DME and/or LME?

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rhys333

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I notice many partial mash recipes out there call for both dme and lme, though I'm unsure why. I'm wondering why not just stick with one type of extract, particularly since many local suppliers generally stock one and not the other... In my area dme is pretty much all they sell unless you want to crack open and raid a beer kit for its lme.

Is there a benefit to mixing the two? If recipes call for base malt and specialty grains anyway, isn't that where the customization comes in? Puzzled :/
 
I notice many partial mash recipes out there call for both dme and lme, though I'm unsure why. I'm wondering why not just stick with one type of extract, particularly since many local suppliers generally stock one and not the other... In my area dme is pretty much all they sell unless you want to crack open and raid a beer kit for its lme.

Is there a benefit to mixing the two? If recipes call for base malt and specialty grains anyway, isn't that where the customization comes in? Puzzled :/

The reason for the mixing is usually due to the availability. For example, for me, LME only comes in 3.3 pound cans. If you need 5 pounds of LME, I would use 3.3 pounds in the can, and then use DME (1.5 pounds or so) to make up the difference.

Sometimes it's because there is a specialty extract used- like pilsner DME or Munich LME- but not usually.
 
Sometimes recipes are written by accident. "Well, I did this and it came out good so..."

If you need to adjust

1 lb LME = .8 lb DME
1 lb DME = 1.25 lbs LME

unless I'm having a brain fart and doing it wrong. In which case, I'm sure someone will correct me.
 
Thanks both for clarifying. I guessed it was that but wasn't sure. On the concentration calculation... I've been using the same ratio for dme:lme weights
 
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