Hey guys, I'm starting my first beer sometime within a week. An Irish Stout kit that uses Malt with speciality grains. I was just wondering what kind of flavor differences (if any) could be noticed from using all malt, a malt/specialty grain combo, or all grain for beer?
AG vs Malt
- Thread starter Dmitri
- Start date
-
Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
-
We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
General rule - more grain, more resulting complexity in the flavor profile. You'll get more aromatics present in any beer brewed from all grain, since some of that stuff is driven off in the process of condensing malt wort down into syrup and/or dry powder. The only caveat to the rule is that it will only be true if you know how to properly mash and sparge your grain. Enzymes are the key, and they work over relatively narrow temperature ranges, so proper process control is essential to get the most that you can out of an all-grain brew.
I would recommend doing a partial mash before going AG. Its a nice intermediate step to get acquainted with controlling temperature and getting good efficiency. With a partial mash, even if you mess up the result is pretty drinkable. You can get a lot of the desired complexity with a partial mash as well since you are only replacing your base grains with extract.
What type of specialty grain does it include? Some grains only require steeping, others mashing.
For a first beer I would recommend extract with steeping grains as it doesn't require any additional equipment (except grain bags) but will result in a better product than extract brewing alone. If you have the equipment, do a partial mash.
modified to add: Check out John Palmer's online book. Its free and will give you good info on how to handle grains as well as how to build the additional equipment needed to go AG: http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html
What type of specialty grain does it include? Some grains only require steeping, others mashing.
For a first beer I would recommend extract with steeping grains as it doesn't require any additional equipment (except grain bags) but will result in a better product than extract brewing alone. If you have the equipment, do a partial mash.
modified to add: Check out John Palmer's online book. Its free and will give you good info on how to handle grains as well as how to build the additional equipment needed to go AG: http://www.howtobrew.com/sitemap.html
i did partial mash with my last 2 beers and they defifnately turned out better. i dont know how to describe the difference other than by saying it just tastes like it has a fuller flavor, i guess more complex it the way to describe it. the others just seemed like they were missing something.
check out the "handy masher" at www.heartshomebrew.com. thats what i used. its pretty nifty. i dont think it will hold 7#'s of grain as advertised, probably more like 6 which is what i used and it was pretty full. it took a little bit of playing with it but it worked like they said it would.
check out the "handy masher" at www.heartshomebrew.com. thats what i used. its pretty nifty. i dont think it will hold 7#'s of grain as advertised, probably more like 6 which is what i used and it was pretty full. it took a little bit of playing with it but it worked like they said it would.
After years of extract brewing, this article turned me on to mini-mashing:
http://www.byo.com/feature/1536.html
Now its just a matter of time before I go all grain.
http://www.byo.com/feature/1536.html
Now its just a matter of time before I go all grain.
