What can I expect changing from canned malt extract to dehydrated?

neldred · 10-23-2009, 08:10 PM

Please share experiences...I've taken the Mr.Beer kits as far as they can go (I now do an hour boil with partial canned unhopped malt and bittering and aroma hops and then add additional hopped and unhopped malt after the boil), been using Wyeast for the last 6 batches. I'll basically be doing the same things but with Briess Pilsner dehydrated and no hopped extract. Thanks.

**Walker** · 10-23-2009, 08:13 PM

You'll be able to make lighter-colored beers with the dry extract and it will be (in my opinion) much easier to deal with the dry than the syrup.

neldred · 10-23-2009, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walker-san

You'll be able to make lighter-colored beers with the dry extract and it will be (in my opinion) much easier to deal with the dry than the syrup.

What about flavor differences? Is the 'zing' from cans a myth?

**Walker** · 10-23-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neldred

What about flavor differences? Is the 'zing' from cans a myth?

Forgot about the twang.

I brewed with extract for a long time and only had a few batches with a twang. Might have been all in my head, but all of those batches came from the same bulk LME jug.

That jug was translucent.

I never noticed anything off about batches I made with LME from opaque bags or tin cans or with batches made from DME.

So, maybe it was that particular brand or batch of LME. Maybe it was exposure to light because of the jug. Maybe it was coincidence.

neldred · 10-24-2009, 03:29 PM

TY Walker, anyone else?

**Revvy** · 10-24-2009, 03:44 PM

Extract twang is a myth....Even Forrest at AHS has said so.

I discuss it here. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/extract-twang-aging-129926/#post1463413 It's mostly somoeone tasting green beer and blaming it on something they heard about....rather than just realizing they tasted it too soon.

I prefer Dry to liquid extract. Just be aware that as it hits stem it clumps, but for giggles once I added my entire 10 pounds of dme for a recipe into the kettle at once, and with a lot of elbow grease it dissolved fine..but it took a lot of stirring....but it all dissolved.

When I am formulating any extract with grain recipes I ALWAYS base it around Extralight DME, then I get all my flavor and color complexity from my steeping (or partial mashing) grains. That way you get to use more and varied grains.

For example, let's say you are making an amber ale....If you based it around amber extract, you have very little room to get complexity from roasted or crystalized grains.....you run the risk of muddying the flavor and ending up too dark for your recipe.....

Staying with my Amber example...The Srm range for that style is SRM: 10 – 17 so if your base extract already puts you into 14 srms, you son't have much room to move around it....you may be able to sneak in a pound of crystal 30 let's say in it.

But if your Extralight DME has a color of 5 SRMs, you can really get into the recipe and play around with different combinations of grains until you get into the right color and Og range for the style.

It's kind of like making model airplanes....remember the "snap together" types that you started out with? You had maybe 8 pieces; 2 body halves two front wings, 2 rear wings and maybe 2 pieces for a cockpit, or two pieces for landing gear...

But if you got one of those 500 piece b52 bomber kits....you had a much more complex final product.

chefmike · 10-24-2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

It's kind of like making model airplanes....remember the "snap together" types that you started out with? You had maybe 8 pieces; 2 body halves two front wings, 2 rear wings and maybe 2 pieces for a cockpit, or two pieces for landing gear...

But if you got one of those 500 piece b52 bomber kits....you had a much more complex final product.

The great thing about making beer is that the product is more complex AND you are SUPPOSED to drink it...

(i dont know why everyone got so uptight about sniffing the glue... it smelled great to me...)

neldred · 10-24-2009, 04:48 PM

Thanks Revvy, I bought 8 lbs of extra light DME a few days ago, per your exact advice here.

Question though on 'green beer', when do ales really come together, (and no one has been able to answer this clearly), what are the realities of extended conditioning (secondary or the bottle)? What are the rules of a regular ABV (3-6%) vs a medium (6-8%) vs a higher (9%+)? I understand that lagers get left to age at colder temps for months, but it seems like even the commerical craft brewers put ales from boil to bottle in 6 weeks.

Just with my can kits, it takes 12 weeks for them to really come into their own (although I admit I have been doing higher ABV beers, 7-8.5%).

EDIT: just read through the thread you mentioned. Although I'm still curious what the general age time for a commercial craft ale would be.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/extract-twang-aging-129926/#post1460002

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

Extract twang is a myth....Even Forrest at AHS has said so.

I discuss it here. http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/extract-twang-aging-129926/#post1463413 It's mostly somoeone tasting green beer and blaming it on something they heard about....rather than just realizing they tasted it too soon.

I prefer Dry to liquid extract. Just be aware that as it hits stem it clumps, but for giggles once I added my entire 10 pounds of dme for a recipe into the kettle at once, and with a lot of elbow grease it dissolved fine..but it took a lot of stirring....but it all dissolved.

When I am formulating any extract with grain recipes I ALWAYS base it around Extralight DME, then I get all my flavor and color complexity from my steeping (or partial mashing) grains. That way you get to use more and varied grains.

For example, let's say you are making an amber ale....If you based it around amber extract, you have very little room to get complexity from roasted or crystalized grains.....you run the risk of muddying the flavor and ending up too dark for your recipe.....

Staying with my Amber example...The Srm range for that style is SRM: 10 – 17 so if your base extract already puts you into 14 srms, you son't have much room to move around it....you may be able to sneak in a pound of crystal 30 let's say in it.

But if your Extralight DME has a color of 5 SRMs, you can really get into the recipe and play around with different combinations of grains until you get into the right color and Og range for the style.

It's kind of like making model airplanes....remember the "snap together" types that you started out with? You had maybe 8 pieces; 2 body halves two front wings, 2 rear wings and maybe 2 pieces for a cockpit, or two pieces for landing gear...

But if you got one of those 500 piece b52 bomber kits....you had a much more complex final product.