Challenges aplenty remain for the extract-dependent brewer. You can mitigate some, but remain aware of them as you brew.

• Color — The palest extracts can almost match the color of pale malt before the boil. During the boil they darken considerably, making pale styles impossible. The problem worsens because aging extract darkens, making consistent color prediction difficult.

• Cost — Malt prices have increased dramatically, but extract still costs. A five-gallon extract batch can easily cost between $20 to $50 where an all-grain batch costs less than half of that.

• Flavor — Despite the use of low-temperature methods, extracts caramelize during production. Carmel and oxidative flavors sneak through to the final product.

• Specialty extracts — If you want to brew a batch with grain besides barley or wheat, you're out of luck. To use rye or others, you'll have to perform a mini-mash.

• Nutrition — Extract has a dearth of nutrition for yeast. Adding yeast nutrient as a source of free amino nitrogen (FAN) is crucial for yeast health, even if you're only brewing low-gravity ales.

• Residual gravity — The days of super-sweet extracts are done, but brews often finish sweet. Part of this is nutrition and the rookie tendency to ignore yeast health, but some extracts are still designed for sugar additions.