Extract Or All-Grain Brewing?

This is a topic of great debate among home brewers.  My opinion is that both serve their purpose and both methods can create excellent beer.  Plenty of extract brewers have won awards in competitions, even against all-grain brews.  I know guys who have been brewing extract since the 1980s.

Some people may be living in apartments or otherwise not have a lot of room.  Having kids or simply a very busy schedule means less time for brewing – extract or other automation can help with that situation!  Others love to tweak things as much as possible and love the flexibility and control of all-grain.   The only “bad” ways to brew are not sanitizing and not paying attention to what you’re doing (and the latter will probably still result in drinkable beer!).  I’d say the bottom line is to find what works best for you.  Each of us has different situations in life, but homebrewing overall is pretty adaptable.

So, how about some pros and cons?

Extract pros:

• Ingredient quality has improved.
• Lower cost of entry (less equipment).
• Shorter brew sessions.
• Less space needed for brewing and storage.
• Can use a kitchen stove.

Extract cons:

• Less control over ingredients.
• Higher cost for ingredients.
• “Extract twang”.

All-Grain pros:

• Greater control over ingredients.
• Greater control over recipes.
• Lower cost for ingredients.
• More tinkering possibilities.
• More variables to monitor during a brew session.

All-Grain cons:

• Higher cost of entry (more equipment*).
• Longer brew sessions.
• More space needed for brewing and storage.
• More variables to monitor during a brew session.

Did I miss anything?

*Brew-In-A-Bag could be excluded but it does still require more costs in equipment than extract so I say it stays!