If you’ve been brewing beer with extract kits for a while, you’ve undoubtedly heard about all-grain brewing and maybe even wondered if it’s the next step for you. Both methods have their pros and cons, and deciding whether to make the switch isn’t easy. If done correctly, all-grain brewing offers more control and flexibility, but it also requires more time, expensive equipment, and know-how. Extract brewing, on the other hand, is quicker and less complicated, but you sacrifice some of the creative freedom that comes with brewing from scratch, if that is important. For most beer styles it makes no difference. So, how do you know which method is right for you? Let’s break down some key points to consider before diving headfirst into all-grain brewing.
When trying to decide whether to make the jump to all grain brewing, there are both practical and wishful considerations.
Practical Considerations
- Do You Have Enough Time?
- Do You Have the Space?
- Are You Prepared to Spend the Money?
- Are You Interested in All Grain Because of the Process?
Wishful Considerations
- Will You Make Better Beer?
- Will You Actually Save Money?
Practical Considerations
- Do You Have Enough Time? How much time you have (or lack of time) is probably the greatest consideration whether you should pursue all-grain brewing. Anyone can set aside an entire day to all grain brew. And anyone can set aside a second day to all grain brew. Of course you can. It’s currently a priority. But if you are a busy person with a lot of other things going on, then you will inevitably face the following situation: you are running out of beer and you need to brew but you have a million other things that need to get done, and how will you set aside a day to brew and…, suddenly your beloved hobby of brewing beer begins to feel like work, and then it’s no fun, and then you quit brewing. But you loved brewing and drinking your creations, but then it became no fun. This scenario happens to all grain brewers all of the time. If you truly do not have enough time to all grain brew, then don’t. Keep your life simple and continue making great beers with extracts.
- Do You Have the Space? All grain brewing is not particularly feasible for people living in apartments. If you live with a significant other, they will likely protest when your all grain equipment takes over the kitchen.
- Are You Prepared to Spend the Money? Even “inexpensive” all grain setups are at least four times the cost of basic extract brewing equipment. Part of this is the nature of all grain. When brewing all grain, you must boil at least the total volume of the batch. In other words, if you are making a five gallon batch, you typically begin with 6 gallons and boil it down to 5 gallons. Thus, you must have a large kettle, gas burner, and wort chiller. These can also be combined in the popular all-in-one systems.
- Are You Interested in All Grain Because of the Process? Over the years we have found that the worst all grain brewers are the paint-by-the-numbers type. By “worst” we mean brewers who have inconsistent results and have no idea why they have inconsistent results. By “paint-by-the-numbers” we mean brewers who have no theoretical knowledge of what they’re doing but instead only blindly following some recipe. They do not understand how one’s brewing efficiency determines their original gravity but how precisely controlled mashing temperature determines their wort fermentability and thus their final gravity. They believe that in a HERMS system they have a homogeneous flow of sweet liquor through the mash bed instead of flowing through cut channels, and then they wonder why their efficiency is poor. They know nothing of fully modified malts, proteolytic enzymes, wort turbidity, β-glucans or the difference between beta- and alpha amylase. All grain brewing is not difficult, but like any hobby it requires learning. All grain brewing is like flying a plane. You are turning off the auto-pilot, so you need to know how to fly the plane. If you are fascinated by the process, then you should definitely pursue all grain brewing, but if you don’t understand what you are doing, then don’t set your expectations very high.
Wishful Considerations
- Will You Make Better Beer? For some reason many all grain brewers want you to believe this, and they will go to great length on homebrew forums to drive this point forward, but it is not true. An experienced extract brewer brewing the proper beer styles and using optimum techniques will achieve results on par with all grain brewing. Sure, some styles lend themselves better to all grain brewing, such as delicate pilsners or helles, or decoction focused brews like dunkel, bock or marzen. But extract brewers making hefeweizens, pale ales, IPAs, stouts, porters, amber ales, red ales, altbier (this list goes on and on), can easily produce beers indistinguishable from their all grain counterparts.
By the way, we have a theory as to why the all grain brewers tend to push their opinions so heavily on forums: all grain brews are arguably the most enthusiastic brewers, and by default all grain brewer they have more time. Thus, they have the time and enthusiasm to spend exorbitant time posting on forums. Most casual brewers who just want to have fun and make tasty beer could generally care a less.
- Will You Actually Save Money? The answer to this question is an overwhelming no. Sure, all grain brewing saves money on the cost of ingredients, but that’s where the savings immediately end. If you are financially-minded and amortize the ingredient-cost-savings of all grain brewing, you would discover, depending on your equipment type that you would need to brew between 50 – 100 five gallon batches of beer just to break even compared to brewing with extracts. Most people never brew that many all-grain batches in their lifetime. Also, unless you’re unemployed, home brewing has never saved money. If you compute your income’s hourly time value, you always see that if you work the same hours you spent brewing, you could purchase way more beer than you have produced. So, moral of the story: don’t all grain brew to save money. In fact, don’t brew any beer to save money. It’s your hobby, so do it because it gives you joy.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, whether you brew with extracts or pursue all-grain really depends on what you’re looking to get out of the hobby. Extract brewing is fun, quick and convenient. But if you’re drawn to the process and brewing techniques—and you don’t mind the extra time, money and effort—then all-grain is worthwhile. Whichever path you choose, the most important thing is to keep brewing beer you enjoy and having fun with it. There’s no “right” way to brew, just the way that works best for you.
