Flavor and DME?

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RiversC174

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Hey guys, quick question. I just wanted to know if the different types of DME (light/amber/dark) add different flavors or if they all add similar flavor and just add different colors. I checked Papazian's CJOHB and he doesnt have much to say on the topic of DME other than how it is made. He seems to move right to the qualities of specialty grains but just notes that different manufacturers or the same type of DME may add diff taste, but not whether the diff types of DME add diff flavors. Thanks!

Joe
 
The color of the DME (Extra light, Light, Amber, Dark) Depending on the manufacturer, should be the only appreciable difference.

As an Extract Brewer I have learned the tea and the hops determine flavor, the type DME is mostly irrelevant to Flavor.
after reading more I found that Briess extracts will get sweeter as they increase in Color (Extra light is 80% fermentable Dark is 76% fermentable).. Muntons and Coopers say the difference is color.

Everything I could find Says that DME is basically a base and contributes almost nothing to the overall Flavor.

Edited this because Kaiser got me doubting what I have thought to be true (thanks man, learned something new).. What I found is I was mostly right, but some manufacturers have small differences in line the styles that color DME would be used in.
 
budbo said:
No! DME is DME.. The color of the DME (Extra light, Light, Amber, Dark) is just that..Color.. Extra light DME is the Same Sugar content as Dark DME the only difference is color.
I may have to disagree here. Not from experience but from what I read in the literature so far.

There are differences in taste for the colors of DME and the manufactures of DME (or any malt extract for that matter). These differences include maltiness and fermentability.

Kai
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Kaiser said:
budbo said:
No! DME is DME.. The color of the DME (Extra light, Light, Amber, Dark) is just that..Color.. Extra light DME is the Same Sugar content as Dark DME the only difference is color.
I may have to disagree here. Not from experience but from what I read in the literature so far.

There are differences in taste for the colors of DME and the manufactures of DME (or any malt extract for that matter). These differences include maltiness and fermentability.

Kai
Click to expand...

Dittos here.

My palatte is not refined enough to tell you the difference between vendors, but between light and dark DME there is a big difference.
I stay with the lightest I can and use various specialty malts to get color and flavor.

Greyhair
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Click to expand...
 
I looked this up relatively recently. Apparently most mfr's (well, all that I researched) use some version of a roasted barley to achieve darker extracts, which would be in line with the darker extracts being less fermentable. In this case it should certainly affect flavor.

If I were to brew extract w/grains, I think I would always use a light extract and rely on specialty grains to achieve darker color/flavor. I don't know if that's feasible for a stout/porter type beer, but that's what I'd try. Light extract essentially == 2-row, so this is what works for AG brewers if I may make that correlation.
 
Extra Light DME does not taste like Amber DME or Dark DME.

I think DME is brewed with the appropriate grains, which also imparts flavor, for its color.

If this is not true, then what you're saying is that DME is artificially colored and flavored?:confused: I don't think this is the case.

More to follow.:D
 
Dme or Lme extract,
comes in Amber, Dark
Pale and Wheat.
There is all the difference in the world between them in taste.
Guiness is mostly, if not all dark.
It tastes like a peat bog, old and funky.
20% dark, is tolerable and makes your 'stuff' dark and pleasing to the eye.
Amber is alright if 20% 30% is added to your wort.
Wheat is another flavor which is great but not alone.
As in rotell sauce.
The original is the best.
All the other varietys are not as good because the original is the best because it is the original.
How do you think it came to be te original?
It was the best!
The 2nds and 3rds are not the best and therefore are worse!
Dark, amber, and wheat taste like xxxx to me but they are nesessary in that one would get tired of the same thing all the time.
Pale Pale Pale would get old to the palate.
I mix a little of one or the other in my wort when I am feeling bored with the pale taste, but there is all the difference in the world in the taste.

{Don't buy a 50 Lb sack of dark, wheat, or amber
till you are sure you like it.}


J. Knife
 
JacktheKnife said:
Dme or Lme extract,
comes in Amber, Dark
Pale and Wheat.
There is all the difference in the world between them in taste.
Guiness is mostly, if not all dark.
It tastes like a peat bog, old and funky.
20% dark, is tolerable and makes your 'stuff' dark and pleasing to the eye.
Amber is alright if 20% 30% is added to your wort.
Wheat is another flavor which is great but not alone.
As in rotell sauce.
The original is the best.
All the other varietys are not as good because the original is the best because it is the original.
How do you think it came to be te original?
It was the best!
The 2nds and 3rds are not the best and therefore are worse!
Dark, amber, and wheat taste like xxxx to me but they are nesessary in that one would get tired of the same thing all the time.
Pale Pale Pale would get old to the palate.
I mix a little of one or the other in my wort when I am feeling bored with the pale taste, but there is all the difference in the world in the taste.

{Don't buy a 50 Lb sack of dark, wheat, or amber
till you are sure you like it.}


J. Knife
Click to expand...
is that a poem? it doesn't rhyme like i expected it to...:cross:
 
4% fermentability between light and dark isn't going to make much of a difference unless you aren't using any grains at all, I would think. If you can actually taste it then you have a much more refined palate than most. But that is just my opinion having used Light, extra light, and amber extracts I don't personally know anyone who could tell the difference in which extract was used.
 
So all else being equal (yeast, hops, no grains), if I were to brew two batches, one with wheat extract and one with dark extract, the taste would be identical/very similar?
Somehow this is hard to believe, but I have been wrong before. ;-) once
 
Wheat extract isn't made from Barley, so I'd expect some difference there. The point is more that the various DME (dry malt extract) are all made from just about the same stuff.
 
Sasquatch said:
Wheat extract isn't made from Barley, so I'd expect some difference there. The point is more that the various DME (dry malt extract) are all made from just about the same stuff.
Click to expand...
I think that's part of the debate. What does one mean by the "same stuff"?

For me, DME is made from the appropriate color/roasted grain.

Light DME is made from lightly roasted grains which produce a light DME and dark roasted grain is the basis of the appropriate dark DME.

That's my definition of it being the same. In this case the grain is equivalent to the resulting DME.
 
I look at it like the batch I made yesterday.. I wanted to only use grain I had left over from other batches and the recipator was showing it lighter than I wanted.. I added an oz of chocolate malt to the tea for color 1oz is not going to add much of anything to the taste but sparging it did darken it 3 points
 
The differences in base malts may be difficult at to detect at best but think of it this way...

If you take a nice steak some will eat it raw and it tatses good, most will throw it out on the grill and cook it - rare, medium rare, Medium, medium well, well done, and burnt to a crisp (don't ask me why but some like it that way).

The extremes are easy to detect the differences i.e. raw and burnt but the differences between say medium rare and medium are subtle. This is similar with the malts. Extra Pale = rare, Pale = medium rare, Amber = medium and Dark = well done. With the extra color there is also a slight change in flavor and sweetness.

I believe it is more a matter of styles than flavors but again if you made say a basic ale recipe with all other ingrediants the same but made one extra light DME and one with dark DME I am sure you would be able to detect a more significant difference than say performing the same experiment using Pale and Amber DME.

Extract Name ----------SRM----Gravity
Extra Light Dry Extract-------3----1.044
Pale Dry Extract---------------3----1.044
Amber Dry Extract-----------13----1.044
Dark Dry Extract ------------80----1.044


Hope that helps.
:mug:





RiversC174 said:
Hey guys, quick question. I just wanted to know if the different types of DME (light/amber/dark) add different flavors or if they all add similar flavor and just add different colors. I checked Papazian's CJOHB and he doesnt have much to say on the topic of DME other than how it is made. He seems to move right to the qualities of specialty grains but just notes that different manufacturers or the same type of DME may add diff taste, but not whether the diff types of DME add diff flavors. Thanks!

Joe
Click to expand...
 
DeejayDebi said:
The differences in base malts may be difficult at to detect at best but think of it this way...The extremes are easy to detect the differences i.e. raw and burnt but the differences between say medium rare and medium are subtle. This is similar with the malts. Extra Pale = rare, Pale = medium rare, Amber = medium and Dark = well done. With the extra color there is also a slight change in flavor and sweetness.
Click to expand...
THAT was my idea from the beginning...:D Thanks for the backup!
 

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