When will I be ready for AG Brewing?

I have my 4th extract kit in the primary now. I like the extract kits but want more of a challenge. should i just say ‘‘what the fuck’’ and dive right into it?

Short answer: YES!

Long answer Yes but be sure to do your homework and know some things about yourself such as:

  1. Do you ever plan to do larger batches? Buy a bigger kettle from the get go.
  2. You’ll want to do a big beer eventually so don’t buy the five gallon coolers for a mash tun. Get yoursefl a cooler in the 40 to 50 some odd quart range.
  3. Are you ready to want to dive to intense temp control care and then kegging? I didnt think I would but then I DID.

absolutely! I did 5 extract kits and just did my first AG last week. I did a BIAB (Brew In A Bag). It definitely took me longer than a normal extract brew day but the only equipment I had to add was the grain bag. I say read up on AG decide what direction you want to go and make the leap.

now. then after you do your first batch, you will say “why did I wait so long”. At least that was my reaction.

For the first brew session, take the time to write out all the steps and follow them just like a recipe.

diggin’ all the replies. i have a porter in the primary, an all simcoe in the secondary and one more ipa extract that im gonna tweak a bit and do some video research on AG. I know everyone says ‘‘read up on’’ but i’m more of the visual type. all i did was watch vids before i started brewing. not that i’ve been doing this long but i find that video is better for me than reading.

if anyone has any good youtube links to help me out that would be great. you guys are the best.

:cheers:

+100 to this! If I recall, I did 2 or 3 Mr. Beer batches, and 2 months later dove straight into all grain. I never did non-MB extract, or partial mash or anything. Even though my “extract” experience was only 2 months, I still caught myself asking why I waited so long. And seriously, it’s ridiculously simple.

:cheers:

[quote=“Boston Brewin”]diggin’ all the replies. i have a porter in the primary, an all simcoe in the secondary and one more ipa extract that im gonna tweak a bit and do some video research on AG. I know everyone says ‘‘read up on’’ but i’m more of the visual type. all i did was watch vids before i started brewing. not that i’ve been doing this long but i find that video is better for me than reading.

if anyone has any good youtube links to help me out that would be great. you guys are the best.

:cheers: [/quote]
You can watch all the video that you want but to understand the brewing process, you’ll have to do some reading. Find a good brew book and keep it close, Good answers at the tip of your fingers. A good brew book will be by far superior to any video, although a good video is helpful.

[quote=“Boston Brewin”]diggin’ all the replies. i have a porter in the primary, an all simcoe in the secondary and one more ipa extract that im gonna tweak a bit and do some video research on AG. I know everyone says ‘‘read up on’’ but i’m more of the visual type. all i did was watch vids before i started brewing. not that i’ve been doing this long but i find that video is better for me than reading.

if anyone has any good youtube links to help me out that would be great. you guys are the best.

:cheers: [/quote]
You can watch all the video that you want but to understand the brewing process, you’ll have to do some reading. Find a good brew book and keep it close, Good answers at the tip of your fingers. A good brew book will be by far superior to any video, although a good video is helpful.

[quote=“Boston Brewin”]diggin’ all the replies. i have a porter in the primary, an all simcoe in the secondary and one more ipa extract that im gonna tweak a bit and do some video research on AG. I know everyone says ‘‘read up on’’ but i’m more of the visual type. all i did was watch vids before i started brewing. not that i’ve been doing this long but i find that video is better for me than reading.

if anyone has any good youtube links to help me out that would be great. you guys are the best.

:cheers: [/quote]
You can watch all the video that you want but to understand the brewing process, you’ll have to do some reading. Find a good brew book and keep it close, Good answers at the tip of your fingers. A good brew book will be by far superior to any video, although a good video is helpful.

here’s a video that got me AG horny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CRI1veziKI

don’t forget to keg!!

dive in the brewing is fine. I only did two extract beers, then straight to AG just do some reading and you will be fine.

If we knew where you live, someone could invite you over for a brew day. Then you would say dang, I can do that!" .

No better time than the present. Make the switch and never look back.

I think this is pretty important. There can be a big jump in complexity with AG brewing: water profiles & pH adjustments, mash temperatures & volumes, crush quality. There will be a big increase in time commitments. If you brewing goals are to keep things quick & simple, extract may be a better fit than AG.

I think this is pretty important. There can be a big jump in complexity with AG brewing: water profiles & pH adjustments, mash temperatures & volumes, crush quality. There will be a big increase in time commitments. If you brewing goals are to keep things quick & simple, extract may be a better fit than AG.[/quote]

Great response. You can make it as complicated as you want by building water profiles.

I’m a Keep It Simple Stupid guy. My water is great for hoppy beers. Some locals add a something for dark beers to make the “pop”. But I enjoy my dark beers with no adjustments.

[quote=“Adam20”]Short answer: YES!

Long answer Yes but be sure to do your homework
[/quote]

Agreed! I just moved from extract to BIAB and I did a ton of forum-browsing, reading, questioning. When I did my first AG batch I was not NEARLY as scattered as I thought it would be.

I spent a lot of time acquiring updated gear (15 gal kettle, burner, etc) and there is nothing more helpful than forums like this for questions. And you WILL have them…

:cheers:

I went all grain after 3 extract kits. I bought Palmers and Papazians books and read all I could. To be honest some of what I had read is a little over my head and I had to go through it several times. Great info. But I found that the more I brew, the more questions I find and the help from the people on this fourm is the best. I know what I know because of them. Every brew session is a new learning experiance. When I made extracts it took me 4 hours from start to finish, with all grain it takes me 8 hours. Now that is just me, because of what I have to do, it may take others a lot less time.

Check this extensive collection of photos of a BIAB brewing session.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/a-biab-brewday-tknice.html

I agree AG is dead simple. If you can go do something else while grain sits in hot water for an hour or so, you can brew AG (vast oversimplification, but technically can be about that simple). However, I agree with the statement about knowing yourself.

And, having been down the road to progress, I’d say my biggest wins BEFORE all grain, were: 1) full wort boil, 2) fast chilling, 3) software to build recipes and learn the [simple, don’t be scared] math, 4) Fermentation temp. control and 5) kegging.

All grain is great fun and gives ultimate flexibility. But I don’t think it’s necessary to be able to make great beer. The first 4 listed above are good prerequisites…if you want to benefit from the abilities gained with AG. You don’t necessarily need all grain if you can’t design your own recipes to control the mash and grain/water interaction in AG. And there is the other low hanging fruit of opportunity before all grain, like wort cooling (especially with lagers) and fermentation temp control (again, especially with lagers).

Once you’ve done AG you’ll see there’s really no mystery (well, the whole enzyme starch conversion thing is conceptually pretty cool in a playing god kind of way). But do read, learn and get some big picture context of what’s going on and what’s really going to benefit you as you gain skill and equipment.

In hindsight, I’d say yeast control (selection, starters, harvesting, temp control, fermentation duration, sanitation, lagering, etc) is more complicated, temperamental and impactful to the final overall product.