What Has Or What Is Stopping You From Going All Grain?

[dkaos]

So I'm working on a project at the moment. Education for brewers. A bit of entertainment and a bit of education.

So that I can get an idea of what subjects to cover, What stopped you from starting All Grain? What is stopping you from going all grain?

If your response is not covered in the poll, let me know! (Edit: Can't work out how to do the poll. Just doesn't save. Any tips appreciated!)

Cheers

Clint

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Where's the poll?

What stopped me was equipment (esp. cost) and fear (that step between extract and gathering wort yourself).

Then came BIAB, and a couple of guides. Read lots, then did a batch and then compared notes and got the theory a bit more detailed in my head and then read more and tried more.

Goomba

 

[hsb]

Knowledge and experience for me. What at first seemed like a dark art, seemed far more straightforward after doing K&K, then partials for a year or two.

From there, sourcing/buying the gear was a secondary problem much easier to overcome.

I went K&K > Partial > AG. From Partial to AG felt like a smaller, more natural progression than from K&K to Partials.
In fact the moment I'd done a couple of Partials I was wondering why the heck not just go AG.

Costs were not a consideration to me, I don't have unlimited funds or anything but where there's a will...

I didn't really tap into the BIAB scene but went to 3V AG with a 'Gravity drive' to move materials...

*Poll was FAIL btw...

 

[Swinging Beef]

The "elitism" exhibited by many 3v brewers
Put me off for ages.

 

[dkaos]

Thanks for your replies Goomba and HSB. I had the same feeling about All Grain. At first it seemed like it was reserved for experienced brewers but really anyone with basic brewing experience and a few days reading can get into it. .

This is what I want to be doing for my education program. Demystifying All Grain brewing so that it doesn't seem so out of reach for people.

Swinging Beef: Didn't see your response till I had submitted my post. I know what you mean there, as long as we all stay open to everyone elses preferences it's not a problem really. I'm keen to try some of these amazing kit and kilo brews though as I have heard some give AG a run for their money.

 

[Bribie G]

Cost and the impression that, because I don't have access to a home brew shop, the cost of obtaining grains would be prohibitive.
However thanks to three guys listed below, all this was overcome quite quickly and I was up and running - two years ago next month actually.

• Pistol Patch
• Ross
• K Rudd

:icon_cheers:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

agree with hsb - the jump from K&K to Partial was larger (though before I went AG, I didn't perceive it that way). Partial meant some grains, better yeast, understanding how hops worked relative to beer brewing (as opposed to pre hopped kits) and what malts could be mixed together.

AG was just a new world - so much more ingredients, especially with malts. The grains available are immense and give a massive base upon which to build a great beer.

The biggest discovery I've made since AG brewing (apart from BIAB itself) has been Nottingham dried yeast. It is my favourite yeast now and is pretty versatile for the range of beers I produce.

BIAB is a great place to start AG brewing, so long as you can deal with some prejudice from some 3V'ers, who don't want to think that BIAB could produce AG beer, let alone something that would rival a 3V beer, for a lot less equipment cost.

I may go 3V one day, then again, I may not. But I'll never go back to extract again.


Goomba.

 

[DUANNE]

Where's the poll?

What stopped me was equipment (esp. cost) and fear (that step between extract and gathering wort yourself).

Then came BIAB, and a couple of guides. Read lots, then did a batch and then compared notes and got the theory a bit more detailed in my head and then read more and tried more.

Goomba

almost exactly the same for me.equipment cost was a big factor and a perception of so many more things to be able to get wrong.then found this site and biab and havent looked back.

 

[raven19]

I had been doing Grumpy Partials for years, and never even thought about All Grain, until after I enrolled in a brewing course through Tafe with a mate. Then I found AHB, and the rest as they say is history...

I never even contemplated using all grains in a brew until the above course opened my eyes... sheltered childhood maybe?

 

[Hatchy]

The 1st 12 years of (off & on) brewing I didn't know that there was any way to brew other than kits. Then the gear was a problem until yesterday when I brewed my 1st AG batch on my "new" gear.

 

[Bribie G]

A bit off topic but last year I couldn't brew for six weeks for work reasons. When I could brew again I decided to do a couple of quick extract keg fillers to tide me over until I could get stock from Craftbrewer and crank out some full mash beers. I used the finest of malt extract, hops and yeast, perfect temperature control - applied all the knowledge I've picked up on this forum and elsewhere, fined and Polyclared them, kegged them.
The first glass.... suddenly I was 7 years old again because the stuff tasted so much like my Dad's home brew he used to make in a plastic dustbin in the cupboard under the stairs using some gawd knows what brown hops from a health food shop and no doubt bakers yeast from the grocers.

Never again :icon_cheers: Sorry, not having a sneer at extract brewers, I've tasted a couple of nice ones in the past, but personally I'd never go back.

Edit: welcome to the darkside Hatchy

 

[Cannibal Smurf]

Thanks to the Gentlman above.. yes you Bribie, a lot of ambition and perhaps a little naivety I jumped feet first into AG brewing, having never done K&K or partials. Never looked back and had some great feedback on my beers. I suppose being introduced to AG via BIAB = low costs made it a lot easier to go along this path.

edit: spelleng

 

[amiddler]

I was doing K&K on and off for 5 years when I decided AG was the way to go. I didn't do extract or partials just straight to AG. I found AHB before deciding on going AG and not much set me back, but funding the project at the start was posibly the hardest.

Winning the misses over when I want to buy something shiney is still a battle

Drew

 

[manticle]

Learning process and working out equipment (what I needed, how to modify it etc). Didn't stop me as such - was just a process I needed to go through to get there.

I have found most AG brewers to be quite happy to help others improve their beer if they want to so more inspiration from others rather than being put off.

 

[MarkBastard]

I erroneously thought the jump from partial mashes on a stove top to all grain would be really big.

In fact I think all grain in a 40L urn BIAB style is the easiest form of brewing I've ever done. Easier than kits. Easier than all-extract. Easier than partial-mash. Mainly because racking from the kettle via the tap to a no chill cube is so much easier than trying to cool wort in a pot in the sink etc and then tipping into a fermenter.

I leave the cube overnight to cool down, then leave in the fermenting fridge so that it gets to pitching temp. Couldn't do that with my other methods and I'd always stress about pitching too high or risking infection.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I erroneously thought the jump from partial mashes on a stove top to all grain would be really big.

In fact I think all grain in a 40L urn BIAB style is the easiest form of brewing I've ever done. Easier than kits. Easier than all-extract. Easier than partial-mash. Mainly because racking from the kettle via the tap to a no chill cube is so much easier than trying to cool wort in a pot in the sink etc and then tipping into a fermenter.

I leave the cube overnight to cool down, then leave in the fermenting fridge so that it gets to pitching temp. Couldn't do that with my other methods and I'd always stress about pitching too high or risking infection.

M^B - slightly OT, but how do you adjust your bittering for no chill? And does no-chill increased bittering for you mean a decrease in flavour or aroma (that I'm assuming it would)?

I didn't adjust (partly just because I wanted to see what it did), and found my last batch very bitter. No biggie, I'll just leave it sit to mellow out, but I'm assuming no-chill means that 60 minutes might act like 90 min boil, 15 as 30, flameout as 15. Am I right? And how do your aroma additions.

Goomba

 

[.DJ.]

Time was always the biggest factor, as well as space to brew..

 

[DU99]

currently resources are holding me back,but i have joined a brew club and will learn from them what i need and what to do..i have bought some stepping kits

 

[Newbiebrewer]

Gear (both price and availability) and a lack of knowledge. Fixed the later by reading and re reading this forum.

 

[felten]

I jumped straight into all grain after only putting down 1 toucan and 1 extract batch. The only thing that stopped me was waiting ~6 months or so to obtain all the gear. (took several months to get some parts in the mail)