Why all grain is better || Online all grain homebrewing course
Channel: Team Homebrew
Date: 09/01/2017

Download the free companion ebook Raw Beer: Getting Into All Grain Brewing. http://teamhomebrew.com/get-free-stuff/all-grain-brewing-beginners-ebook/

The beer is richly flavored. It hits its peak condition in weeks, not months. You have absolute control over the beer you make.

And it is exciting! I love all grain brewing because it is genuinely crafted at home. I use raw ingredients to make beer, just as people have been doing for 7000 years.

Although there are guidelines to follow, it is pretty hard to get wrong if you have good information.

Even if you break few of the ‘rules’, chances are your beer will still be drinkable. And most likely excellent.

A properly made all grain beer will get people talking.

The good news for beginners is that you don’t need a lot of gear to make truly awesome all grain homebrew.

However, it will be more hands-on. Extra gear and a dedicated ‘brew rig’ will make all grain brewing much easier, but it’s certainly not essential when starting out.

If you want to progress into full-time all grain homebrewing however, I suggest you set up a more substantial homebrewery. There is more advice and resources on the Team Homebrew Masterclass to help you make these next steps.

For now though let’s make your first all grain beer together.

I hope I have created great expectations.

Now to explain how to do it…

Compared to making beer with the usual concentrated homebrew kit, all grain brewing is more involved.

You are carrying out extra steps that the manufacturer would have otherwise done.

It is important to understand these steps so you can avoid mishap.

Let us look at the complete brewing cycle, so you can see what you are signing up for.

To make beer, the following happens…

The maltster’s work:
- sprout and dry barley to make it suitable for brewing (ie malting)
- roast malts to different levels to make different flavors.
The brewer’s work:
- crush the grain into a coarse meal
- mix this grain (AKA grist) with hot water at around 153°F (67°C) for 60 minutes
- drain off the sweet malt syrup and rinse residual sugars from the grains
- boil this syrup with hops
- cool the liquid and reintroduce oxygen
- pitch yeast and ferment at controlled temperatures
- package the beer (bottles or kegs).
What does this mean for homebrewing?
When homebrewing from tins of hopped malt extract, you are carrying out the last two steps in this process (fermenting and packaging). The manufacturer is doing the rest.

While brewing with tins is still enjoyable and rewarding, it means you are passing control to the manufacturer.

As with any food product, this extra processing destroys flavor.

When you make beer from all grain, you are stepping back into the brewing process and taking more control. The basic steps you will be performing are to:

- crush the grain or buy pre-crushed grain (I recommend this to start with)
- mix the grain with hot water and rest at the correct temperature and time
- extract the sugary malt liquid and rinse out remaining grain sugars
- boil solution with hops, cool and aerate
- as per the usual process, pitch your yeast and ferment, bottle and enjoy.

Sounds pretty straightforward? It is.

We’ll cover each of these steps in this course.

What if I have never brewed before?
No problems! If you are keen to dive in and familiar with the basics of homebrewing, there is no reason why your first batch shouldn’t be all grain.

Follow these principles:

- take cleaning and sanitizing seriously
- brew at the yeast’s recommended working temperature
- make sure your wort has finished fermenting before bottling.
Experiment once your confidence is up.

This online homebrewing course will help you make your first all grain beer. I’ve focused on the basics of all grain brewing to keep this simple and achievable to anyone.

We focus on the chronological steps which are unique to all grain brewing .

I reference other parts of the brewing process (eg bottling). However, they are not addressed in-depth.

These steps are common across homebrewing and explained in our other free online course on brewing with kits. To learn the fundamentals of homebrewing, watch the video modules and read the free companion ebook The Complete Kit: Mastering homebrew basics.

Combined, these two courses cover everything you need to know to brew, ferment and bottle beer from its raw ingredients.

There are also article, tips and advice in the Team Homebrew blog to complement what we cover here.

Our premium community

If you are interested in learning more about homebrewing and joining the global homebrewing tribe, check out our Team Homebrew Masterclass.

Here you will find premium homebrewing content and a supportive community to help you make truly awesome beer.

Follow the course, read the companion ebook and brew your first all grain beer. You won’t regret it.

Next we unveil the 10 all grain commandments that will make your all grain brewing a success.