Homebrewing: Extract to All-Grain

I changed fairly quickly, but namely because I had a "mentor" brewer who had all of the equipment so i could ease into it. I know people who have never switched over and make phenomenal beer. Do not buy into the hype that all grain beer is inherently better than extract. All grain brewers are typically more experienced brewers than extract which leads people to believe that all grain beer is inherently better. Its not the process but the brewer.

You should be in no rush to change over, especially since you have had 2 out of 4 batches go bad on you, IMO. Its a lot of extra equipment and space and time that is required. While the ingredients tend to be cheaper per batch I don't think I have made that money back with all of the extras I have put into the brewery that are not necessary for extract.

I am brewing on Saturday. You are welcome to come see what goes into an all grain brew day.

I'm never switching over unless I have a "shop" or garage, dedicated to brewing. I'm prob a few years away from making that kind of money though.

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Fratastic423

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Solid post.

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Do not buy into the hype that all grain beer is inherently better than extract. All grain brewers are typically more experienced brewers than extract which leads people to believe that all grain beer is inherently better. Its not the process but the brewer.

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This is it. I brewed for 2 1/2 years using extract before I made the switch to partial. I did that for 6 months to get used to the mashing process by using a 2 gallon cooler. Then I made the jump to all-grain. By the time I was going all-grain I had a pretty good grasp on things like yeast health, temperature control, cooling, basic mashing, specialty grain flavors, etc.

I invested in kegging and fermentation temperature control long before I switched to all-grain. I'd recommend looking at those two first. Kegging allowed me to pump out more beer and my fermentation temperature helped me nail down consistency in flavors - which then allowed me to experiment with different things.

Another thing to look in to is full boils. Not sure if you're doing that or not, but that can help out early on. Boiling 2.5 gallons on the stove is a lot different than 7 gallons on a propane burner. You can pick up a cheap 10 gallon pot and fit it with a ball valve. That equipment can be used with all-grain if and when you choose to step up.

My first couple all-grain batches were worse than my extract batches. It takes a few brews to get your process zeroed in.

One more thing to look in to is getting the freshest extract. Austinhomebrew liquid extract was always my favorite. They have such a high turn-around that it's almost always fresh. I was never a fan of dry extract.

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Solid post.

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Double solid post

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What time is the keg going to be tapped next wed?

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Around 6.

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I invested in kegging and fermentation temperature control long before I switched to all-grain. I'd recommend looking at those two first. Kegging allowed me to pump out more beer and my fermentation temperature helped me nail down consistency in flavors - which then allowed me to experiment with different things.

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This. I still do extract, but like tetu I don't have the space for any more equipment. I'm about to go to kegging so I can cut down on all the cases of bottles I have sitting around.

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Another thing to look in to is full boils. Not sure if you're doing that or not, but that can help out early on. Boiling 2.5 gallons on the stove is a lot different than 7 gallons on a propane burner.

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I did a 6-gallon batch full boil on the stove once... too much for it to handle, and took for fricking ever to cool down even with a wort chiller.

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This. I still do extract, but like tetu I don't have the space for any more equipment. I'm about to go to kegging so I can cut down on all the cases of bottles I have sitting around.

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Hell, I don't even have room for a fermentation chamber or kegging operation. I once tried to talk my wife into letting me put it in the dining room on the wall behind the table...that didn't fly.

If I get anything, it'll be a kegerator since she liked the pics of the ones I showed her with nice stained wood trim.

I did 3 or 4 extract brews w/ 2 of them steeping grains. I changed over and was surprised how easy it was. I still have trouble getting good efficiency in my mash (% of sugars extracted) but otherwise its easy.

I feel sort of retarded using my kegerator as a fermenter and the freezer as a kegerator as it will require an additional temperature controller, but I really want the extra space in the standing freezer to use as a beer cellar. I should be able to fit 3 (or 4) corny kegs at the bottom, then have a few racks for cellared beers, and then more in the door possibly. Might have to adjust the racks on the door for the corny kegs. We'll see... I still need to get the freezer from my grandma's house and see how this will all work.

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As long as I keep a few batches of wine and mead going it keeps her happy.

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Gotta pay the toll. I wish I had built one before we moved in together, that way she couldn't say no. Oh well, I keep showing her nice ones, planting the seed, so one day it'll happen.