All LME brew

Has anyone attempted this? I'm asking cause I just made one last night and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I usually do all-grain BIAB but I was pressed for time and just needed to pump out a brew in time for New Year's Eve. I'll be interested to see how many others have tried this and if you had any luck.

My recipe:
6.6lbs Briess Golden Light LME
1 lb Briess Munich LME
First Wort - 1oz Amarillo 8.4% (added after I brought the water to a boil, removed from heat, added all LME, then added first wort hops, brought back to boil)
20min - 1oz Centennial 8.7%
15min - 1oz Centennial 8.7%
2min - 1oz Centennial 8.7%
Flame Out - 1oz Centennial 8.7%

Also dropped in a Whirlfloc at 15min & Servomyces capsule at 10min.

WLP007 in a 1L starter.

If the extract is fresh, the beer should be decent. You might notice a lack of malt aroma, though. Some of the volatile aromatics of malt are lost when the extract is condensed. Only extract beers are sometimes described as tasting somewhat like alcoholic iced tea. For almost all stovetop extract brews (or full-wort-boil extract brews, for that matter), making a small partial mash will do wonders for the beer.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/add-base-malts-to-your-extract-beers/


Chris Colby
Editor
beerandwinejournal.com

I made an all extract APA in the summer and it turned out fantastic. I had many compliments. I am going to add some grains to it next time; but it was very good as is.

I've brewed many an extract-only beer in my day. As already noted, the key here is fresh extract. I would suggest brewing either a yeast-dominate beer, like a hefe or a Belgium-style, or a hop-forward beer, such as an IPA. You can make some darn fine beers that way.

You can make outstanding all LME extract brews.

Ive been doing only LME extract beers for all of my brewing time... that being said its only since July. Works well, I ferment 2 weeks, bottle carb for 3, 2 weeks just isnt quite enough. Before drink ready. Getting more patient, letting the bottles condition longer for head retention

I'll be kegging this one so hopefully it will be decent enough by then.

Assuming the extract is fresh, the only drawback with it is that it might finish higher than an equivalent all-grain brew. I usually add a pound of sugar to help dry it out; usually brings it down a couple of points.

Good to know for next time I try this. Switched out the blowoff tube yesterday. Will hopefully throw it in the keg this weekend.

In case anyone was wondering, the beer turned out drinkable. It was a little sweet for my taste. It got stuck at 1.022. My friends liked it and drank it all that night, so I say it was a success, though I'm not sure I want to repeat this one. At least I know I can get something decent enough for friends without very much effort.

Try adding the LME with 15min left next time. No need to boil it the whole time since it is already extract. This is what I do now and it makes a big difference. I use steeping grains when I do Extract brewing but the process is basically the same.

Most of my recipes these days are all-LME, because my LHBS has big barrels of it and a scale so you can get exactly how much you want. Its great! no more 6.6 lb milk jug plus a 1 lb DME bag to achieve clsoe to what you want.

recently made a small batch of IPA using 2 lbs Pale LME, 1 lb Golden LME. Love it!

The key is to add half right away, then the rest late in the boil. It also tends to make for darker colors, but meh, doesnt bother me.

I started doing all LME brews, tasted too metallic for me, pushed me to all-grain

Texconsinite said:

Most of my recipes these days are all-LME, because my LHBS has big barrels of it and a scale so you can get exactly how much you want. Its great! no more 6.6 lb milk jug plus a 1 lb DME bag to achieve clsoe to what you want.

recently made a small batch of IPA using 2 lbs Pale LME, 1 lb Golden LME. Love it!

The key is to add half right away, then the rest late in the boil. It also tends to make for darker colors, but meh, doesnt bother me.

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Same for me, $3 a lb is more expensive for me than ag, and I brew to keep costs down

Wingnutt73 said:

Try adding the LME with 15min left next time. No need to boil it the whole time since it is already extract. This is what I do now and it makes a big difference. I use steeping grains when I do Extract brewing but the process is basically the same.

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I actually only did a 20 min boil for just that reason.

I would definitely recommend using steeping grains as well, but this was an experiment to see if I could make a beer from setup to cleanup in less than 90 minutes. In that respect, it worked. Though it wasn't the best product I've churned out.

In my regular brewing life I brew mainly all-grain BIAB. I get around 80% efficiency, depending on yeast.

skitter said:

I started doing all LME brews, tasted too metallic for me, pushed me to all-grain

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I thought I would get that as well. I don't know if the hops or the sweetness covered it up, but I didn't get a metallic taste at all. If I tried it again and used Notty or US-05 it may end up with the metallic taste, since they would dry it out to the appropriate level.