All Grain to Extract Conversion...First attempt. Need your input

BeerMaker has so graciously handed me a Delirium clone that is a all grain recipe. I have done some research around here and have made an attempt to convert to partial mash/extract. Below is the calculations.

Delerium Tremens Yeild: 5 gallons
OG: 1.084-1.085
EG: 1.013-1.015
ABV: 9.5%

11.75 lbs Pilsner Malt - Mulitply by .67 Dry or .75 syrup = 7.87 DME or 8.81LME.
7 oz Munich malt - Steeped specialty grain
5 oz Biscuit Malt - Steeped specialty grain
3 oz Aromatic Malt - Steeped specialty grain

Steep grains at 155 for 45 min.


Mash grains @ 149 degrees for 90 minutes.

Bring to a boil and add:
1.5 lbs LightCandy Sugar
1 lb Inverted Sugar
1.5 oz Styrian Gold hops

Boil 45 minutes, add:

1/4 oz Styrian Gold Hops - I am assuming that all hops are pellet.
1/4 ox Saaz Hops
1 tsp Irish Moss

Boil for 11 minutes, add:

1/4 oz Saaz Hops
1/2 tsp Paradise Seed

Boil for 4 minutes

Cool andpitch yeast. It isrecommended that you hold out a bit of the yeast and make a starter. Pitch the second batch 3-5 days before you bottle it.

The other question that I have on this is what type of extract do I substitute for Pilsner Malts. I looked around on a couple of websights and could not find a Pilsner DME or LME

What you have here looks to me like it will work fine! As for your extracts, you're looking for the lightest color you can find. When I was doing extract/partials, I had good success using Bierkeller LMEs. I also tried Briess LME with very good results. You might want to look into their LMEs. They have a Pilsen Light that looks interesting, though I never tried it. A LHBS in my area, Perfect Brewing, carries Briess and has online ordering.

Search on 'pils extract' instead of pilsner. Looks like a couple of online places offer it. I've also seen other recipes that substituted extra light dme for pilsner malt, although I assume the flavor will be different than if pils extract were used.

I was looking on my LHBS websight and they did not have it. I called the store and they just got it in yesturday. Looks like I will be good to go. I think that I will have to brew up one more quick batch to fill the last tap on the kegerator then I can brew up this one. I figure I need to get my stock up for this one is going to sit a while.

What feedback, if any do you have on your recipe? I am looking to brew a beer close to this for my club's Xmas party

George Bach

I'm going to stir the pot a bit here: I think you can definitely overthink the conversion of the base malts in an AG recipe to DME or LME for an extract + grains version.

The flavor component of the base malts is a pretty subtle contribution to the overall flavor of a beer. If you were to brew this recipe AG with american 2-row instead of Pilsner malt, would you tastes the difference? Quite possibly you would, but it would be a very subtle difference, I predict.

I think a good rule of thumb would be to substitute whatever very light colored malt extract you prefer for the base malt portion of an AG recipe and then RDWHAHB. The specialty grains, spices and, in this case, yeast strain, are going to be much more obvious sources of flavor/color.

Put another way: I would use expensive sea salt to brine a piece of Copper River Salmon before alder smoking it, but if I were preparing spicy BBQ ribs, I'd use plain old kosher salt instead, since I highly doubt I'd taste the difference amidst all the more assertive flavors of the ribs.