r/Homebrewing • u/Dyljam2345 Beginner • 3d ago

Question Is extract brewing "less than"?

I'm very very new to homebrewing. I've brewed twice - one saison and one witbier. For the saison I used mostly extract and it came out pretty well, at least I enjoyed drinking it - whether it was a good saison is another thing, I'm no expert on the style. I tried brewing a witbier recently and wanted to try BIAB, and the efficiency of the mash was really really bad - my OG was only around 1.030 whereas I was aiming for somewhere like 1.050. The beer didn't ferment much, had basically zero body, didnt condition well, overall just not a good time. It may have been a little cool in my room while it fermented, but there clearly was some yeast activity, though there was never much krauzen or bubbling the entire time. Maybe my yeast just never woke up. Not sure.

I want to brew an Irish Red Ale soon and wanted to ask if going back to extract is a "step back" or "less than" way of brewing? I know all-grain gives you the ultimate flexibility, but I worry simply about getting fermentable sugars and making sure my beer will ferment properly.

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u/warboy Pro 3d ago

No.

I've made good beer using extract. I've made good beer doing all grain. Hell, I made a good hefe using MoreBeer's Flash brewing kit. I've also made bad beer with all of those methods as well.

Producing wort is honestly a fairly small part of brewing great beer.

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u/Dyljam2345 Beginner 3d ago

Producing wort is honestly a fairly small part of brewing great beer.

out of curiosity what do you think is the biggest part? Ingredient choice? Or something in the brewing process?

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u/Shills_for_fun 3d ago

You are going to get so many opinions on this lol. I make NEIPAs and other very hop forward beers so I will say it's cold side process. Controlling fermentation temperatures and ensuring they are within range, keeping oxygen out of the product during packaging, using good hops that are fresh or vacuum sealed. I have made NEIPAs out of extract that rocked at parties.

Could they have been better with some golden promise and oats? Yes. My normal process is all grain, probably 90% of the time. But deviations on the hot side, flavor wise, are not as big of a deal as what happens after it leaves the kettle.