Grain V Extract - Honest opinions sought

[Orkney_Rob]

Could you break the brew up further. Get the mash and sparge done night 1, boil on the following morning - then allow to cool during the day. Into fv that evening with a good stir and pitch the yeast. Probably breaks down into a few 2 hour slots....

[steve_flack]

I wouldn't especially as , unless you do a mash out step, your mash will go on all night making the beer drier than you intended.

Additionally I would want to get the beer cooled and yeast in it as quick as possible to reduce off-flavours and the risk of infection.

[johnmac]

I think the big difference is not between extract/kit and AG. The big difference is between boiling and not boiling. So I reckon that you'll be satisfied with the extract brew as long as you boil the whole brewlength.

I now expect to be flamed, baned and damned for my heretical views

[Vossy1]

[Barley Water]

I think I am siding with the heritic on this question. I know a guy in our brewclub who won a best of show in a very large regional competition (>1,000 entries overall) with an all extract/adjunct brew (it was a Belgian Strong Dark). My understanding is that you want to get the freshest extract you can find and as noted above do a full wort boil. Of course having said that, I haven't done an extract brew in probably 10 years. I just like to fuss around making the stuff and to me doing extracts is just not as sporting even though the results can be very good.

[Dan]

a lot of home brewers with a 25ll mash tun, make up the gravity for a strong Belgium with extract. I think some styles lend themselves better to extract brewing.

for instance, if you wanted a pale lager it would be more difficult to achieve the same results through extracts. but strong dark beers often turn out well.

[CrownCap]

So what are the side effects of a 60 min mash and boil, and are there thing you can do to mitigate them?

Presumably a shorter boil just means a lower hop extraction rate (and less evaporation ).

But what about a shorter mash? Do you have to adjust temperatures or thickness of the mash? Does it have any impact on extraction rate that should be account for in the grain bill?

[CrownCap]

Thanks DaaB, very useful stuff

[SteveD]

Where extract brews can work well is where there are strong flavours present such as in a very hoppy beer or one with a lot of crystal and/or roast malts which would tend to mask the fact that the base malt was extract rather than a full mash wort. The previous post about the strong dark belgian ale made from extract fits in with this well.

Recently I tasted an OG1100 dark barley wine that was 9 years old and utterly fabulous. Port and Christmas cake and all the tasters were bowled over. The brewer then announced it was an extract brew.

However, on balanced beers - those without a single dominating flavour, or lighter session ales, best bitters, summer ales, pale lagers, etc, the extract can't hide as well, and the all grain brew will tend to be better.

[Ianb]

Hi JP

Thoroughly tongue in cheek, may I suggest this or even these these.

I must admit I migrated from kits straight to AG without trying the extract phase that my eldest brother advocated "it's the best option, forget all the messing about with grain" He has since admitted that the AG ale I provided for his wedding anniversary was some of the best he has sampled, but he has led a sheltered life, bless him!!!

My answer is stick with the AG and task light your operations.

I do like the mood lighting and social drinking idea, but when all your mates are total beer monsters, as mine are the brewing would cease as a serious session began!!

[prolix]

well the obvious answer is up your brew length get two brews in the same time as you would do one! go 10 gallon!