How long did you extract brew before going al grain?

I've brewed extract about 15 times, and will just stick with that for now. All grain may be better, but extract beats the BMC I was drinking. I might switch if I ever meet an all grain brewer to teach me.

 

38 extract/minimash unless I'm forgetting something. most brewed in a group, so we went through them quickly. Then I went out on my own into all-grain
Batch 162 Munich Helles tomorrow.

cheers--
--Michael

 

Started with AG because I was given two decommissioned kegs for vessels, had a bunch of time on my hands, and liked the prospect of tinkering while building up a system. I also like to cook, so the prospect of starting from scratch appealed to me. First batch fermented too warm and was drinkable but definitely not great, so I built a fermentation chamber. 3rd batch dumped due to infection (I put a bunch of coffee and cocoa nibs and whatnot in secondary, problem probably occurred there). 2 years in, and I've brewed a couple of forgettable batches (one due to a dumb idea for a recipe, two due to over-carbonation), but I've been really pleased with the rest.

 

Interesting question. Checking the log sheets... First batch was a hopped kit sent to me by my brothe: gateway batch that got me hooked. That was back in '99. Batch #2 was first extract with specialty grains. Batch #7 was first partial mash. Did a bunch of extract + specialty grains and partial mash batches for a long while with a couple of all grain Berliner Weisse beers in there. Batch #52 appears to have been my real beginning with all grain as a standard method. That was back in '05. Still, there were a lot of extract + specialty grain beers for a while. Since batch #79 (in '08) it appears all batches except 85 and 109 have been all grain. Most recent was #115 (all grain APA IPA), still in the fermenter.

 

About 7 extract with steeped grains before going all grain biab.

 

Im not sure, but I imagine it was around 6 to 10 times over my first year. I decided to go all grain at the one year mark, mostly because of costs. I started with extract and only stuck with it so long because I have terrible reading comprehension as well as a poor attention span, so I was basicly on my own to learn how to do it reading one or two pages at a time from homebrewing books. Ironicly, I have taught several others how to brew beer and it has been no problem of my own patience. When I teach a new brewer, we do the first brew session with both an extract brew and an all-grain. All but one have decided to do at least their first brew on their own an extract. The one who did all-grain on his own first quit brewing after just a few batches (they weren't bad though), and all the others now brew consistently and all are doing all-grain.

 

I brewed extract for 2 1/2 years (about 20 batches) and have been brewing AG ever since. I've made 16 beers in the last 9 months and will give it a rest until September (I hope, the thought of moving and going back to school is making scared for my brewing activities)

 

I didn´t know my burner´s power at that moment, there was a tremendous water evaporation so wort got a giant OG, I didn´t even know that I could try to dilute wort , fermentation was a chaos in regards temp. stabilty,so result was very sincere.

 

I've been brewing for nine years and have done all-grain for the past three. I still do extract beers occasionally. Hell just last week the weather here in Dallas got cold and windy so I did an all extract Hefe on the stovetop.

 

22 batches before all grain.

 

2 batches of extract before LHBS (shout out to tuxedo park naptown) explained that partial mash was just as easy with the same scale and increased options/better beer. After about a dozen PM batches I got a 10G pot and a banjo and now I BIAB.
I really can't stress enough how the only equipment needed to PM is a $3 nylon bag and some patience. Then you can use adjuncts, specialty malts, and drop $5 off the price of your extract brew.

 

I only brewed extract once and thought to myself, this is liking making a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese, then went to all-grain. No disrespect to extract brewers, I'm sure many make better beer than myself, I just love to cook and find all-grain much more gratifying.

 

My first 50 batches or so were extract (mostly partial mash). I think I was just indecisive about what kind of "mash tun" I wanted to put together--which, in hindsight, maybe doesn't matter that much.

 

Went grain on the third after 2 partial mashes. I have found it to be much easier, or at least less stressful for meeting mash temp. I had a helluva time keeping the mash temp steady on a stove, hated trying to figure out if I squoze the grain bag enough or too much.Did I dip it enough?
Made a DIY mash tun, life is good and the beer is better.
Upgrading to a decent outdoor burner and a larger boil pot sure didn't hurt either.

 

just shy of a year and about 11-12 batches (but I'd have to check my blog to be sure how many batches it was). All grain was easier than I thought, it's just a matter of getting the gumption to get the needed equipment. For me that was primarily building a mash tun (at first), but my batch sizes were 3.5 gallons for a few batches (I only had a five gallon boil pot back then, but I was in an apartment anyway, so it didn't matter that much). Then it was upgrading my pot and burner (turkey fryer) and doing full boils for 5 gallon batches.

The biggest and most important upgrade I made would be equally necessary here (tx) whether I was doing all grain or extract - my freezer with johnson controller - allows me to do two batches at once without frying them in the heat. Best thing I ever did for my beer, and it has nothing to do with going all grain.

 

I went about 3 years (10 to 12) batches. For me it was more financial and intimidation. There is so much information on all grain on the internet, it makes your head spin.

Once you get though your first all grain batch, you wonder what all the worry is about. It is really easy and straight forward for the most part. Since the all grain conversion, I am brewing once a month. I now need to spend more money on more fermenters and corny kegs........homebrewer problems.

 

a good friend of mine was an experienced brewer and set me up with an all grain system. we brewed 4 batches within 3 weeks and left me to my own devices. I made some shit beer for a while but I'm starting to get it down pretty good with my basic system.

 

Pretty much the same story for me! I've been thinking about doing and extract just to see how it goes.

 

I sure did love extract with specialty grain brewing. I just wanted to drop the training wheels and really have fun! extract with specialty grain sure was pricey! I found for 25 bucks I could get all my yeast,hops and grain whereas it costs almost twice as much for lme and dme. Great primer for learning the process though!

 

1 batch. That's all it took, never looked back.