Mike and I were working on a project on Sunday and we were discussing some Brew Dudes tips. One of those tips was about the use of Light Dry Malt Extract.
We feel a best practice for extract brewers is to use the lightest malt extract available. For color and flavor, steeping grains should be used.
For an extract brewer to transition recipes to an all grain procedure, it’s probably best to have your “base extract malt” to be light to better match the base malts like American 2 row or Pilsner. A darker malt extract would harder to replicate since it is based on a secret recipe.
We feel steeping grains give the brewer more control over flavor and color too.
Now, I am not sure where we stand on the dry vs. liquid debate. I like dry because it is easier to measure and I have had good results in making light colored worts.
What do you think?
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mike
i’ve never liked working with liquid malt. also it seemed silly to me that we should pay for the shipping on something heavier (since it contains water – water i can get from the tap).
we buy our Muntons Light DME in the 50lb box. fnd a really cool homebrew store owner who will order one for you (understanding that you’ll be back for specialty grains, hops, and yeast, for many many batches to come.)
Aaron
I prefer LME to DME, I find it easier to work with since it doesn’t clump. LME is slightly less processed than DME, since all DME is LME dehydrated a little longer, but I don’t think that actually makes much of a difference.
DME’s more shelf stable, but since I tend to buy my ingredients at most a day or two before brewing, that doesn’t affect me.
Ted S Carlson
You can order your own 50# box of DME from many places. For prepackaged 3# bags and free shipping, check out a new web site DMEmart.com – free shipping and the best price I have found…