Why do some beer recipes contain both liquid and dry malt extract?
Why do some beer recipes contain both liquid and dry malt extract?
- Thread starter ozzyatfrbrich
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Brett0424
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Usually it's based on their assumption of what's available to people. For example, one book was written by the owners of a homebrew store. They happened to carry prepackaged extracts and bulk dry extract. So, they specify an amount of liquid available in cans (often 3.3 or 6.6 lbs) because liquid is cheaper. Then they add the extra amount you would need to make up the alcohol content you want, using dry.
homebrewer_99
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A recipe is just that...it's what they had on hand at the time and used. 
Brett0424's answer is most likely correct, although once in a while a recipe might use something like an amber LME and some pale DME to lighten it. 3.3 lbs is a dead give-away. That's a 1.5kg can and the most common size for kits.
Soulive
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IMO, its to expose new brewers to both types of extract. After playing with both types, new brewers can decide for themselves which one they prefer. Once I brewed about 3 combo brews, I went exclusively DME...
Austinhomebrew
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Some smart homebrew stores have only certain sizes of liquid malt available and if the recipe calls for more fermentables they make up the difference with dry malt extract. This allows the recipe kits to be made in advance instead of on the fly.
Forrest
Forrest
OP
OP
Thanks all. I started with DME and will stick with it.
Second batch under my belt and if it could go wrong it did. Fighting the urge to dump it; going to follow suggestions on this forum and complete it / taste it. Not worried, just frustrated.
Second batch under my belt and if it could go wrong it did. Fighting the urge to dump it; going to follow suggestions on this forum and complete it / taste it. Not worried, just frustrated.
HOOTER
Well-Known Member
DME is the best way to go. It has more fermentable sugars pound for pound, stays fresher longer, and lacks the "twang" sometimes associated with LME. Plus it doesn't sink straight to the bottom of the pot when added, reducing the chances of scorching.
BTW, what's the deal with your second batch?
I've always figured it was so they could dial in the gravity right. It's harder to measure out and store LME, so use "one unit" of it in the recipe (i.e. a 3.3# can) and for the residual use DME. You can open up a bag of DME and save the remainder for another day a lot easier than you can use half a can of LME.
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