dandw12786

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Hey everyone,

I'm looking at ingredients for an extract wheat beer. I've brewed my first, and its still in the fermenter, but at the moment it looks a little darker than I want (I'm reserving complete judgment of color until bottling day). I want to use dry malt extract for the next one to lighten up the color a bit (used two 3.3 lb cans of wheat LME for this one). Was thinking of a combination between Wheat and Pale extracts. My question (may be a dumb one) is, is light DME pretty much equivalent (ingredients-wise) to pale LME? I see wheat malt and pale malt both as ingredients in a lot of all grain wheat recipes, so that's where I'm coming from there. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!!!

PT Ray

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You just need to find some wheat extract. Briess wheat LME should be fine if you can find a supplier that buys in bulk and has a good turn around. I believe their wheat is made with wheat and 2-row which will provide a lighter color then someone like Muntons that uses wheat and pale malt. Plus Briess isn't imported and more likely to be fresher.

dandw12786

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I used Briess wheat LME, and it looks much darker than what I think it should be. Thats why I wanted to use a combination of wheat and pale (both DME, I've read those turn out a bit lighter than syrup... plus the syrup was kind of a pain to deal with). Just wondering if Light DME is similar to pale LME.

njbabs

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Quick answer: Yes

Long answer:
The difference is in potential. DME is more concentrated than LME. You need less DME in a recipe.

I've used both as a sub for base malt in partial mash recipes. I get whatever is cheaper. Although I think DME is a good call unless you know the LME is fresh.

Wheat beers are rarely (never?) 100% wheat, so def. a combo is a good idea. Look at some successful recipes and go from there (if its AG, replace 2 row with the light/extra light DME and wheat with the wheat DME).

Finally, if darkness is a problem (and particularly if you don't do a full wort boil) consider adding a large proportion of the extract in the last 10-15 of the boil. Unlike AG, you don't need the full boil time with extract since the malsters have done that. A quick sterilization will do. This reduces caramelization and darkening, especially in thick worts.

... it will also affect your hop utilization, so you'd need to factor that in.

crombie

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I believe Briess Wheat DME & LME is not 100% wheat btw., for example.

It's 65% Wheat / 35% Barley.

Source: http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Products/Malt_Extracts.htm#BavarianWheat