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Author Topic: Felt Like Cheating  (Read 4209 times)

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #15 on: June 25, 2014, 09:16:25 am »
I still fly sparge and can squeeze in a half day brew day.  You have to be organized and do things to shave time. I prepare the night before, mill grain while heating strike water, heat sparge water while mashing, heat the runoff while I am sparging, clean out mash tun and clean and sanitize fermenter while boiling and chilling. It is possible. And I don’t think using extract is cheating. I have been thinking of brewing extract batches to get more brewing in. There are a lot more/better extract options available now than when i started brewing.

Definitely better quality extracts today for sure.  Like I said, I still make a split extract batch occasionally to experiment with new hops. I wasn't saying it's cheating and no one should use extract, just that after so many AG batches it sort of feels like cheating to not have to monitor much.
Jon H.

Offline Stevie

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #16 on: June 25, 2014, 09:17:51 am »
And I don’t think using extract is cheating.


Same. For me it's all about cost. I went all-grain after one $80 batch of imperial stout. Granted that also included hops bought by the ounce in the middle of the "crisis"

Offline erockrph

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #17 on: June 25, 2014, 09:22:00 am »
I still do 2-3 extract batches a year (plus several 1-gallon test batches). For me, I can easily handle an extract batch at night after work, but an all-grain batch generally requires having the house to myself for the day.

One thing to keep in mind is that you don't always have to do a full 60+ minute boil for an extract batch. You can boil for 15-20 minutes and be fine for many styles if you adjust your hop additions and IBU's correctly. You can easily have an extract batch done in well under 2 hours from flame-on to cleanup.
Eric B.

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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #18 on: June 25, 2014, 09:28:19 am »
You can boil for 15-20 minutes and be fine for many styles if you adjust your hop additions and IBU's correctly.

Yep, that's what I do with the 'hop' batches. There's nothing gained from boiling extract long, if you accounted for the IBUs. No overdarkening.
Jon H.

Offline erockrph

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #19 on: June 25, 2014, 09:32:49 am »
You can boil for 15-20 minutes and be fine for many styles if you adjust your hop additions and IBU's correctly.

Yep, that's what I do with the 'hop' batches. There's nothing gained from boiling extract long, if you accounted for the IBUs. No overdarkening.

I've also done this with things like porters and brown ales to good effect. I first heard about it from Basic Brewing's 15-minute Pale Ale recipe, but it's not just limited to those styles.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline Delo

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #20 on: June 25, 2014, 09:51:18 am »
I wasn't saying it's cheating and no one should use extract, just that after so many AG batches it sort of feels like cheating to not have to monitor much.
Sorry, I’m not trying to infer that using extract was cheating was the meaning to your original post. My response was geared more towards brickpig’s, which I may have been reading into.  Probably why I dont post too often :)
and I would be lost on a brewday that goes smoothly and I’m not constantly doing something. 
Mark

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #21 on: June 25, 2014, 10:22:05 am »
I have been thinking about brewing another batch of "Rocky Racoon's Crystal Honey Lager" after I purchase another brewing refrigerator.  That's about the only extract beer I made after going all-grain in the fall of 1993.  I was always surprised at how well that beer turned out.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #22 on: June 25, 2014, 10:51:01 am »
I have been thinking about brewing another batch of "Rocky Racoon's Crystal Honey Lager" after I purchase another brewing refrigerator.  That's about the only extract beer I made after going all-grain in the fall of 1993.  I was always surprised at how well that beer turned out.

That was one of the first lagers I brewed, maybe the first. I remember liking it too. I brewed ales for awhile before trying a lager, so I bet it was '93 or'94 when I brewed it. I brewed his Propensity Pils recipe too, which IIRC was a Czech Pils with some honey added. The honey (taking the place of some of the extract) helped it attenuate pretty well too. I remember liking it pretty well.
Jon H.

Offline beersk

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #23 on: June 25, 2014, 12:30:30 pm »
You can boil for 15-20 minutes and be fine for many styles if you adjust your hop additions and IBU's correctly.

Yep, that's what I do with the 'hop' batches. There's nothing gained from boiling extract long, if you accounted for the IBUs. No overdarkening.

I've also done this with things like porters and brown ales to good effect. I first heard about it from Basic Brewing's 15-minute Pale Ale recipe, but it's not just limited to those styles.
This is good to know. Makes extract brewing a lot more appealing for even quicker batches. I always wondered about that. We don't boil starters for an hour. I suppose in all grain it's necessary because of the bacteria in the wort and 15-20 minutes isn't enough?
Jesse

Offline Stevie

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #24 on: June 25, 2014, 12:32:33 pm »
I suppose in all grain it's necessary because of the bacteria in the wort and 15-20 minutes isn't enough?


DMS as well.

Offline erockrph

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #25 on: June 25, 2014, 12:37:32 pm »
I suppose in all grain it's necessary because of the bacteria in the wort and 15-20 minutes isn't enough?
DMS as well.

Plus, you want a good hot break.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline beersk

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #26 on: June 25, 2014, 12:44:23 pm »
Oh, right...those things...
Jesse

Offline brick pig

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Re: Felt Like Cheating
« Reply #27 on: June 25, 2014, 01:15:06 pm »
A 5.5 gal. batch sparged AG batch takes me about 4.5 hours from the time I start heating water until I finish the cleanup.
Well, that's not bad at all. It usually takes me just under three hours for an extract batch (5 gallons), if I'm really paying attention to cleaning as I go.

Since others mentioned it, I will say that I am sometimes unhappy with the coloring in my beers, which I am sure would improve with AG. It's a minor concern, but there are occasions when they definitely should look lighter than they do. (Interesting, the idea of quicker boils and how that might affect color. I'll have to look into that.)

And just for the record: I was not at all offended by the term "cheating." I completely understood the OP's meaning.
--Monty