9 replies to this topic

[EWW]

So, last Friday we did teh Pepsi Challenge™ with AG and extract batches of the official recipes brewed at our AHA Big Brew event. The results were unanimous ... everyone was success at telling the difference between the extract and AG versions of the Scottish and American Wheat recipes, and everyone preferred the AG batches. Both the AG and extract versions were brewed by experienced brewers, with similar gravities, and fermentation schedules. Tastings were done blind in cups marked with random symbols. The most common feedback was a more pronounced malt backbone to the AG beers. The AG Scottish picked up more roast character and was more appropriate to the style. IMO this could be recipe formulation issues, but the results were pretty clear. I brewed one of the extract batches (Scottish 60) and I could tell it was not up to par from the get go. It was a pretty interesting experiment, and I was surprised the results were so clear cut. We all know good beers can be brewed with extract, but this experiment amazed me due to how clear cut the results were. Thoughts?

Edited by EWW, 15 June 2010 - 08:31 PM.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

What kind of extract were you guys using? What differences could you specifically detect?While my AG batches have generally been better than my extract batches I can think of a couple of extract batches that I felt were pretty close to being as good as my AG batches.

[Stout_fan]

Old Fart and I would do the AG extract comp. Just by itself DME is pretty light bodied.By the time you start throwing adjuncts and mini-mashing it gets rather tasty.OF was over 50% mini-mash sugars.It really tortured me to inform him he was really an AG brewer.

[djinkc]

I think excellent beer can be made with extract and steeping and/or minmashing. It does have some inherent limitations on what you can do with the brew. It might not let you go exactly where you wanted to go, but an excellent beer can be made. We have an extract brewer in the KCBM club that can do that. You would never know it was extract. Myself? I'd probably botch it. I've made exactly one extract batch out of 200+ since I started brewing again. People that use it regularly can probably do much better than I would.

[SchwanzBrewer]

When I was doing extract last year I brewed MLPA 3 times as an extract. The second time was really good, but the last time it was indistinguishable from an AG beer according to my brewing buddy. It was absolutely perfect. I haven't been able to replicate that yet with AG brewing. I messed up the recipe the first time I tried so you couldn't compare it. I'm gonna brew it again as my next batch in a week or so and we'll see how it goes.Cheers,Rich

[Jimmy James]

What kind of extract were you guys using?

My question exactly.

[djinkc]

My question exactly.

FWIW when I've seen the club member extract brewer at the LHBS he has light dry extract and specialty grains on the counter. Never really discussed it much with him though.

[Beejus McReejus]

I did an extract batch a few months ago that turned out pretty well. It was different than an AG beer, but very drinkable. The biggest thing is how damn expensive LME/DME are!

[tag]

I think at least one of the NHC gold medal winners last year was an extract brew.

[EWW]

I did an extract batch a few months ago that turned out pretty well. It was different than an AG beer, but very drinkable. The biggest thing is how damn expensive LME/DME are!

This was my point in th OP ... Not saying the exract beers were bad, but there is a difference when you taste the AG and extract version o the same recipe side by sidewe used fresh bulk LME from the LHBS