DME: Light/Extra Light/Golden Light? And LME question

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nostalgia

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I'm interested in trying a Ginger Ale recipe I found here. It calls for 3# of Light LME and .5# of Light DME. I've got a few questions for y'all. Please be patient, as this will probably be my first non-kit brew. I've tried searching on these questions but can't find the right search terms, apparently.

My LHBS didn't have any Light DME, only Extra Light. Midwest is out of Light DME in 1# bags, but has Golden Light. I'd like to follow the recipe as written for the first try, so I should go with the Munton & Fison (UK) Light DME, right?

How will using a darker/lighter DME change the character of the recipe?

What is the difference between the DME listed above and, for example, Cooper’s (Australia) Light DME?

The can of LME is a 3.3# can. Will it affect the recipe significantly if I dump the whole thing in instead of measuring out exactly 3#?

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

-Joe
 
In my uses of DME I used to always go with the lightest I could find so you should be good there. This is just my personal opinion but when I was doing extract brews I tried to stay away from LME if at all possible.
 
Thanks for the info, gents. Any ideas about the other questions I posted? I don't want to cross-post over to the extract forum, but maybe if a mod sees this it should be moved there.

I did end up grabbing 2# of Munton & Fison (UK) Light DME. I'm quite sure I'll use the rest elsewhere ;)

Thanks much,

-Joe
 
The differences between all of the extracts you listed are minimal. You could certainly use any of them as a base for your recipe. The extra .3lbs of malt syrup from the can won't do anything but raise your OG slightly. If your really worried about sticking to just 3 lbs, you can remove the extra or make a slightly bigger batch to offset it.
 
The differences between all of the extracts you listed are minimal. You could certainly use any of them as a base for your recipe. The extra .3lbs of malt syrup from the can won't do anything but raise your OG slightly. If your really worried about sticking to just 3 lbs, you can remove the extra or make a slightly bigger batch to offset it.

I'm not worried, just trying to learn. I'm all for experimenting, but it'd be nice to have a general idea of what changing an ingredient might do to a recipe.

I appreciate the info!

-Joe
 
Always go to a lighter extract if you have to substitute. 10% changes in ANY ingredient are minor.
 
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