jbford

Recipes 

I recently bought some Cooper's Light DME (Morebeer) and some Briess Light DME (Midwest).

The Cooper's has a definite molasses taste, it is very faint in the Briess.

Will this cause the dreaded TWANG in the beer? Has anyone actually been able to relate malt taste to brew results?

(I have used the Briess Light DME a few times with excellent results)

Would it be best to just use the Cooper's for baking and not try to brew with it?

RichBrewer

Recipes 

It has been awhile for me but I always had excellent results from Coopers LME. I would go ahead and brew with it.

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Cheers,
Rich

SteveM

Recipes 

I prefer Cooper's to Briess - it seems to give a fuller, richer taste that suits my taste better. I suggest you experiment with different brands to see which you like best - the real test is the beer, not the extract.

HP_Lovecraft

Recipes 

The twang is produced from maillard reactions during concentrated boils. Full boils, or late boils elliminate the twang.

Some extracts taste "stronger" then others because some purpose mash at higher temps specifically to leave more non-fermentables, and other complex sugars, as well as rich carmalizations. The reasoning is that some extracts were developed with the intention of being mixed with sugars, to offset the thinning effect.

nick

wizardofza

Recipes 

In my experience, I've also never had the twang appear in darker beers. I always had it appear in lighter beers.

But, as HP said, you might fare better doing full boils.

sonetlumiere85

Recipes 

Pretty sure you've got some science mixed up there - maillard reactions are a desired component of many of the complex "malty" flavors that are desirable in styles like doppelbock, and you're right, they do develop in-kettle. Usually they develop as a result of decoction mashing, since it involves boiling drawn-off quantities of the mash. These are the same reactions that are responsible for the browning of bread during toasting - and extract twang definitely doesn't taste like toasted bread.

Extract "twang" is usually attributed to less than fresh extract, as well as canned extract. It's a less exact scientific explanation, but it is where most of the discussion leads.