All Grain

[jstrausss]

Is it Hard to Brew All Grain ?

[Tweek]

no it is not hard.

you just need a little more equipment than you do for extract, and a little more time on brew day than you do for extract.

I find all grain to be more rewarding than extract. It gives me a higher degree of control over my beers.

Dont fear all grain, the pool is warm jump on in!

[jstrausss]

Cool thanks for the Post . It seems hard . Actaully I don't know to much about it yet . I 'm Trying to get as Much info. as I can on it .

[Tweek]

I could go into detail about what is needed and what it entails but there are many people that are more qualified than i am that have already written this up. Depending on your tolerance for the technical, Brewing Lager beers by Noonan is the definative all grain brewing book, but it is a bit tedious of a read, perhaps start with Palmers guide on all grain which I believe is online somewhere.

I dont know if you read any brew magazines such as Brew Your Own or Zymurgy, if you dont you should start. They frequently have good info on the transition from extract to grain brewing, as well as a lot of other cool stuff.

[b3s]

while i have not done all-grain yet, i have been looking into partial-mash and stepping up to whole grain (sheesh, haven't even popped open my first extract bottle!).

john palmer's book is located online at http://www.howtobrew.com and has excellent coverage of partial-mash and all-grain brewing.

the online store http://www.stpats.com has an excellent section on partial mash and all-grain brewing.

as far as i can see, it looks like it can get real complicated with fancy equipment and all that, but the basic steps are: steep your cracked grains at about 158F until a tincture of iodine test (or iodophur) demonstrates that you have converted your mash into fermentables (about 45 minutes) -- this can be done in a picnic cooler, then strain your mash to your brew pot, rinse (called sparging) your mash with 175F water at a reasonably slow rate, fill your brewpot to your boil mark, and the rest is identical to extract brewing.

[shughes600]

B3s,
You are right in saying that is more complex to brew all grain, and it is more rewarding. Only two points you bring up need clarified (I know previous posts didn't go into great detail but...) 158 is a common temperature however the range is around 149 to 158 higher for more malt taste lower for a drier finished product. One reason it is not exactly the same as all extract from there though is you hop a little lower. This is due to a better hop utilization in a dilluted wort. A good shop will give you a recipe and ingredients and mash instructions, you don't need to know all that I just said to brew a great all grain beer.

[jstrausss]

Thats Some Good Info. Thanks for the input . John