When you can snatch the hop pellet from my hand, my Son, then you will be ready.
Or afford a Barley Crusher, which ever comes first ;D
It’s not Grasshopper, it’s Malthopper.
Mmmm… Methinks in that case it may be Hophopper.
Well, Mr. T, I’ma gonna have to disagree. Extract brewing is still doing at least part of it yourself and giving you some control over the procedure, as well as the satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself. Of course, AG takes that a step further, but I can recall how proud my friends and I were of the extract beers we made and how well many of them turned out. Maybe some of you “AG only” guys need to go back and make an extract batch again and challenge yourselves to see how well you can do it.
My next brew will be extract with specialty grains. It’s a scottish 70/- that will serve as a starter for the wee heavy that’s up after it. It’s the first extract beer I’m brewing since I went all grain and I’m actually kind of excited about it.
A year or so ago I had to develop an extract version of my Waldo Lake amber recipe for NB to make into a kit. It actually turned out really close to the AG version and was totally fun to make.
'Tis not a bad call, Mr. Conn. I might try that for s hits & giggles. I haven’t brewed an extract batch for 2 1/2 years or thereabouts.
I found that if you apply the knowledge you’ve gained through AG (proper yeast amounts and fermentation temps, subbing some sugar for extract, etc.) you can make extract beers remarkably better than you did when you were a beginner.
No doubt about it. In addition to the temps and pitching rates, AG makes you learn about specialty grains. When you apply that info with a light DME you can make excellent beer.
That’s actually the point I was trying to make, albeit poorly done :-[
My answer to “why extract brew” is the control, cost, satisfaction, etc… and everything good everybody else has submitted.
Once that is answered in your mind and all the benefits are rationalized, then the OP has the answer to his question “Why go all grain?” More of the same just up a notch.
“Just go buy some already made by a professional brewery and save all kinds of time and trouble.” was just a smarta$$ way of saying think about why you had rather brew than buy.
Well, then…
When I went all grain I promised myself not to look down on extract brewing. It’s about the people doing it, brewing it and sipping it and having fun. If it was strictly about the beer I would be employing MUCH more serious guerilla tactics. ;D
So you’re not looking down on extract brewing, just the people doing it? ;D
You can see people extract brewing from 35,000ft up?! Man, I’ve heard pilots have good eyes, but THAT’S amazing! 