Approved by:
Paige Master, Gainesville Weddings in Gainesville Florida
Malt extracts are constantly improving in quality in the last several years, and therefore you will discover numbers of homebrewers crafting excellent brews from malt extract or extract with specialty grains. Many people ask whether or not making the switch to all-grain is genuinely well worth the hassle. That really varies according to exactly what you most like when it comes to brewing your own beer. For many folks, brewing from malt extract is satisfying because they get some great beer, consequently they could decide never to do any more than that. Having said that, here’s a list of what I believe are the biggest benefits of all-grain brewing rather than extract or extract and specialty grain brewing.
* A lot more control over the process – I’ve listed this first as many people feel it is the number 1 motivation to make the switch. You’ve got 100% control of what goes into your very own meticulously crafted home brewed beer.
* Variety – Whenever you would want to attempt incorporating unusual grains, e.g. millet or spelt, or any other starches such as butternut squash, you will need to mash. Sure enough, you can use a partial mash, but if you’re going to do that, the time commitment is no less than when you don’t use extract at all, so you may as well give it a shot.
* More cost-effective – Especially if you purchase grains in bulk, you’ll save quite a lot through brewing all-grain (though there may be a need for new equipment).
* You will aspire to brew a seriously pale ale or lager – Beers produced from malt extract by default are going to be more dark compared to all-grain beers as a result of the process of producing the actual extract. That does not matter much for a lot of brews, however, when you would like a beer getting close to the color of Miller Lite (I don’t judge you), you’ll have a much better chance converting to all-grain.
* Fun – This really is unquestionably subjective of course. If you think you’re the type of person who really likes to tweak and tinker with your recipes, or maybe you have science-geek tendencies, then you’ll possibly like brewing your own all-grain beer.
* Fulfillment – This one’s somewhat subjective too, but I believe there is something quite satisfying when it comes to knowing that you have made an exquisite brew starting from nothing more than barley malt, water, hops, and of course yeast, and that you were in control of everything during this process (besides the malting, yet nothing states you should not take on that task also).
* Taste – This is listed last, for the reason that actually, I feel it is the lowest point of concern. There are numerous brewers producing some darn tasty malt extract or extract with specialty grains ale or lager. However, after you are already doing just about anything to get the best tasting brew attainable, this can be the following reasonable step and you will probably experience an improvement.
Thus these would be the reasons many homebrewers like me have made the switch. I most certainly will continue to brew a batch from extract once in a while, if I’m in a hurry or possibly I really am not inspired as much as necessary to be able to make any kind of all-grain beer. That is the fantastic thing about home brewing, it’s entirely my decision not just what to brew, but how much effort I want to put in.
There are some downsides too, obviously. The main ones will be more time required plus equipment cost. Some chose to cobble together lots of the essential paraphernalia thereby reducing cost, but there will be a cost. More time may be required, but it’s leisure time spent doing something I enjoy, and so generally it’s not an issue, but if time does matter I can’t see any reason I should not make an extract brew.
The great thing about all of this is that in the end, every home-brewer gets to decide how much time to invest in this hobby. You may feel, like I do, that all-grain brewing adds to your enjoyment. Either way, crack open a fresh bottle of your latest batch, and join me in a toast to home-brewing. Cheers!
Find out more about what you’ll need to switch to all-grain brewing at Mark Wood’s site. It’s got some great information on getting started.