All Grain Or Extract

[stephen]

i'll probably get around to ag one day but to tell you the truth, i dont know if i want to spend 4 hours of my weekend housebound.

at least with kits & a few additions in the keg, i get beer that still tastes better than the megaswill from liquorland and it only takes 15-30 minutes which means i can do it at any time of the week.

sure, i dont deny that AG would probably yield a better beer, but i can't be bothered at the moment B)

Hugh

In reality it is usually closer to 6-7 hours. However, I digress. If kits work for you, then fantastic!! And to all of you who enjoy kits - a well done to you. I started out 20 years ago (almost to the day) with home brewing and have seen a galactic advance in the quality of kits available: My early days were limited to Brigalow, Olinda and soon after I started, Coopers. (I later found out that they had been around a bit longer.)

I only started doing AG in Jan this year. My reason was not to improve my beer, but to evolve my brewing experience: I was still very happy with my kits - and still alternated kit and AG for some time. Now I only AG brew but do not look down my nose at the kit brewer. I find a kind of solace or peace when I do an AG brew - all the people in my house vacate it as they don't like the smell!! Peace!!

For those people who enjoy the satisfaction of creating their own beer from kits, congratulations!! You are making better beer than is available commercially. For those who who are taking further steps in the evolution of beer making, enjoy! For you are on the road to better beer and a beer that you can create and enjoy.

Steve

 

[hughman666]

like i said, maybe one day i'll get around to AG but not right now. having said that, once my work settles down later in the year and i take some time off i might give it a bash. i've heard that roy from TWOC in bibra lake does a demo once a month, might check it out

 

[wee stu]

If kits work for you, then fantastic!! And to all of you who enjoy kits - a well done to you.

Now I only AG brew but do not look down my nose at the kit brewer. I find a kind of solace or peace when I do an AG brew

For those people who enjoy the satisfaction of creating their own beer from kits, congratulations!! Steve

I hope Steve doesn't mind the selective editing, but I do share his sentiments.

If anyone cared to do so, they would find a fairly passionate "I'm a kits and bits brewer" post lurking in the way back yonder days from yours truly.

Sad thing is, along with the tin opener, I appear to have lost the art of kit brewing.

I've actually assisted 4 kits and bits brews in the last 15 months (the next door neighbour has a tin opener ). Three of those I have ended up ditching, the 4th (a stout) I am still hovering over (it is in 600ml Coke buddy bottles for the beer challenged AAMI Stadium/Footy Park and Crows matches ).

In that time I have also ditched 2 all grains, one due to an infection, one due to manifest incompetencies as a brewer h34r: (the list of errors made would exhaust posting limits, and I was sober at the time - just a very bad brew day).

I truly admire the extract brewer who brews a top notch beer.
And, there are a lot of them out there - just look at the competition results.
Sadly it is a skill I now seem to be lacking.

This little tin opener challenged brewer simply finds all grain much more forgiving.

 

[Doogiechap]

like i said, maybe one day i'll get around to AG but not right now. having said that, once my work settles down later in the year and i take some time off i might give it a bash. i've heard that roy from TWOC in bibra lake does a demo once a month, might check it out

Roy's next demo is the 9th July. He's mainly the one responsible for my slide down the slippery slope
Actually seeing the process takes away a lot of the mystique.The rest of you have contributed significantly too. Thanks :excl:
:super:
Doug

 

[Finite]

ive made about 6 kits since coming to the site and am bored to hell with them. Its just too basic and the beer relects the process imo.

Im currently planing to make my first AG in 2weeks

 

[peas_and_corn]

When I started going into brewing last year, I knew that I would eventually go AG; it was a matter of time. Jake has picked up on the fact that I tend to go hardcore into whatever I do; and when at the beginning of this year (I was doing some pretty big partials by then) that I will 'eventually go AG' he said 'no you won't! you'll be doing all grain in the next three months!' He was right.

I haven't tried one of my AG brews yet (my first AG, my honey beer, will be the next cab off the rank), however I have found that though it is time consuming, it feels like I am truly brewing!

Today I did a kits and bits brew, and I was done so quick that when I was tidying up I felt like I hadn't brewed at all!

Also, when I was watching the video that came with my Coopers kit and they said 'pour this in, add water' etc etc (I watch is now and laugh), I thought 'is this it?? I thought that brewing was a little more involved than that!' I made a crap beer, got discouraged for years, then I made a good one and found this forum. The rest is history.

I mean... I voted a bit of both.

 

[DrewCarey82]

I am a kit and bits guy as most of you know.

I've done about 40 brews by now and only ever had to throw out 3 batch's due to using bottles that I hadnt cleaned properly.

And all of my beers come out fantastic, from supermarket brands to homebrew shop upmarket brands.

All I use is the kit yeast and a simple body back, good technique, obsessive temperature control, and spotless cleaning and to date I've never had a infection.

I'll add extra hops, or even a bit of fruit depending on the brew.

Everyone says that they'd rather drink my stuff then tooheys or carlton cold or any of that stuff, and I think its great so.....

I doubt that I'll ever go AG, this weekend I am going to have a crack at steeping some grains but other then that, I'll stick to my kits.

For the record what I do, I do consider it to be brewing.

 

[vlbaby]

Everyone has to start somewhere and probably 99% of brewers make their first beers from a tin. I was no different. I probably made around 20 or so kit beers over 3-4 years, and to honest i never found one that i could truely say tasted as good as a commercial beer.
I must admit, i never experimented with liquid yeast, aroma hops or steeping grains etc, just pour in the tin and add the sugar or sometimes dme or lme.
I sometimes used to ask the guy at the homebrew shop why my beers just taste that little bit different to a commercial beer, and he told me "Home brew doesnt contain any preservatives so it produces a far superior beer".

It wasnt until i tasted some AG produce beer at a brew day at g&g one day i realised i had been duped! My first taste of AG beer, and i knew that this was real beer!
I've brewed about 16 AG beers now, and i'll never go back to k&k. IMO its the difference between instant coffee and espresso, there just no comparision.


vl.

 

[DrewCarey82]

How long ago was this?

 

[vlbaby]

How long ago was this?

do you mean when i converted to AG? about 18 months ago.

 

[T.D.]

I have done it all - Kits, extract, partials and AG. I can safely say I will never brew anything but AG again. I have nothing against kit brews or brewers, let me be very clear on that, but there is a reason I spend 6 hours to brew 25L of beer, and that's because the results (on average) are better. Plain and simple. I'm not saying that you can't brew a good extract brew, but I'll put good money on the table that any extract brew anybody makes, the AG equivalent will be better (holding all other factors constant). I don't mean that in a pretentious way, its just a fact. Why would people spend hundreds of dollars buying AG equipment and then 6 hours brewing the beer if kits beers were better?

Flame suit is on, and I'm ready! :lol:

 

[DrewCarey82]

Why would anyone go you?

You'd have to be pretty foolish to spend all that dosh, and time if it was making the same beer.

About my only comment is "talk about stating the obvious"

 

[vlbaby]

TD is right to be cautious drew. The subject of AG vs k&k can be touchy subject as i've seen in the past on this forum.
I was thinking about the pullin the flame suit on also.



vl.

 

[DrewCarey82]

Its common sense that AG will as a rule yield a better result, I as many Kit and Bit brewers merely get the shits when we are told what brew is....

"50c bottles"
"Pig swill"
"crap beer ect"

Its pretty offensive, however why would I begrudge someone discussing all grain or talking about how great it is, full credit if your willing to go the whole hog, just be courteous to others dont and realise that they may still be brewing a quality beer.

 

[Steve]

I'm keen to challenge any canberra AG'er to a taste testing with a suitably qualified judge with your AG beer and my Grumpies extract brews.....say no more!
Cheers
Steve

P.S. no affilitation blah de bloody blah!

 

[DrewCarey82]

I'd be interested to see them against a 3kg ESB paint tin as well.

 

[Steve]

I'd be interested to see them against a 3kg ESB paint tin as well.

I took a few bottles of my 3kg ESB APA to our last club meeting.....put it this way they were blown away! Couldnt believe it was a kit. I could here them all whispering, how did he do that, what did be put in it, what yeast did he use. I even gave one very esteemed member half a glass of the yeasty dregs from the bottom of the bottle. Best smelling APA hes ever smelt and wished he could have had a taste of the upper half of the bottle were his comments - and these people dont lie, they tell you how it is.
Cheers
Steve

 

[KoNG]

I'm keen to challenge any canberra AG'er to a taste testing with a suitably qualified judge with your AG beer and my Grumpies extract brews.....say no more!
Cheers
Steve

P.S. no affilitation blah de bloody blah!

Give it a go then..... Easy
Just enter your grumpy's kit into a comp as an AG beer... see how it goes.
I'm actually looking forward (kind of) to Linz's grumpy kit entry for the July xmas case.
i did a couple of grumpy extracts a whiles back... and none of them came close to what i can brew AG.

Brewin
KoNG

 

[Steve]

....but dont get me wrong...I am not bagging all grain beer either. Wouldnt dream of bagging any type of beer - I love the stuff. Ive tasted some good ones and tasted some crap ones (same as kits). I just dont have the time, space, money, inclination to progress any further at this moment in time. I may in the future but at the moment I am very happy with the kits n bits and grumpys beer that I make.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Guest Lurker]

like i said, maybe one day i'll get around to AG but not right now. having said that, once my work settles down later in the year and i take some time off i might give it a bash. i've heard that roy from TWOC in bibra lake does a demo once a month, might check it out

Roy's next demo is the 9th July. He's mainly the one responsible for my slide down the slippery slope
Actually seeing the process takes away a lot of the mystique.The rest of you have contributed significantly too. Thanks :excl:
:super:
Doug

There is also a demo in Perth at my place on 22 July, all welcome. Although we will be using hot rocks instead of a burner, the process is the same, and my setup is very basic, no plumbing or pumps in sight.