Light Dry Malt Substitute?

wkern42 · 09-29-2011, 03:38 AM

First time doing a Pale Ale, gonna cook it next day or two. Besides the 1.7kg can of concentrate it says "... 1kg Brew Enhancer (Alternatively 500g Dry Malt and 250g sucrose/dextrose)." I am not going to use the Brew Enhancer or the dry malt.

Does white sugar substitute 1 to 1 for light dry malt making a total of 750g white sugar or should I use a full kilogram of white sugar?

philjohnwilliams · 09-29-2011, 04:00 AM

Ummm.....why do you want to use white sugar? While sugar will work, it will not have the same taste as adding dry malt extract. 1kg of white sugar will likely give you some nasty cidery flavours, you really would be better off with DME.

wkern42 · 09-30-2011, 05:35 PM

My last batch, a Lager, i tried adding 1.1kg white sugar instead of 1kg like the recipe to see if it would be stronger. It was of course but the slight cidery/sweet flavor you mentioned was there, yes.

I do have the plastic netting for dunking milled grain (now i gotta find it), i did that for an IPA last year. I just called my store and they sell LME powdered. They also have various syrups which I may try someday. The store dude recommended 50% extra when using milled grain and 20% extra when using syrup vs. the powder bags.

Thanks for saving me from my frugal self.

**birvine** · 09-30-2011, 05:38 PM

I would do as the recipe suggests - add the DME or LME with a touch of sugar.

B

**unionrdr** · 09-30-2011, 06:37 PM

Sounds like a cooper's can,since they call theirs brew enhancer one or two. I just use plain light DME (the powdered stuff is DME,not LME). I use one cooper's can to 3lbs of plain light DME,with at least 2oz of hops for the style you're brewing. I like to use the cooper's cans as a base for something else.

joelmole · 09-30-2011, 08:23 PM

Are you doing this kit? So aside from the can of liquid malt extract, it says to add either 1kg of their Brew Enhancer, or instead use 500g of Dry Malt and 250g of either dextrose (corn sugar) or sucrose (white sugar).

Dry malt extract is better than sucrose or dextrose. It's pretty much dehydrated powdered wort (the liquid produced when mashing malted barley), so it's the closest analogue to what you use when brewing a beer in the traditional way from actual malted barley. You're asking to get rid of the dry malt extract and use strictly sucrose as an addition to the stuff in the can.

I would brew it as labelled, or get rid of the sucrose/dextrose completely and use only dry malt extract in addition to the can, as unionrdr suggested.

**unionrdr** · 09-30-2011, 08:57 PM

If you want to keep it to style,you could use 1.5lbs of plain light DME with the can,& it'd be fine. More flavor & ABV without loss of body.