Expert: Chris Bushman - 6/14/2002

Question
Hello,
I am new to brewing, and I've started to analyse the ingredient choices out there.

What are the advantages/disadvantages to using liquid or dry malt extract?  Also, is all-grain brewing worth the extra trouble?

Is the product of dry yeast that different from liquid yeast cultures?


Also, through reading I've become interested in meads.  What do they taste like exactly?  I haven''t been able to find someone nearby who sells it.

Thanks!

Answer
Hiya Brian,

Dry/liquid extract is pretty much a toss-up.  Dry has longer shelf life and is usually a little easier to handle.  Results are very similar.  The key is what is available with the characteristics you want.  Shipping of dry is lots cheaper.

All-grain is an advantage in that you can modify the characteristics to suit your needs.  Forinstance, if you do the saccrification rest at around 148 degrees instead of around 156 degrees the resulting beer has lighter body and is less sweet.  Couple this with different grain bills and you have infinite possibilities.  With extract, all those choices have been made for you.  This is not a problem if you find an extract that is exactly what you like.

Another advantage of all-grain is in making light colored beers.  Since the concentrating or drying of extracts darkens the color somewhat, really light colored extract beers are very difficult to make.

Serious extract brewers usually avoid hopped extracts since they prefer to make their own choices about hopping.

If you don't consider the extra time involved, all-grain brewing is much cheaper.

Yeast is very important to the end result of your beer.  Dry yeasts are cheap and convenient but they tend to be less pure than liquid cultures and there are fewer choices available.  The huge variety of liquid yeasts these days is really wonderful.  For best results, always make a yeast starter and aerate the wort well after pitching.

Mead is sort of like wine without the fruity flavor.  The variety in meads is vast.  They can be sweet or dry, flavored with anything you can imagine, and they can be sparkling or still.  They are not to everyone's taste, but I enjoy them.  Making them is really simple compared to all-grain beer brewing although the fermentation/conditioning time is much longer.

This hobby can be enjoyed in lots of different ways.  Some like to just knock out a quick generic brew using a complete hopped extract kit.  Some really get into it and grow their own hops, culture their own yeast, design their own recipes, and brew all-grain with intricate temperature step infusion methods for the mash.  What ever brings you the most pleasure is the right way for you.

If I can help with anything else, please feel free to e-mail me directly.

Chris Bushman
No Hollywood, CA
filmlabrat@earthlink.net