain brewing, simply because I loved the process. It's a bit like baking a cake from scratch, rather than getting a box of cake mix.

The smell was great, although not MUCH different than with the extract. It was really just about the fun for me.

That said, it was really sorta just watching my buddy do his thing. He picked the grains, he picked the hops, he controlled the flames, he brought the equipment... It's only "my brew" in that it's in my basement... But it gave me a good idea of how the process is done, so that I can later start to learn the differences between grains and hops, etc... Without going all grain, I think you miss out on some experience.

...of course, if you don't care about the experience, a decent extract is a good way to go. It's more involved, but it's a labor of love!

Make sure you keep a log, so you can go back and see what you did once you taste your brew.

 

The big difference seems to be the time involved. Extract is a lot shorter and you can boil 2.5-3 gallons then add water prior to pitching. It takes a lot longer to mash the grains and then drain without getting a stuck sparge. Also, since your wort consists of your full water bill from the get-go, it takes longer to heat and cool that much liquid.

 

While most all-grain brewers probably do a full volume boil, they can also do a partial volume boil and top off. And while most extract brewers probably do a partial volume boil, they could also do a full volume.

 

This is theoretically possible, though I haven't ever heard of anyone actually doing it. For one thing, mash efficiency would suffer.

 

Here's one example:
"I do top off ag batches all time. I often do 5 gallon batches dilluting 2.5 gallons of wort with 2.5 gallons of water.

I've been doing quite a lot of them in the winters in the last couple of years.

I do it a lot in the winter when I can't brew outside. I use a pre-boil gravity of 3.5 gallons boiled down to 2.5 and topped off with 2.5 gallons of water, and I've never had an issue with efficiency whatsoever, or hop utilization problems either.
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Funny thing is I've discussed this with brewers who own 2 different LHBS's (and have decades more experience than me) and they've been doing the same thing for years.. "
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/top-off-all-grain-pm-208674/#post2437075

And here's a really expensive (in my book) system, which looks to me like an elaborate BIAB, but doing a hi-gravity mash/boil, then topped off:
http://morebeer.com/view_product/11859/104232/Braumeister_-_20L
(there is a video of it somewhere showing the addition of water post-boil)

Still, probably not too common.

 

I'd have to take issue with part of that statment. 3.5 gallons of runoff is no way going to yield the same amount of sugars as 6 gallons (or whatever) from the same grain bill, given otherwise equal equipment and process. It's the 'no sparge' method taken to the extreme, and efficiency loss would be unavoidable.

 

Even if you're overloading on hops and malt to produce a concentrated 2.5 gallon wort, which you later top off with an equal amount of water to bring it within the target range(s), you would not be achieving the same results as a brewer who boils the full 6 gallons with the same amount of ingredients. It's not only the amount of ingredients that matter. For one, you would certainly be wasting money on more hops to achieve similar results, and two, your diluted wort would not benefit from all of the reactions that occur during a full wort boil. If compared side-by-side, there would be several noticeable differences in mouthfeel, taste, and the overall character of these beers.

 

I'm only pointing out that partial boil AG can be and is done - perhaps I cut-n-paste too much or too little. IIRC, in that thread they do account for things like reduced hop utilization for higher gravity wort.

 

I went straight to all-grain brewing because my brother was looking to get rid of his old equipment. First beer, an English ordinary bitter, turned out great. Had a few stuck sparges and other problems in subsequent batches, but nothing that made me feel like I was in over my head. That was two years ago; now me and my brewing buddy have a 30 gallon setup and use the old 5-gal "pilot" system to test recipes. Very addicting hobby. Go for it...and enjoy the journey.

 

I'de go for it...........A friend of mine came over and watched us brew an 18 gallon all grain batch. After that he bought all the same equipment and duplicated our setup at his house.........I came over to help him with the first one and now he brews his own 18 gallon batches..........I think he bottled his first batch yesterday