Extract to start

[Bruman]

Started brewing with budget range extract lager kits, first three were basically failures (I now know why and can brew extract lager kits successfully). A bandmate had made some bitter from the same range (Geordie - one of Muntons ranges) so I had a bash at that and it worked first time and I was off and flying. Wasn't big on bitter at the time so tried all that was available in that range from a chemist store who no longer stock. Discovered Geordie Scottish Export extract kit and I still brew a batch of that annually 40 years on. I sometimes use dry Spraymalt with extract kits and the difference is very significant. Have since gone through various extract kit ranges and consider Ritchies Festival range to be the best overall. The clone kits of Woodfordes beers produced for them by Muntons are very authentic - a comprehensive marketing strategy of brewery with chain of pubs and beers also available bottled, canned (including mini-kegs) and extract kits. Quite a few of the budget ranges have one or two kits which work very well - they taste good to me or I wouldn't keep brewing them but yes I have had some extract kits I consider to be poor quality.

A few years ago I progressed to dry hopping initially with the extract kits which come with free pellets. More recently I have started acquiring pellets separately and using my own combos. So far so good with this chapter of my homebrewing.

I have some recipes for all grain and finally located a localish supplier. Unfortunately my housing org are going all electric so my plans to try all grain after the reno are probably hit on the head for the time being. But I would love to have a go at all grain as my first brew in a new home whenever and wherever that may be.

I actually lived in Suffolk UK for years about 5 miles from Muntons, but now live by in the US. I just looked online to see if I could get Muntons over here and actually found a site. So I just may have to order me one and brew for nostalgia and to see if it is any good. They do not offer the woodfordes kits over here, but would love to have a Wherry's about now. I used to love the Adnams beer over there, it was my favorite bitter and they had a Stout called Blackshore that was amazing. Man do I miss the beer over there.

 

[Minbari]

I actually lived in Suffolk UK for years about 5 miles from Muntons, but now live by in the US. I just looked online to see if I could get Muntons over here and actually found a site. So I just may have to order me one and brew for nostalgia and to see if it is any good. They do not offer the woodfordes kits over here, but would love to have a Wherry's about now. I used to love the Adnams beer over there, it was my favorite bitter and they had a Stout called Blackshore that was amazing. Man do I miss the beer over there.

Muntons marris otter is really good.

 

[KyBeer]

After 40 plus years I do both. When teaching new brewers I alway start them out with extract and a partial mash, and a full boil in a 8 gallon or larger kettle outside. I then teach them all grain with BIAB, and progress to a three vessel system. The three vessel system lets you step mash and use different sparge water profiles. You can do this with BIAB as well but not as quickly when you only have a single kettle.
Both extract and all grain have their place in brewing. If you are brewing and want to get consistant results the more varables you add to tyour brew process the harder it gets. If you can't get consistant results with extract it going to be harder with all grain.
My two cents.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Agree they both have their place. Consistency meaning not infected, I agree with too. Consistency regarding overall outcome I think is actually easier with BIAB assuming you can control mash and fermentation temps and have somewhat of a predictable crush from the brew store.
BIAB does take a little longer for me to organize outside than extract on the kitchen stove, but timewise on brew day, the BIAB process vs. extract and steeping grains is pretty close, at least within about 30 minutes.
I learned the kettle lesson the hard way, but I need a 15 gallon kettle for 5 gallon batches with a normal BIAB process. Extract, I used a 10 gallon kettle. With my current process, that 10 gallon would overflow every single time considering I start with 8 gallons of water.

 

[Brewdomestix]

I actually lived in Suffolk UK for years about 5 miles from Muntons, but now live by in the US. I just looked online to see if I could get Muntons over here and actually found a site. So I just may have to order me one and brew for nostalgia and to see if it is any good. They do not offer the woodfordes kits over here, but would love to have a Wherry's about now. I used to love the Adnams beer over there, it was my favorite bitter and they had a Stout called Blackshore that was amazing. Man do I miss the beer over there.

My grandfather was a Norfolk lad so I guess it is in the blood, should have declared a bias there. With Woodfordes in Norfolk and Adnams in Suffolk; East Anglia is surely the best region for beer in the UK - incredible ranges both. The Wherry extract kit I have made twice was pretty much spot on even up ere wi Yorkshire water

 

[Donoroto]

After 40 plus years I do both. When teaching new brewers I alway start them out with extract and a partial mash, and a full boil in a 8 gallon or larger kettle outside. I then teach them all grain with BIAB, and progress to a three vessel system. The three vessel system lets you step mash and use different sparge water profiles. You can do this with BIAB as well but not as quickly when you only have a single kettle.
Both extract and all grain have their place in brewing. If you are brewing and want to get consistant results the more varables you add to tyour brew process the harder it gets. If you can't get consistant results with extract it going to be harder with all grain.
My two cents.

Consistency is key.

An old engineering saying is "you can't control what you don't measure".

 

[AnokaBrewer]

I started in 1993 with extract kits. I used a 2.5 gallon stock pot on the stove and added water to make 5 gallons. I moved on to steeping about a pound of grain with some recipes and creating my own extract recipes. I was also getting equipment to finally move to all grain. I have a keg to use as a boil kettle, and a big 10 gallon thermos jug to use as a mash tun and I even have a false bottom for it. Before I could build it, I found out about the electric brewers. I bought a RoboBrew Generation 3 in 2019. I still had a few extract kits left to brew that I won at our homebrew club, so I used my RoboBrew for that, but these days I am just doing all grain and I love the beer I am making.

 

[Muscleguy]

Started brewing with budget range extract lager kits, first three were basically failures (I now know why and can brew extract lager kits successfully). A bandmate had made some bitter from the same range (Geordie - one of Muntons ranges) so I had a bash at that and it worked first time and I was off and flying. Wasn't big on bitter at the time so tried all that was available in that range from a chemist store who no longer stock. Discovered Geordie Scottish Export extract kit and I still brew a batch of that annually 40 years on. I sometimes use dry Spraymalt with extract kits and the difference is very significant. Have since gone through various extract kit ranges and consider Ritchies Festival range to be the best overall. The clone kits of Woodfordes beers produced for them by Muntons are very authentic - a comprehensive marketing strategy of brewery with chain of pubs and beers also available bottled, canned (including mini-kegs) and extract kits. Quite a few of the budget ranges have one or two kits which work very well - they taste good to me or I wouldn't keep brewing them but yes I have had some extract kits I consider to be poor quality.

A few years ago I progressed to dry hopping initially with the extract kits which come with free pellets. More recently I have started acquiring pellets separately and using my own combos. So far so good with this chapter of my homebrewing.

I have some recipes for all grain and finally located a localish supplier. Unfortunately my housing org are going all electric so my plans to try all grain after the reno are probably hit on the head for the time being. But I would love to have a go at all grain as my first brew in a new home whenever and wherever that may be.

I have an induction hob. A fairly cheap one but with the ability to link two of the rings. This boils my brew so well I have to turn it down for fear it will boil over or splash. Much better than the biggest ring on the old gas hob.

 

[Brewdomestix]

I have an induction hob. A fairly cheap one but with the ability to link two of the rings. This boils my brew so well I have to turn it down for fear it will boil over or splash. Much better than the biggest ring on the old gas hob.

Sounds great, I will seriously look into those. A few of the other residents are a bit browned off to say the least having invested in quality gas ovens etc so this could be a great help and not just for brewing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[fivebeerplan]

I started out with a 1-gallon extract kit from Northern Brewer. Kept hearing that all-grain was the way to go. So after that first batch, I moved to an all-grain BIAB method and have not looked back.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Jumped in with both feet. Never used extract

Ditto....ok once...but I didn't inhale...it was a gift.