Are Extracts Worth The Effort?

[beerdrinkingbob]

Hi, I have done some research into extract brewing and dont mind a bit of work and love the brewing process. Does anyone have a opinion if extract is worth the effort compared to K&K (with hops etc) or should I save my energy for all grain, when the minister of war and finance releases the funds!( no time soonL)

 

[manticle]

If you go into extracts, make sure you steep some spec grain with it. I find even the best brewed extracts can sometimes be a bit one dimensional. Definitely worth going through the processes before hitting full mash brewing though - developing an understanding and practice of boils, hops additions, chilling etc will only help brewing later.

AG is not a good way to brew if you have no understanding of the basics. It's not a holy grail that automatically makes good beer and neither is extract.

I guess that's a yes with some add-ons. Having more control over your process means just that but it also means more can go wrong. A good extract should be better than a good KK, a good full mash should be better than either, but bad beer will always be bad beer no mateer how you make it.

 

[kelbygreen]

yes its worth it. you can brew what you want with the flavours you want. It is no more effort then making a good kit as to make a kit taste good you usually gotto add hops so only difference is the boil might be 60 mins not 30 mins

 

[Pennywise]

Yes it's deffinatly worth it

 

[Bribie G]

I have it on good authority that extract beers can be OK - however I believe that the only way you can make good extract beers is if you have access to a source of fresh malt extract. If you live somewhere like I do, with the nearest major LHBS a seventy k round trip, and the extracts at our small LHBS being rather old and stale, then forget it. I've tried it a couple of times and they turned out tasting exactly like my old man used to crank out in the 1950s in a plastic garbage bin.

Light dried malt extract isn't too bad, but as it's more for baking purposes it can give unwanted side effects such as chill haze. In my kits days I found the best option was to use a light tasting kit such as Canadian and trick it up with hops and some LDME, but use finings heavily, and produced some nice beers. Extract brewing is no more complicated than kits and bits, just that the contents of the can or bag are unhopped. Try it and see.

 

[marksfish]

extract beers with spec grains are a big step up in quality from k+k if you use the freshest liquid extract you can get or use dry which stays fresh for longer. however you do pay more than k+k or a/g. a third option is to do partials useing gear you should already have at home.

 

[Shed101]

I've had most success with kits and bits. Extracts have been a bit lacklustre, but I have struggled with a 5-6 litre pot.

But now i've got a 19 litre pot and am getting a bit more experienced (slowly) i'm hoping my next two brews will improve.

Have you tried kits and bits? The best brew i've made was a porter made from a kit with some steeped grains.

 

[enoch1973]

Yep... well worth it... there's many pluses.
You can control the bitterness and see how different hop additions effect your brew.
You can also see how different specialty grains taste in the brew which effect the overall flavor and colour.
Playing with hops and grains will give you a lot of great experience for when you get to AG brews...
Also.. 19l pots are dirt cheap at Kmart or Big W... they're like $20...
I currently do 9l boils and wouldn't consider ever going back to kit beers...
It's to much fun messing with recipes and trying to clone beers I like...
Extract is still cheaper that buying beer so it's still worth it if you want to look at it from that perspective.

 

[Nick JD]

Extract brewing is like hitting your intended target by ricochet.

It's not so much that you ditched the kit, but that you went out and bought the two ingredients that make home brewed beer great: yeast and hops.

In being forced to add good, healthy yeast and actual hop bitterness, flavour and aroma you added the things that make beer great.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

I've had most success with kits and bits. Extracts have been a bit lacklustre, but I have struggled with a 5-6 litre pot.

But now i've got a 19 litre pot and am getting a bit more experienced (slowly) i'm hoping my next two brews will improve.

Have you tried kits and bits? The best brew i've made was a porter made from a kit with some steeped grains.

No i haven't, from all the feedback though steeped grains are the way to go, is there a topic regard what grains go with what, sounds like a good place to start but haven't found it yet...

 

[kelbygreen]

most grains are grains that can be steeped and the most common are crystal grain look on craftbrewer they have written what it adds

 

[Kevman]

I can't see much difference between extract and kits and bits.

Kits and bits - you start with a lightly hopped kits such as a pale ale or canadian blond and then steep some grains and add some hops to the boil.

Use a good yeast.

The only difference is that you are starting with your 60 min hop addition done. In fact in some cases, the kits may move more regularly than the malt extract and therefore be fresher.

 

[Shed101]

No i haven't, from all the feedback though steeped grains are the way to go, is there a topic regard what grains go with what, sounds like a good place to start but haven't found it yet...

Probably ... have a search and let us know

Have a shufty at the section of the 'how to brew' website on steeping grains for the mechanics of it.

 

[seemax]

You need to think of the cost per brew too.

Extract in small quantities is $10/kg these days so your average 23L brew with cost about $25 in extract alone, plus spec malts.

5kg of pale malt, cracked and bagged by your LHBS (or mail order) can be had for between $2.50 - $4.00/kg.

Read the All grain brewing in 19L Big W pot thread... the pots are $18, 1.5m of voile for $10 ... it really is that easy.

The only thing is time... usually 3hrs minimum... but it's worth every minute!

 

[Dazza_devil]

Best way to find out is do one of the extract brews from the database and find out for yourself.
Nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Hatchy]

My most popular beer so far has been a mex cerveza can with some hops, some extract & us05. I've brewed with all extract, Ive brewed with extract & some spec grains. If you can get a kit that you like & find the right hops & yeast to go with it you'll make a beer as good as you will using all extract cheaper. As long as yr sanitation & temp control are good then play around until you find what you like.

 

[Banshee]

Honestly I would stick with tins. The tins they produce today are good quality. Just need a bit of jazzing up with some flavour and aroma hops aswell as some grains.
What i would do if I ever did another kit is, get a pot disolve my malt in say 10lts of water and boil a bag of grain and add some flavour hop, turn off add aroma hops and tin extract (find a brand that has bitterness to your liking). Place it in the sink and chill with ice water, dry the ouside of the pot and pour into fermenter. Top up with water.
Then go into all grainwhen you are ready.

 

[manticle]

most grains are grains that can be steeped

Um....................you sure?

@bob: Check post 37 in this thread for links to rains and characteristics.

Check this for how to steep specialty grains: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=80

 

[bum]

Honestly I would stick with tins. The tins they produce today are good quality. Just need a bit of jazzing up with some flavour and aroma hops aswell as some grains.

Without wanting to appear like I'm trying to diminish Banshee's advice, I disagree with the above very strongly. The second part is fine and dandy - and very good advice for any kit brewer - but speaking as a brewer who has progressed from kits to extracts to partials and recently to AG I must say that I found that an extract beer will kick the pus out of a k&b without requiring any greater effort (same brewer, same gear, etc, etc). Of course if you're not trying all that hard then, yeah, a half arsed kit will probably taste better than a half arsed extract.

 

[jakub76]

BDBob, sounds like you're ready to start exploring. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the raft of info and techniques but don't be discouraged. It's great fun exploring the difference in ingredience and process. Have a read through http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html - Palmer gives you a blow by blow how-to as well as the why (if you're interested)
I reckon extract is definately worth it, it's the next logical step.

What style of beers do you like? I found a popular extract brew that I made was a golden ale with 3kg dme and 75g Amarillo hops added in 3 additions. It had a lot of flavour! Impossible for a kit beer using hop extract.

boil a bag of grain

don't do that, grain shouldn't be steeped higher than 78C or you'll get astringency