So, you’ve mastered extract beer-making kits. What comes next? Is there a way to take your love for home brewing to the next level? There sure is! Just like switching from an automatic car to one with a stick shift gives you a more exciting driving experience, using an all-grain beer-making kit gets you one step close to the process that professional brewers use. In this blog, we’ll cover some of the key differences between all-grain and extract kits as well as some all-grain recipes to start with.

What Is an All Grain Beer Kit?

All-grain beer kits come with all of the grains and hops required to brew a batch of beer. For example, check out what’s included with the Hello There Wast Coast IPA Beer Kit. You’ll find ingredients like:

• Cascade Hops
• 2-Row Brewer’s Malt
• Galaxy Hops
• And so much more!

What’s the Difference between an All-Grain Beer Kit and an Extract Beer Kit?

Similar to extract beer packages, all-grain kits make your brewing experience more convenient by assembling high-quality ingredients in the exact portions you need. What’s the takeaway? You spend more time brewing beer and less time wandering store aisles, measuring out ingredients, and figuring out how to store awkward amounts of leftovers.

While all-grain and extract beer kits provide the same benefits, they do so in a different way that will affect your brewing process. With extract kits, you can simply stir many of your ingredients into your boiling mixture. With all-grain kits, however, you need first to steep the malt in hot water for about an hour to extract their sugars. Essentially, all-grain kits give you control over the step that extract kits would have already done for you. Think of it like making your own pie crust instead of buying a premade one from the store.

Because all-grain kits require extra steps, equipment, and precision, all-grain beer recipes are not for beginners. However, if you’ve got the hang of brewing with extract kits and you want to try something new, you can start with these simple beer recipe all-grain kits:

• All Saints Irish Red Ale
• 1-Hour IPA
• Slovenian Blonde Ale  

What Are the Ingredients in Homemade All-Grain Beer?

All-grain beer kits contain pre-portioned hops and grains for a specific beer recipe. For example, the Hop Truck IPA kit comes with:

• 2-Row Brewer’s Malt
• Crystal 20L Malt
• White Wheat Malt
• Honey Malt
• Rye Malt
• Carapils Malt
• Citralumbarillo Hops

In addition to what comes in the all-grain kit, you’ll also need water, yeast, priming sugar, and any additional flavors like honey.

How To Make Homemade Beer with an All-Grain Recipe?

The steps to making homemade beer with an all-grain recipe are:

1. Set up equipment.
2. Gather ingredients.
3. Clean and then sanitize all equipment.
4. Steep the grains for an hour, then remove them from the wort
5. Bring the wort up to a boil and continue the process like normal
6. Cool the wort and add your yeast
7. Allow wort to ferment.
8. Transfer the beer to the bottling container.
9. Prime bottles with priming sugar.
10. Fill bottles.
11. Cap and store bottles.
12. Share your homemade brew.

The key difference between making beer from all-grain kits and extract kits is that all-grain kits require you to steep your grains for an hour (Step 4) before starting the boil. (Step 5). To add in this step, you first need to know how to build an all-grain brewing system. Upgrading your system to handle all-grain kits requires a mash tun, like this 10 Gallon Cooler Mash Tun with a False Bottom. When you’re finished mashing, the false bottom will help filter out the remaining grain, keeping debris out of your mixture.

Is Brew in a Bag the Same as All Grain Brewing?

The brew-in-a-bag (BIAB) method can be used with all-grain brewing kits. Instead of putting your grains and water in a mash-tun, you can mash those grains directly in your brewing kettle. Essentially, you’ll be using a giant tea bag to suspend your grains in hot water as they form a porridge-like mixture, extracting the sugar.

If you’re looking for a way to use your all-grain brewing kits without investing in new equipment, then brew in a bag could be for you! 

Are Beer Kits Worth It?

Yes! Beer ingredient kits are worth it—for both all-grain and extract brewers—because they save you time and money. Instead of hopping from aisle to aisle and store to store, you get all of the ingredients you need in a single kit! You also only pay for what you need, so you won’t have to worry about excess portions going bad (and wasting your hard-earned money).

Explore our beer ingredient kit options to find the perfect recipe for your next brew!

What Are the Best Beer Kits for Beginners (All-Grain)?

The best beer recipes for beginners in all-grain home brewing are:

• Amber Ale
• Pale Ale
• Porter

These types of beer have an easier fermenting process than others and also have more forgiving flavor, aroma, and color profiles. Get started with our Physical Amber Ale Beer Kit, Chico Suave Pale Ale Beer Kit, or Porter Call Me a Taxi Beer Kit.  Check out the best beer making kits for beginners.

Find Exciting All-Grain and Extract Beer Kits at Great Fermentations!

Whether you’re making the jump to all-grain kits or you’re exploring different extract kit recipes, you can find what you need at Great Fermentations. Our enthusiastic team of experts is always ready to help you find your next awesome recipe, so give us a call or swing by to talk all things home brewing!