Maybe a dumb question....but ....

I would argue that you don't even need to go all-grain if you follow all these suggestions. Why can someone like me, who certainly is NOT going to spend the time and effort that Vinny from RR does on their beer, make delicous beer?

Fundamentals. Get the basics down and even a very simple, unimpressive recipe will come out tasty beer. Give me one base malt and one hop and a pack of US-05 and I can make tasty beer. The thing is, so can lots of other people on this forum. They follow the tenants listed above.

I personally often rail on noobs to make sure they get serious from the start about fermentation temperature control, yeast pitching temperature, sanitation, and KISS methodology. Oh, and don't forget leaving your friggin' beer alone and not messing with it constantly!

 

I would say that with extract brewing, you have less control over ingredients, wort fermentability, and water profile (brewing ions). Which is fine, if you're willing to compromise on those things.

 

All obviously true, but none impermeable barriers to making delicious beer.

Qualifier that I suppose it's possible to have truly terrible brewing water, in which case you'd need to do something about that. However I doubt this is the norm, except for the possibility of having chloramine in your local tap water (which is fixed easily by adding half a camden tablet to your brewing water for the day).

 

The glass is neither half empty nor half full, it's twice as big as it needs to be. Imagine your full glass of delicious beer and you can engineer a ginormously fantabulous, full glass of cold beer right in your home.

 

I have had homebrews that are as good as HF, founders, and russian river. One was even mine. The rest however were not. There are so many parts of the brewing process that people fudge up its not even funny. Oxidation, over sparging, under attenuating, etc etc are problems I come across in homebrew all the time, people get the idea that its just a matter of miixing ingrediants to make these beers and it just isn't that simple. I have become very aware of my process and take measures not to make these mistakes. I run into a new problem every time I brew. My last batch was murky, and I used a fining agent that was supposed to be the cats meow. Well it didn't do shit. I decided to bottle anyway since I didn't want this beer sitting on the trub and hops. So I guess I'll have cloudy beer. But the flavors were spot on. Hopefully the crap crashes in the bottles I guess. My point is this, we are capable of making world class beers. It's our preconcieved notions and lack of attention to detail that prevent us from reaching our full potential.

 

It's worth noting that Russian River has a homebrew recipe on draft right now -- Janet's Brown Ale. I've had a couple pints of (I think) every batch they've brewed and the homebrew version still tastes better, IMO.

There are two ways to make great beer -- luck (raises hand) and careful repeatable process. I've heard art vs craft before, but I think that ends up sounding a little insulting. Someone who's willing to brew the same beer over and over, keeping careful notes, controlling temperature & timing... They will make very good beer. It might take a while (a lifetime?) but they'll get there. Those of us that wing it... eyeball volumes, time our hop additions by the angle of the setting sun... at least it's always interesting?

 

It is all about process and the brewer's dedication to doing it right, regardless of the scale. It has nothing to do with recipes or equipment.
For the past 2 years I've asked new hires from around the country to bring me a sixer of their best local beers. Most of it is very average, some very good, some downright awful. Lately I've found myself back to drinking my homebrew 90% of the time and just drinking these average beers to empty space in the fridge. Being a commercial brewer doesn't mean your beer will be great anymore than being a homebrewer means your beer is not great.

 

Pretty much summarizes what I had been trying to say.

 

well said, young sir....