Switching From All Grain to Extract?

I regularly do both. I would definitely recommend a partial mash over just extract - I have made many fine beers with a partial mash of 20 minutes.

I think you’ll find that using extract is not necessarily bad, it simply adds another variable that is outside your control. Some beers may come out a little sweeter or syrupy than you intend.

Have you tried BIAB? I’ve found that it’s great for 1 gallon, all grain batches. My motive for 1 gallon batches is that I can experiment a lot more, it is more time consuming through.

If you’re going back and forth in your head, why not just do a 2 gallon partial mash batch and see for yourself?

Cheers!

 

Unless I figure out what happened to my burner, I am going back to partial mashing. Kind of an in between extract/all grain method. In the winter, I can not get the water needed for a 5 gallon all grain batch going in my house, plus the GF hates the steamy/smelly -ness of it. While it requires more work, I feel it is worth it.

 

For a long time I made partial mash BIAB beers I was very happy with. I would mash in my brew kettle with all my specialty grain plus enough base malt to ensure conversion. I would do a boil with that wort and my hops then add extract with 5 minutes left and top off with the rest of my water at flameout to help cool it.

 

I do 2gal batches. I have tried extract, then partial mash and now BIAB, and I have found that there isn't much difference in workload on partial vs BIAB. Even added with 5min left you have to be careful making sure it doesn't burn and it does not mix easily.

Personally, I find the smaller batches are nice because you get to make for varieties of beer.

 

You can still be creative. I made many recipes using extract/partial mash in Brewcipher. It is a little trickier to get 100% what you want in all extract though, in my opinion. I typically make an AG recipe then convert it. I primarily use this as my base for converting: http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/06/03/converting-all-grain-recipes-to-malt-extract/

 

When I did partial mash I had good results using either Pilsen DME or Golden Light DME from Briess. I would get all my flavor and color from the specialty malts I mashed. Every time I used LME or an amber DME I was disappointed.

 

Extract brews using pilsen dme or wheat dme are an easy way to figure out what various hops and/or yeasts are about.

 

I think most/more partial mash beers would benefit from a full 60 min mash...try subbing some (a tad) table sugar for extract as an alternative, imho.

 

All the beers that I brew now for everyday drinking could be made with DME and would probably be a very close approximation of what I'm doing with grain, as my grist is usually just 2-row and wheat.

 

Very easy. Simply substitute extract for 2 row grain. I use: 1 lb grain = 0.75 lb LME

Also, another word of advice, always go with the lightest LME possible. Darker LMEs add yet another variable, the roasting of the grains prior to liquidization.

 

Yup. You can even sub out more than 1lb of grain, so long as you have enough base malt to convert the rest of the grain bill in your (partial) mash.

 

When I do mini mash batches I use pils DME as my base malt, and utilize specialty malts with enough enzymatic potential to self convert.

 

Yep. For example, if the recipe calls for 4 lb of 2 row, 1/2 lb of this, 1/2 lb of that, then just mash the specialty grains and add 3 lb of light LME to the boil. Done!

 

If by "specialty grains" you mean grains that have no diastatic power, then no, they cannot be mashed without a base malt. Mashing requires amylase enzymes (diastatic power) to convert starches to sugars/dextrins.

That said, some specialty grains (crystal malts and deeply roasted malts) don't require mashing, and can simply be steeped. But there are lots of grains that are not base malts and cannot be mashed without a base malt, and that should not be steeped. Steeping would result in unconverted starches in the beer.