How to Transition from Extract Brewing to All-Grain Brewing

So, you’ve been brewing with extract for a while now and have heard a lot about all-grain brewing, whether from friends and fellow brewers, or just articles you came across on the Internet, such as “All-Grain Brewing vs. Extract Brewing: Pros & Cons”. You’ve decided that the advantages it presents over brewing with extract outweigh the negative aspects, and heck, you’re just ready to try something new—especially if it’s how professionals brewers make beer.

Or maybe you’re completely new to brewing and you’ve just somehow found yourself in possession of some equipment that you looked up and found was intended for all-grain brewing. You did some research and have chosen to forge ahead down the homebrewing path while taking a shortcut.

For you, it isn’t recommended that you jump straight into all-grain brewing from the get-go, but if decide you must, you should first bone up on some essential brewing knowledge by reading this article on how to brew with extract.

No matter how you found yourself preparing to brew through all-grain methods, all that really matters is that you’re here—and probably full of questions like:

• How different is all-grain brewing from extract brewing?
• Aside from more time and grain, what do I need?
• Will I still be able to make beer that I’m proud of?

All valid questions, so without wasting any more time, let’s go ahead and answer them.

The all-grain brewing process is very similar to brewing with extract in that the first step is creating the sweet wort. However, the way in which you create the wort differs for each method. With extract brewing you simply heat water and pour the concentrated malt extract in without letting it burn. If you’re doing a partial mash brew, you can mash a relatively small amount of grain to add complexity but the amount of sugars that you acquire from the grain will be nominal in comparison to those from the extract.

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Mashing

With all-grain brewing you are creating the wort solely from grain, taking a much longer amount of time through the actual process of mashing, or when the heat and water combine to activate enzymes within the grain to change the starches into sugar.

In all-grain brewing, this requires a much greater amount of grain, and thus a greater amount of space to hold the grain. The process of mashing will also take much longer and the temperature will need to remain steady for that period of time, anywhere from about 45 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. This is where a new piece of equipment comes in, known as the mash tun.

A highly popular choice is the cooler-style mash tun, which is essentially a water cooler with a couple of add-ons. The water cooler is a great choice because it is well-insulated making it capable of holding hot water at a steady temperature over a long period of time with little temperature fluctuation, which is exactly what you want for mashing grain.

These cooler mash tuns often come equipped with two important pieces of equipment: a spigot and a false bottom.

• Spigot:

  The spigot helps control the flow of liquid without having to lift the entire cooler to pour from the top. This is a huge help for a number of reasons but perhaps the most obvious is that the cooler can be very cumbersome and dangerous to handle when filled with gallons of hot wort.

• False Bottom:

  The false bottom is essentially a big strainer that prevents grain from getting to the spigot and potentially clogging it. It also ensures that the wort is at a higher level of clarity.

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Sparging

The step following the mash is also a big point of differentiation between all-grain brewing and extract brewing. In brewing with extract, this is the point in which you would simply remove the grain bag from the pot, allow it to drain and then pour hot water over the bag of grain to acquire residual sugars and flavor that may be contained within the grain. This process is known as lautering in which it is not completely imperative that you get every last bit from the grain as the malt extract is what builds the wort more so than the specialty grain and/or minimal amount of other malted grain.

Sparging is different in that in all-grain brewing it is very important that you are as efficient as possible in acquiring the sugars from the grain since you have no extract to rely on. It is essentially the same concept of pouring hot water over the grain but over a longer period of time as there’s a greater amount of grain and because you also want to be more effective in your efforts. The two most common sparging methods are batch and continuous.

Batch Sparging:

Batch sparging involves collecting wort from two separate mash runnings in which the goal is to draw sugars from the grain. First, you set the grain bed then fill the mash tun with hot water to re-suspend the grain and sugars. Allow that to sit for about 10 minutes and then drain into the brew pot and repeat the process again. You should collect the necessary sugars in these two passes at a decent efficiency rate.

Continuous Sparging:

Continuous sparging is perhaps the most common method among professional brewers because it allows you to achieve the greatest level of efficiency. It involves continuously pouring water on top of the mash. The water essentially slowly works its way down through the mash and brings the sugars along with it. In addition to taking a lot more time, another downside is that it requires more equipment, including a hot liquor tank and a sparge assembly. The purpose of the hot liquor tank is to keep the water used for sparging at a constant temperature much like during the mash, while the purpose of the sparge assembly is to introduce the water to the mash in a continual and even fashion.

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Boiling

You’re aware that you’ll need a larger volume of water for all-grain brewing and hopefully also realize that the 5-gallon brew pot that you used to brew when using extract won’t cut it. You need a brew kettle that not only accommodates the batch size but also additional water that will inevitably evaporate during the boil. This will also assist in transfers, eliminating the need for multiple pots.

An 8-gallon pot is a great option, but a 10-gallon pot may be an even better dependent upon what you’re brewing and the size of the batch. High-end brew pots will even come with a spigot as well as an additional attachment point for a thermometer or a sight gauge. The sight gauge is designed to allow you to see the liquid level from the outside without having to remove the lid, which could result in unwanted heat loss.

Aside from the larger pot needed, from this point on the rest of the process is pretty much the same as brewing with extract. The boil and hop addition schedule are the same. Upon conclusion of the boil you must quickly cool the wort down, then onto fermentation. After it’s all said and done, you can sit back, enjoy your first all-grain brew, pat yourself on the back then think about all the ways you can improve with the next batch!

More Homebrewing Articles:

• How to Brew Beer
• 8 Components Every Homebrewer Should Own
• Homebrew Kits: How to Choose the Right Kit for You
• Beer Brewing Equipment: What You Need to Brew from Home