A Guide to "Extract with Specialty Grain" Brewing

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Extract brewing is a great way of getting into making beer in the USA which does not have a tradition of kit brewing as we do in Australia or indeed the UK. With major manufacturers such as Briess, the home brew industry based itself very much on extract over there until the rise of AG, and with such a large population, ample supplies of good quality product seem to be available.

It's a different story in Australia where extract is not a big seller and it's easy to get lumbered with poor stale stock unless you know where to shop. My own experience has been that I could never find a reliable supply - it either chucked a horrible chill haze in the case of confectioners LDME or it was way past its best in the case of LME. Maybe a section on where to buy extract might be helpful to newbies, to avoid disappointment.

I should point out straight away that one of the best early brews I made was on extract and I have tried some very nice extract drops of the APA family.
 
I think in his (edit: nicks BIAB) guide somewhere (havent looked at it for a while) he even poured a beer?
Make sure you do the same when you add photos.

Also, as a guide, since you either brewed or worked at a B.O.P site, why not take a leaf out of their guides for extract brewing?
They have colour coded containers for things, measure out x litres of this and that, bang the lot in and start the timer etc.
All that would go ace with photos to explain everything.

They are seriously dumbed down and you know what? Any johnny bogan can rock in and make beer, so long as JB can read that is, even at a basic level.

Keep going carnie, you will get there with the guide.

Cheers,
D80
 
I've chopped it down to 'reduce the rivalry' as suggested, and change the way a few things read.
 
Bribie G said:
It's a different story in Australia where extract is not a big seller and it's easy to get lumbered with poor stale stock
perhaps this is part of the reason that Coopers is now entering the American market with extract/kits?

Interestingly.. do folks know where extract started? Prohibition!! Malt extract was still legal so they made it as a way to escape prohibition laws.. you bunch of frikkin outlaws :beerbang:

Personally, I missed the whole extract/stove top/BIAB thing and went right on to 3V/4V from KnB/Partial.. pretty easy step if you ask me...

not that you did :p
 
I'm actually thinking about going back to extract brewing for my Ales - APA and IPAs especially.

Recently tasted some "if you hadn't told me, I would not have guessed it was extract" beers, adn sure, they weren't delicate lagers, but in an IPA with eight metric bucketloads of C hops and a quick steep of some spec malt and you'd be hard-pressed to notice it's not AG.

Thing is: you have to buy the extract in bulk, or it breaks your brewing heart when you add up the cost compared to AG.

Most people enter extract brewing having realised that adding hops and boiling a bit, and ditching the cans can really improve their beer. But have they got temp control yet? Maybe. Have they explored the world of liquid yeasts? Probably not.

See, I reckon all AG brewers should flick the chips off their shoulder occasionally and step down a peg or two and do a simple extract IPA, or an extract Saison, or Dubbel - just to go, "Fark, it's not the grain mashing that's made my beers wicked ... it's the body of brewing knowledge I've forgotten I now know."
 
Nick JD said:
I'm actually thinking about going back to extract brewing for my Ales - APA and IPAs especially.

Recently tasted some "if you hadn't told me, I would not have guessed it was extract" beers, adn sure, they weren't delicate lagers, but in an IPA with eight metric bucketloads of C hops and a quick steep of some spec malt and you'd be hard-pressed to notice it's not AG.

Thing is: you have to buy the extract in bulk, or it breaks your brewing heart when you add up the cost compared to AG.

Most people enter extract brewing having realised that adding hops and boiling a bit, and ditching the cans can really improve their beer. But have they got temp control yet? Maybe. Have they explored the world of liquid yeasts? Probably not.

See, I reckon all AG brewers should flick the chips off their shoulder occasionally and step down a peg or two and do a simple extract IPA, or an extract Saison, or Dubbel - just to go, "Fark, it's not the grain mashing that's made my beers wicked ... it's the body of brewing knowledge I've forgotten I now know."
Absolutely...the minute control AG gives you over the final product is unmatchable with extract, both in the types of grain used and of course amounts of each. I currently have 3 types of extract on hand...Briess' CBW Golden Light LME, Bavarian Wheat LME (both 15kg) and Sparkling Amber DME (5kg). I almost always use at least two of those in my ales...the majority being the Light LME, with a little of the wheat, amber if I'm needing some more colour. Except when making my hefe, where it's nothing but the Bavarian Wheat (Briess wheat extract is 65/35 wheat/barley...yes, I like it that high...YMMV).

So a combo of extracts is the only control I have over my 'base malt'. Spec grain gives you some ability to jazz that up, like I did in a dunkel recently where I used 2.2kg wheat lme and 500gm amber dme which gave only 13 EBC of colour....but added another 45 EBC via 150gm Carafa Special 1, 250gm Caramunich 3, and 500gm of dark wheat malt. So even though it's a dunkel made from extract, I believe it has a fantastic depth of flavour and aroma you'd likely never get out of a kit brew. Of course the yeast has a lot to do with that too.

You've nailed a couple of issues in price and freshness too. Compared to grain, it's exxy to buy 3kg of LME every time you want to make a beer...depending where you get it, likely around $25. That makes a batch nearly $40 when you add spec grain, hops and yeast (assuming you're buying hops and yeast...not too many extract brewers will be growing their own hops and re-culturing their yeast). While that works out to around $16 a slab (~8 litres) compared to the $60 you would pay for a slab of craft brew at the bottlo, it's still significantly more than an all grain brew...which I'm guessing would be closer to what, $8 a slab?

I personally worked around that price issue by buying bulk LME from G&G, but that's where the freshness issue comes in. I now have 30kg of LME that lets me make beer for around $11 a slab...but I need to get through it within 6 months, unless I'm going to split it into smaller containers and refrigerate it (or even freeze it as many yanks do). So bulk LME may not be suitable for anyone brewing less than say 20 batches a year. Bulk DME (G&G sell 50 pound bags, i.e. 22 odd kilos) can be stored much longer than LME, but can be hard to find, and is not actually all that much cheaper in large volumes for some reason...G&G's prices have 5kg of the CBW brand (Condensed Brewers Wort for anyone wondering) for $9 per kg, whereas the 22kg bag only drops to $8 per kg. Given you need 2.5kg of DME to add the same amount of fermentable sugars as 3kg of LME, it still works out to $20 for the malt....or $14 per slab.
 
Also, while surfing the http://www.brewingwithbriess.com website this morning, I saw this page for the first time: http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Homebrewing/Extract_Brewing_Basics.htm

It's interesting to see how a sales company describes the process, and the comparisons they make between extract and all grain brewing (Briess sell both grain and extract btw). I won't quote them here for fear of starting a war all over again, but they go into a fair bit of detail around the ability of extract to make great beer, and time/equipment discussions.
 
Yea, salesmen....

Oh well, since this topic is back on track, once I had all my equipment figured out I've gone to boil within 90 minutes for a simple infusion or directly heated step mash regime. Spend way more time farting around figuring out the grain profile and hop choice. Grain profile is a relatively moot point with extract brewing except the spec grain additions.

Will see how I go, might throw down a simple extract brew if I get my kegging sorted out. Then again, I found my sheets of voile recently... Just need a keg to cut open.

More on topic, one of my first brews, I'd boiled in a 10.5L pot, a can of kit + a can of lme with some hallertau for about half an hour I think. It was a nice beer, didn't age amazingly a year later but no oxidation happened, can liken it to some of the commercial ambers out there that are really low in flavour. At the start it was malty as and I was stoked wih the results. Did have to age it a month though.
 
Carnie,

do you live anywhere near a B.O.P ubrewit or whatever?
I have purchased some extract direct from them at a good price before. The guy was a top bloke though, not sure that they would all be keen on low margin sales.

Also grabbed some hops from them too in a pinch.

They buy bulk coopers extract, light, amber, dark and molasses or whatever it is.
Not sure how that would compare to you needing to buy 20 cases worth of extract and use it within a certain period.

Cheers,
D80
 
Nearest one is about 30 mins away for me, but it's a great call...I see UBrewIT's online shop has LME for $8 to $9 a litre (~1.5kg) for their light/amber/wheat/dark...would be worth the trip if they'd discount for 10 litres or more. Can only ask.

They also have spec grain for $6 a kilo, hops for $10 per 100 grams and dex for $2.50 a kilo. Not exactly world beating but as you say, good in a pinch.
 
Can't remember what i paid (couples of years ago) but it was certainly significantly cheaper than the coopers tins of malt for, well exactly the same stuff.
I just took along a couple of 2L containers and filled from the drums.

Cheers,
D80
 
When I ran a LHBS in the late 1970s around the time kits were making an appearance, LME was a big seller - we only got the one variety from Wander which came in 30L "paint tins" and we would dispense it out of a big tub on the counter fitted with a "honey gate". Bring your own container. Nearly all LHBS had this system. We used to go through five or six tins a week in lil' old Maryborough.

When I got back into brewing again 5 years ago I was surprised to see that this had all disappeared, probably killed off by kits.

honey gate.jpg
 
sounds like bunch of critic's that can't decide what's in and what's not..if we all brewed the same way according to the "BREW GODs" if there's such a thing.we wouldn't be all beer would be the same tasteless swill..we all brew different even in Kit..remember the "beer" was discovered pre christ.. and did the have guide on what to do..i treat book's as guides it's whats worked for them..remember we all don't live in same climate and the same water..end of my 2 Cents..i have learned to make a better beer from being here and reading.. :icon_cheers:
 
Anyone notice carniebrew took valid criticisms on board and updated/edited his guide accordingly? Presumably he will continue to do so where warranted.
I would have thought that was worthy of acknowledgement rather than censure.
 
To be honest the only reason I posted the guide without more review was because I'd seen my 'pro membership' would let me edit it forever and a day. We use the term "living documents" at work to describe stuff that can and should be updated regularly. That may have been horribly naive in hindsight, but I certainly didn't expect it to get branded as "pure evil". Thanks needs to go to the mods of this site that have had to work overtime to clean up some of the vicious stuff.

I'm still new here, and am learning there's some nerves that should never be touched, no matter how good your intent. I will certainly try and take the feedback on board that I should be less defensive of my choice of ingredients....but some guys do make it tough. We got told in one thread last week that if you make beer from extract, then it's "not made with what beer is made from".
 
Thanks carniebrew, I appreciate the effort.
Very useful guide.
Cheers!
 
This info will certainly help me with my next brew. Did my first brew (extract) this morning, bit of a rush as I wanted to get one done as soon after moving into my new place as possible. Made some mistakes, (hopefully) learnt from them and we'll see how it turns out anyway. I'll be reading through this step by step later on and it was at a good level for me as I've been trauling this forum for months and I'm into the beer nerdery things like gravities and IBUs etc

Cheers Carnie
 
Thanks carniebrew for the info and good luck on polishing it even further into a useful tool for those who use this great forum.



I have done a couple of of these and have LOVED the results. Great beer for those who don't have the resources or knowledge for AG!
And hopefully people will combine this with trial, error and other knowledge gained to eventually create their own methods anyway!

constructive criticism should be always considered, and congrats to everyone helping to make this forum and post better. But hating on here in not necessary or helpful.
 
I have just put down 2 extract brews...one was average (too sweet and I pretty much jumped into doing it without reading a lot) but my second (which I read a lot more and followed some youtube videos) has turned out alright (apart from a bit of a Acetaldehyde which is fading).

I think there is bugger all help out there for extract brewing, it seems to be left a bit in the crack between beginners K&K (knowing very little) and AG Brewers (knowing too much?)

I like what you have done, it needed to be done!!! Maybe even put a basic example of a recipe, that way people have a good starting point. That was my first mistake and jumping in thinking it was like K&K and ending up with a beer which is pretty sweet.
 
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