Amount of DME?

Last month I used a kit for my first time brewing.
The recipe in the kit called for 2.5# of DME.
This month, my second time brewing, I'm using the kit recipe as a base and changing a few things Replacing Willamette with US Fuggle etc).
I could only find 3# bags of DME.
If I use the full 3# instead of the 2.5#, how much of a difference will it make?
Will it screw it up?
Make the alcohol content higher?
Or should I just put 2.5% in and save the rest?

0.5 lb is very simply not a factor for main feature (base) malts....but this amount in the flavoring malts can be a noticeable difference.

chefzilla said:

If I use the full 3# instead of the 2.5#, how much of a difference will it make?
Will it screw it up?
Make the alcohol content higher?
Or should I just put 2.5% in and save the rest?

Click to expand...

- the taste will be a little stronger (maltier)
- it will not screw up, only make it stronger
- yes, the alcohol content should be higher
- use it all or save: up to you.

what is your recipe? how big a batch is this?

It's a 5 gallon batch.
I'm using the same recipe as the brewers best American amber except I'm replacing the hops and the yeast.
I'm using Fuggle instead of Willamette and safale US 05 instead of whatever yeast came with the kit.
3.3 # amber LME and caramel grains.

I liked the way it came out but I want to experiment.

You can even save the odd half pound to make starters when you try liquid yeasts. but using it now will make a small difference.

chefzilla said:

It's a 5 gallon batch.
I'm using the same recipe as the brewers best American amber except I'm replacing the hops and the yeast.
I'm using Fuggle instead of Willamette and safale US 05 instead of whatever yeast came with the kit.
3.3 # amber LME and caramel grains.

I liked the way it came out but I want to experiment.

Click to expand...

your desire to experiment is the sign of a true homebrewer

however, are you sure the recipe only called for 2.5 lbs of DME? that works out to an OG of 1.023. even 3.3# in 5 gallons is only 1.029. i would think that most batches would need at least double that.

Brewers Best American Amber
FERMENTABLES
3.3 lb. Amber LME
2.5 lb. Amber DME
SPECIALTY GRAINS
1 lb. Caramel 80L
HOPS
1.25 oz. Bittering
.5 oz. Aroma

I input the ingredients into BS2,but had to guess on the bittering & aroma hops. But here's the numbers I got;
American Amber ale
Est original gravity; 1.039 It then gives a range of 1.045-1.056 to the right of the graph.
Est bitterness; 39.8IBU against 20-40IBU range.
Est color; 13.4 against 11-18SRM range.
Est ABV; 3.7 against 4.5-5.7% range.
Est pre-boil gravity; 1.064
Est final Gravity; 1.010
5 gallon batch size

Thats one of the problems with Brewers best kits. you dont know your hops or yeast until you open the package. I brewed their Witbier 2x 1st came with Munich yeast the 2nd safbrew wb-06

grem135 said:

Brewers Best American Amber
FERMENTABLES
3.3 lb. Amber LME
2.5 lb. Amber DME
SPECIALTY GRAINS
1 lb. Caramel 80L
HOPS
1.25 oz. Bittering
.5 oz. Aroma

Click to expand...

so i plugged your numbers into hopville: http://hopville.com/recipe/1695038

with the 2.5 lbs of DME, you have a predicted OG of 1.049, FG 1.012 and 4.9% ABV.
with the full 3 lbs of DME, you have a predicted OG of 1.053, FG 1.013 and 5.3% ABV.

so i would go ahead and throw in the extra half pound of DME. mind you, those FG & ABV numbers are a bit on the aggressive side. you might not hit those numbers if you don't get a good strong fermentation. it will also depend on what yeast you use - some attenuate more than others.

careful about you hops substitutions, especially the bittering addition. you need to take alpha acids (AA%) into consideration if you want to keep the beer as bitter as the previous batch. if you use hops that have twice as much AA, you'll want to use only half as much. or use the same amount if you want a more bitter beer.

and if you're a fan of hops, i would suggest increasing the aroma addition. a half ounce of willamette or fuggles in a 5 gallon batch is going to be very subtle. you could easily double that amount, if not more. i would also add half with 10 minutes left in the boil, and the other half at the very end of the boil (flameout).

I ended up using the extra 1/2#.
I got an OG of 1.050.
Thanks guys you all were a big help.
It's fermenting very nicely.