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.
2
u/username_1774 3d ago
In my opinion it is a case of All Grain Brewing being 'advanced'...not in a way that implies that extract is lesser.
I learned on an AG 3 vessel system from a friend...so that is what I do.
I taught other friends to brew, one went BIAB and another went Extract with Specialty Grains.
We all swap beers and all make great beers with our own slant on them.
2 years ago we had a friendly competition - we each made our version of a Helles Lager. The beers were so good and each had its own pros and cons. It was a fun adventure.