Extract Brewing

[Sean]

Hi all,

I've been looking over the forum, and there doesn't seem to be much on brewing from extract, more on either kit or AG. Am I missing a section? I'm interested in extract brewing because it seems to offer a lot of the flexibility and scope for experiment that AG does, but with a lot less equipment and time investment - perfect for my temperament and spare-time-allotment! Am I missing something?
Also, is there a way of converting an AG recipe to use extract? Like, a conversion factor or something? Or is this entirely the wrong tree to be barking up?
A lot of questions, I know, but come on, I'm excited....

Thanks,

Sean

 

[rickthebrew]

Hi sean and welcome to the forum :thumb:

I started with kits and did one extract brew on my journey to AG - extract brewing is a great way to experiment with hops etc, you can use liquiud malt or dried malt (exspensive!) i bought a summer ale recipe kit from brew - check above one of the forum sponsors - which was excellent (search for my post on it) also graham wheeler gives recipes for extract brewing in his books, brew your own british ale is a good starting point . Any recipe can be adjusted for extract brewing - using dark, light or medium extracts with your hops - once you start this you`ll be itching to go AG though :twisted:

loads of great guys on the forum will answer any questions you have :drink:

 

[Sean]

Thanks - I've ordered Wheeler, so will read and inwardly digest.

Sean

 

[jonewer]

The main reason why extract isnt so popular is that its more expensive than AG yet it needs almost as much kit and offers limited flexibility.

I quickly moved from extract to AG when I realised the above.... Also AG might take longer but a lot of that additional time is just mash time where you dont have to do anything but wait, so if you're busy you can do other stuff in the intervening time....

 

[leondz]

For my 2p, I brew extract because it allows a decent quality and a lot of flexibility, without the investment in kit and in space that you need to do AG. There are a few extract brewers around here Sean don't fret - and many of the AG guys have extract experience too!