Trapaddict

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I have the opportunity to purchase some drums of LME at about a dollar a pound. Problem is that you need to keep a CO2 or Nitrogen blanket in the container to ward off the evil bacteria and mold that would like to spoil your goodies. Anyone have any suggestions on a metod to do this? I thought of putting it in spare corny kegs but I hate to tie up that many of my fleet for that.

Baron von BeeGee

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Can you get a similar deal on DME? DME would be a lot easier to deal with. I think most HBS's go ahead and 'part out' LME when it arrives into sealed foil pouches, but I may be mistaken.

autoferret

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maybe make you own sealed pouches? 3.3lbs and a smaller size too???

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Janx

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I second the DME idea. DME is much more useful and produces better beer than LME.

a - CO2 or Nitrogen won't protect the LME against infection...it may be too concentrated to get infected, but I'm not sure. In any event, CO2 and Nitrogen won't do it.

b - There is no way to store LME such that it doesn't continually darken. That's another reason why DME is much better. You can come closer to making lighter colored beers that you can never make with LME.

__________________
Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit
For my head will fly, my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die
Won't you pour me one more of that sinful Old Janx Spirit

budbo

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Sanitized Mason jars?

Brewpastor

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just start making beer and don't stop until it is all gone.

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Before I learned to brew I was poor, sober and lonely. Now I am just poor.

Walker

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I've got about half of a 30 lb jug of LME that I bought several months ago. I don't like it (beers seem to develop a tang after a few months, plus the whole thing with it being too damn dark to make a light colored beer.) I might use it to make starters, but I bought bulk DME and am just using that for my batches now.

Anyway, Mine has been sitting at a variety of temps for a while now, and it has not started growing hair or anything. It sould keep for you for a while.

-walker

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Boston

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$1 a pound is tough to ignore...can you freeze LME? Maybe in 1 gallon milk jugs?
Jeff

Walker

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I don't see why you couldn't freeze it.

Yeah, I see your point... at $1/lb, that's hard to pass up. I think I paid about $1.80/lb (or so) for my bulk jug.

-walker

__________________
Ground Fault Brewing Co.
Proud member of the GRABASS Brewing Disorganization
Help me give childhood cancer the middle finger and donate to the St. Baldrick's Foundation.
If everybody here gave just $1, it would rattle the walls in a big way.

Trapaddict

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Jannx said:

"A CO2 or Nitrogen won't protect the LME against infection...it may be too concentrated to get infected, but I'm not sure. In any event, CO2 and Nitrogen won't do it."

Why would removing all of the oxygen not inhibit the growth of mold or bacteria? Since they both need oxygen to propigate, wouldn't removing it also minimize the risk of infection?

I have not been able to find as good of a deal on DME. $2.40 is as good as it gets right now on a 55# bag. That's for Muntons. I have not checked into any other manufacturetrs yet. That's why the LME was so attractive to me. $1.30 a pound for the 33# mini and $1.12 for the 176# mid sized drum really got my attention. A 655# drum is under $1 but more than I could possibly use. I still have a few more calls to make to see what I can do to knock that DME price down to a level I can live with. Any mid-michigan brewers out there interested in going in on a bulk buy????