LME vs DME?

So, I noticed a lot of folks on here advocating the use of DME instead of LME and I was just kind of curious as to why.

I've noticed that I can't seem to get a truly light color out of LME, and I know I read somewhere that there can be a "twangy" taste with LME, but are there other reasons?

Well, you've mentioned the two main reasons. But it's also easier to store leftovers and keep on hand. Also, unless you can buy the LME in the quantity you need at your LHBS, you are stuck with the 3.3 pound cans. I have some DME that I use for starters and I just keep it in the bag with a twisty tie.

Thanks Yooper Chick, I was just curious, and yeah, the 3.3 lb cans are no good.

I just did a Cream Ale from NB and the color of the LME was astonishing. I've only seen dark colored LME and this was a nice gold color. I'm also impressed with the color of the beer it made as it's the most "beerlike" color I've ever gotten. (Meaning golden although it's a bit cloudy as I didn't secondary and bottled after two weeks.) I tasted it at bottling and it was outstanding brew.

Course I did late addition so got little carmelization but it was very nice.

I figured that the carmelization would be the cause of the darker color. Doing the late addition would probably alleviate that (a shorter boil of the extract at the very least).

Would upping the boil volume lead to more easily created lighter colors?

I still have problems with LME even with full boils. My last Hefe looked amber because of LME. Despite the cost I think I'm switching to DME for the ease of use and accurate colors.

I've moved on to AG, but I used to brew exclusively with LME. It all comes down to one factor: freshness. If you can get good fresh LME, you've got no worries. I always got mine from northernbrewer.com and had no problems. It's a big operation so they have a big turnover on their LMEs.

If you're worried about color, there are ways around it. I have a Honey Ginger Ale that is as light or lighter than BMC in color. I'd pour a pint and post a pic, but it's still morning here, so I'll add a picture later. I can't imagine a beer getting any lighter than that. One way around it is late extract additions. I did that to get light colors and more hop bitterness.

Chris_K said:

I still have problems with LME even with full boils. My last Hefe looked amber because of LME. Despite the cost I think I'm switching to DME for the ease of use and accurate colors.

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I had the same issue, but it was because of the color of the Wheat LME. The Wheat LME I got from nb.com was brown in color. It's hard to brew a light colored wheat beer with a brown LME. I'm not sure why it would be brown?!?!

I went all DME for my 3rd batch. I made an APA and got convinced to try all DME. 6 lbs of it and 30 minutes of boiling later I had a nice, light orange colored wort in my fermenter (the darkness of it comes mainly from the 1 lb of steeped crystal 40L, but it's light, which is what I wanted). I think from now on though, I'll do some late extract additions (even when going with DME), as carmelization doesn't help the color too much.

Another advocate of freshness. As LME ages, it not only gets darker, but it starts giving your brew what is refered to as the "extract twang". None of these problems with DME though.

I think Briess even makes a Pilsen DME now, I think I'll try some of that along with a late addition of Munich LME for my first lager.

Cheers!

for me i have a fresh supply of lme it cost me $5.40 a littre which works out to $1.80lb and my lhbs has alot avalable in bulk which is what i buy. on the other hand i found that dme where i am in canada is verry expensive like anywhere from $6-8 a lb where i am at least .so i get lme plus i have a better selection avalable locally so i dont have to wait for it to come n the mail

Orpheus said:

I had the same issue, but it was because of the color of the Wheat LME. The Wheat LME I got from nb.com was brown in color. It's hard to brew a light colored wheat beer with a brown LME. I'm not sure why it would be brown?!?!

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Word, I figured it was just "older" LME (from midwestsupplies.com, usually fresh ingredients), and that's why I got that color, maybe the maltster is putting something besides basemalt and wheat in it? Not sure, but I know DME is straw colored, like Hefe's are supposed to be.

I've seen that a lot of Wheat Extracts are already hopped.

wheat me pre-hopped, really? i've never seen any...are you talking about kits?

i suppose it would make sense...they only need a little bit of bittering and no aroma or flavor so you could potential just mix, boil, and ferment.

i've never bought pre-hopped, tho. doesn't sound like very much fun and the end product can't be too terrific.

DME.

The production process, particularly evaporation, degrades the malt extract to a small degree, although this has improved out of all recognition in recent years by evaporating under high vacuum. This enables evaporation to take place at temperatures as low as 55 degrees, thus preserving the integrity of the product. Spray-dried malt extract has the further advantage of only being evaporated to around 50% solids (the optimum for the spray drying process) as opposed to the 80% of syrup extracts.

I will always recommend DME over LME anytime.

However, if you are making a stout, bock, or porter it doesn't matter. The darker the better.