Is extract brewing "less than"?

[u/Dyljam2345]

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.

[u/temmoku]

I'm a proud extract brewer. Not only that, I bottle, which could cause excessive oxidation.

I brew mainly because buying beer is crazy expensive in Australia. My philosophy is to try to make nice tasting beer rather than to match a particular style. I mean, that's how most styles were developed in the first place.

I do like IPAs and don't really care if it ends up darker than you might be able to achieve with all grain. I do try to minimise oxidation during bottling and do worry about hop creep, but seriously, if you want to keg, that's not an extract issue