Powdered malt vrs Syrup question

HI
My first question here is pretty mundane, but here goes.
Still reading and learning and I have a question about extract.

A recipe calls for 6lbs of extract. Powdered extract comes in 1lb or 3lb bags or cans of syrup that are 3.3lb.

Does 6lbs of powder equal the same as 6lbs of syrup?
Cannot find clarification on this.
THANKS!
Lakedawgs

No it does not. You use less liquid malt extract vs. Dried malt extract (DME)

Deuce said:

No it does not. You use less liquid malt extract vs. Dried malt extract (DME)

Click to expand...

your statement means lme has higher potential than dme. in my experience, dme is around 1.044, and lme is around 1.037...

So does that mean a recipe that calls for 6lbs of extract means 6lbs of powder or one 3.3lb can of syrup?
Sorry to sound stupid, but I am having trouble wrapping my head around what is likely a simple thing.
Thanks,
Lakedawgs

if you use 2 3 lb bags of dme alone in a 5g brew, you'll get a 5% brew. with lme, if you use 2 3.3 cans, you'll get about a 4.85% or so. you really need more lme, as the syrup is less fermentable than the powder

Well, the LME has some water in it. So you'll need more of it to equal the amount of DME.

A good rule of thumb is 1 pound grain = .75 pound LME = .6 pound DME.

OK, so if a recipe calls for 6lbs of extract, then that is 6lbs of powder or 2, 3.3lb cans of liquid, in its simplest explanation.
Lakedawgs

yes. they sell it in 3 lb bags of dme and 3.3 lb cans of lme for a reason. they come to the same abv

In "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" Charlies Papazian mentions that you should feel free to use LME in place of DME and vice versa. The rule of thumb that he gives is that if you are using liquid malt extract in place of the dry malt extract to use around seventeen to twenty percent more LME.

So, for your recipe that calls for six pounds of DME you should probably be using seven pounds of LME or a little over that.

LME is also cheaper than DME, too, if that has any influence over using one over the other.

Happy Brewing!
Duffman53

If the recipe calls for DME and you want to use LME, add 25% to what the recipe calls for. If the recipe calls for LME and you want to use DME, only use 80% of what the recipe calls for. But yes, feel free to use whichever one is easier for you.