VERY well put! There’s nothing wrong with using extract to brew. Mr.Strong’s analogy is poor at best. My brew club is having an all extract competition next month just for the fun of it and I’m expecting to taste a lot of very good beer. And none of these beers will be “microwaved dinner” quality.[/quote]
Yep, maybe he should have said extract brewers are like cooks, but if you want to be a chef, you need to go AG. Even that I don’t like the sound of but the reader could tell what he meant without it sounding so disparaging.[/quote]
Another good analogy that I could get behind :cheers:
I brew a few extract batches a year, the thing keeping me from doing more is the price of extract, even in bulk a 50# bag of DME is 80 bucks more than the equivalent in base malt.
Oddly enough I just brewed an AG bock today with an extract brewer and we discussed the AG vs. Extract. I advised him that from time to time, myself and other AG brewersI know (mostly on this forum) brew extract because its easy, simple, quick, and beats the hell out of standing in 10 degree weather and playing in the water when your freezing your ass off already! He understood.
Now with that said… 62* degrees in Columbus in early January… beautiful brewing weather!
Another nice thing with extract is it takes less time. I am starting to go AG and it adds like 2-3 hours to brew day. I do like the cake mix analogy. Cheers
Extract freshness is key to making the best extract beer. Extract should be used ASAP after production for best results of the finished product. IMO, extract freshness can make a really significant difference.
So today I made the Phat Tyre extract kit lovingly purchased by my wife. A little over 3 hours, at least 90minutes shorter than my AG procedures. I subbed the kit hops with Amarillo, Columbus and Sonnet Goldings. It was nice to knock out a quick batch so in that respect extract has its merits. I agree with anyone who mentioned beefing up an extract kit with some grain btw. The other kit she purchased is Twisted Enkel. I might turn that one into a mini monster with some grain.
I’ve made the jump to AG, but I still brew extract brews on occasion. I’ve done it when I found myself with some extra free time, but not enough for an AG batch. With DME and dry yeast, it’s easy to keep enough ingredients on hand to be ready to whip an impromptu extract batch on a whim.
I’ve also done this to do a series of 7 single-hop mini-batches in the time it would take for one AG batch, by doing 15-minute boils. That really cuts down on time.
