is all grain worth the hassle

[jans1971]

i know im a newbie but is all grain worth doing " most of you will probley want to shoot me on the spot but it seems a lot of time and trouble when you can get it from a can in your local homebrew shop. please dont to mean to me :pray:

 

[Wez]

jans - good question.

My answer - the quality difference is like going from black and white TV to Colour on HD but you have to be able to fit it into your life both cost and time wise. Equipment initially can cost a bit (but that depends on what you go for) then it's cheaper than kits per pint generally. Brews take on average 6 to 7 hours start to finish (not all work though - lots of time in between to mow the lawn, wash the car etc)

Kits have moved on for sure and you can get a decent pint from a kit but all grain allows you to produce a beer that YOU want tailored to your tastes and it'll be much better than what most pubs serve up.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aleman]

When you can get beer at 49p for a tin from Tescos is Kit beer worth it?

Seriously that is the comparison you have just made . . . If you want to get into the art of this craft then there is no doubt that it is easier to do so by all grain. The process of crafting a beer gives me pleasure and is so completely different to what I do as a Day job that it is relaxing and enjoyable . . .Even if it goes completely **** up on the day :lol:

Why are there so many craft and micro breweries starting up and doing well? . . . because there are people that want more than the bland mega swill produced by the likes of SABMiller and InBev. . . . Sorry to say it but kit beers are the mega swill of the home brew world . . . there is that samey sort of taste from kits that you rarely get with all grain

I hate to think of how much I have spent on brewing kit and ingredients, let alone the time I have invested . . . but without a doubt I would do it again if I had my time over . . . only this time my degree would have been in Brewing Science, and not a Biology/Biochemistry Degree.

 

[Dunfie]

Its only worth it if you want to do it and really want to make commercial quality beer. If you feel that it is too much hassle then, for you, it is not worth the effort and thats fine. You can make as many kits as you want but you will never get the quality that can be attained through AG brewing.

I think that the guys who do AG brewing actually enjoy it as a hobby more than just a way to get some beer. Judging by the amount time people spend on here, researching how to improve techniques, enhance and upgrade equipment, experimenting with new grains, yeast and hops I think it is fair to say that it is not just about getting a cheap pint (and when you factor in the capital expense then for many it probably isn't that much cheaper).

There you go, that wasn't too bad. You are lucky I couldn't find my gun. :lol:

 

[Bru4u]

I realy look forward to brewdays, the planning, the choices, designing the beer and the process itself, there is a great feeling of self gratification, I don't see it as hassle, I see it as quality time to myself. It does take most of the day and kits can be knocked up quickly. Why don't you give extract a go, it's like a halfway house. and there are not enough kits on the planet to give you the same choice of beer, you have total control with AG.
I'd never knock somone doing kits, most of us went through it at some stage

 

[Aleman]

I'd never knock somone doing kits, most of us went through it at some stage

Agreed, and I apologise if I came over all pompous sounding . . . I still make kits . . . made a Coopers Bavarian Pilsner last year . . . Acceptable beer though it wasn't a pilsner and wasn't Bavarian . . . Nuff said

 

[Wez]

Yeah, i'm sorry too - nothing wrong with kits at all, I like to hear of people pushed for time doing kits rather than drinking supermarket value *****. A close friend of mine is in this boat at the moment, he has no time really but will brew kits cause he prefers them to '*****' I've managed to get him to do some dry hopping to enhance them a bit and I've started donating 20L of wort for him from time to time to ferment at home from my AG brews.

I'll go to heaven now I think :pray: :grin:

 

[damfoose]

I started by making kits made quite a few but they all sort of tasted the samey.... I will admit and put my hand in the air I started because I could get 40 pints of beer cheep ... Oh how things change :grin:

I moved to AG brewing because I wanted to give it a go and see if I could .... Luckly I met a fine chap who is quite close to me who was good enough to show me how the whole thing was done and give me some wort at the end of th day .. I still pop over to hime every now and again.

Now this AG buisness yep takes about 7 hours or so to do a full brew but most of the time your waiting for something to finish doing its bit like the mash 90 min wait or the boil generally 90 min wait... I have turned brewday into something to lookforward to its a pleasure to change water and some solid stuff into something akin to gold I now go and pretty much sit in the garage for the whole day enjoying the smells ( and a few beers from previous brews ) people walk past and look very funilly at me sat their with a big steaming pot infront of me and beer in hand..

AG hell yehhhhh you have to give it a go you make stuff that is 90% of the time better than the stuff you can buy in a pub or a shop....

 

[Wez]

Jans where abouts are you, there may be someone local(ish) who wouldn't mind letting you see a brewday and sample their wares - I wish i'd had someone help me when I started......way back in 2007 :lol:

 

[ni9e]

i know im a newbie but is all grain worth doing

This was a question I asked myself over and over again what put me off was reading on forums(not this one I might add) that it was a scientific operation and you needed expensive stainless steel equipment to get a decent brew but like Wez said I found a nice lady who let me do a brew with her and take notes and I was shocked how easy it was to do even with basic equipment ie plastic boilers and a watering can to sparge grains.

So is all grain worth doing I'd say yes :thumb:

 

[Smod]

Although I've never done one from extract with grain and hops, plenty of American brewers including Jamil Zainasheff (top notch medal winning Home Brewer who has written "Brewing Classic Styles") do brew like this and seem to get award winning beers.

I've bought a couple of tins of Marris Otter extract and will try a recipe to see how it comes out. This may be the acceptable halfway bhouse but is still more expensive than AG. :thumb:

 

[tubby_shaw]

i know im a newbie but is all grain worth doing " Yes
most of you will probley want to shoot me on the spot Not me :nono: Got a sword for that sort of thing
but it seems a lot of time and trouble when you can get it from a can in your local homebrew shop. A lot of time yes, although it is time well spent :party: also as others have said it's a hobby, so it's not trouble
please dont to mean to me :pray: We're never mean :whistle:

But seriously try to get an invite to a brewday or if there is no one local try a mini mash, minimum investment in kit to make a gallon of all grain nectar :drink:
You will taste it and never question the different techniques again :thumb:

 

[Talisman]

Hassle? nah no hassle.

Fun, oh yes indeedy doo.

pottering about on your own out the way for a few hours making magic. what could be better.

from another one who use to make kit beer when he was 18, just to make it as strong as possible and as cheap as possible (which tasted aweful.. but hey ya got drunk...)

then started making kits again a few years ago and wanted nice tasting beer. and the kits nowadays yeah they aint bad, you can have a beer on the go in 30 mins. pour the can out, mix it up and leave the bucket somewhere warm.

but did YOU make it, was stirring that bucket FUN.. no. well not for me.

i sat there one day drinking real ale from a local brewery and thought, i wonder if i can do that instead of a kit?

found out its fairly easy from the local homebrew store and orderd the bits i needed the next day. and never looked back.

next question.

is it easy? yes/no, it can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make it (equipment wise), get a plastic boiler and give it a try. you will soon want to get bigger and better equipment as the bug of making real beer sneaks into every part of your body making you want to brew more and more..

Hassle? No definately not. :

 

[Frisp]

My first AG brew took me about 7 hours on kit I had nocked up myself quite cheaply. I had borrowed a drill to make the holes in my plastic plate upturned and used as as strainer for my mash, kettle elements for my boiler. I aquired 25kg of Marris otter from a local Micro brewery and some speciality grain from my HBS. the brewery cost under 40 quid to put together, it could have been less if I had blagged it. The grain was 25 quid for the MO and about a tenner for the crystal and the challenger hops
My first brew was Bluebird It was a revelation. I had used cheap asda water for the brew and I kept the plastic bottles and used some of them for bottling.

When it was ready to drink It coincided with brewday number 2 so I had the brother in law over to help out with the brewday. so we sampled the Bluebird. OMGawd I thought I had gone to heaven. A finer pint I had never drunk. In the interests of science once we had cleared up we went out to do a taste comparison in my local pub. This pub is known for keeping really god ale..... and im sure it was no different on that day. We were both shocked to find that the pub ale tasted heavy and less fresh there was nothing wrong with it it was just less exciting to drink.....

I have to say that Im hooked on AG Yes it is a faff, getting the kit out and cleaning it up, working round the wifes nagging about the smell of the boil, leaving taps open etc. but a big part of the attraction is this website, the support of other brewers, the anticipation of a great brew when you notice oiliness on the surface of your wort from teh hop. the pride you feel when your mates who boast about being part of the CAMRA revolution in the 70,s and 80,s and really know their ales come in to your house and are shocked by teh standard of ale you have produced...... I cant shut the b'strds up nor keep them out my house now.... I suddenly became very popular
But most of all the pleasure ofsupping your own handcrafted ale....

 

[BrewStew]

I originally started brewing from kits as a way to save money. kits were great, but i like most people here, i didn't get the satisfaction, as I thought adding water didn't make it "my" beer. i then with the cash i'd saved, went straight onto 5 gallon AG equipment (£150 for everything all in bought from a HBS) and brewed about 1000 pints on that over a year. I had caught the bug and because my weekend time for brewdays are limited, and i kept running dry i decided to upgrade and bought a shiny 100L system, built a bar and all sorts :lol:

saving money on beer is now no longer my top priority as i enjoy it so much, but now that most of the major investments are out of the way (for now lol) I can brew beer that i think tastes excellent at just 12-18p per pint depending on the recipe :thumb:

Is it worth it? hell yeah! as everyone's said already, your own beer that you 100% can stake a claim to and that tastes just as good, if not better than the best kept ales in pubs has got to be the most rewarding thing i've experienced.

I've tried many hobbies. alot need lots of time/money investment to get little enjoyment back... needless to say I've got alot of unfinished/aborted projects and hobbies... but this one is definitely here to stay. yes it takes 6-9 hours to do a brew, but that's actually only about 2 or 3 hours of actual work.... and LOTS of hours of enjoying the fruits of the labour

AG brewing is not hard either. once the first one is out of the way, it all falls into place

If i could do it all over again i would... and wouldn't change a thing

 

[jamesb]

i know im a newbie but is all grain worth doing

This was a question I asked myself over and over again what put me off was reading on forums(not this one I might add) that it was a scientific operation and you needed expensive stainless steel equipment to get a decent brew but like Wez said I found a nice lady who let me do a brew with her and take notes and I was shocked how easy it was to do even with basic equipment ie plastic boilers and a watering can to sparge grains.

So is all grain worth doing I'd say yes :thumb:

It wasn't Pene from the Jolly Brewer was it?

 

[percival]

hi Jans

there's lots of good tips etc to get you on your way here, this is just one thread that i thought might inspire you

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1704

lots of pics too :thumb:

 

[aeddon]

an easy comparison for me is growing my own veg

Yer you can get cheap veg at the supermarket, but when I grow my own i have the pleasure of being in the sun, in contact with nature. They say organic veg tastes better, sometimes, but with growing my own i can choose the varieties that suit me, for taste and flavour rather than what looks good and keeps well.

and i find anything that i do myself is always better, casue I DID IT, total satisfaction of achieving it for myself.

When I make custom knives I do for the pleasure, i would never make back my money form all the tools, the shed and the materials i've brought. Same with beer: I make it expensive cause i want to, but it can be done very cheap: some copper pipe, a cool box, a pan and grain, hops, yeast and water: boil, mash, boil, ferment, bottle, wait, drink

good times :

 

[falafael]

jan, at the moment i am making beer via the kits method, and whilst i find the beers easy to make, and i enjoy the beer itself, i think that AG is just the next step up the ladder..the only reason i haven't gone AG yet is simply a cash one..not enough of it! lol, but once i get past this problem, then yes, i will go AG, the thought of creating my own beer and making clones of my fav beers is an absolute dream, its just a matter of time,like i said kits i have no problem with, i have one to bottle and one to brew, its beer, and i like it, so, if your happy with kits, you continue until your ready to 'move' on yourself!
:

 

[slurp]

I would not go back to beer kits although i still make wine from kits.The beauty of all grain is you have complete control over the beer yes it is more time consuming but its much more satisfying and cheaper .The best thing about all grain is that theres more to it than kits which means theres more to talk about ,after all the next best thing to drinking homebrew is talking about it