Although we highly recommend starting out as an "ALL-GRAIN" brewer, we also have complete systems for those already engaged in brewing with malt extract, or for beginner brewers that want to learn brewing in smaller steps.

We recommend using the lightest extracts possible and using specialty grains in a "mini-mash" type tea to flavor your malt extract based wort. Although you can make good beers using malt extract, it is nearly impossible to duplicate the flavors of beer made directly from the grain. Simply put, the best beers in the world can only be made directly from the grain itself (see our BREWTREE systems for more detail). This is because malt extract is basically the same sugars you would make when brewing an "ALL-GRAIN" recipe, but has been condensed through evaporation which often uses heat, thus altering the flavors of the malt and your beer.

While grain is significantly cheaper than malt extract, it does require more equipment. If you think you will be brewing for the long term, that may help justify the larger up-front cost of doing all-grain brewing, as you will be saving money on cheaper ingredients each time you brew. If you are unsure and are just getting into homebrewing, you can always start with a malt-extract based system and use our E-Z Upgrade program to save money on upgrading to all-grain at a later date.