Can I add DME to a brew while it ferments?

So my last batch came up a little short on my OG. Can I add some DME to jump it up to where it should be?

Simple answer....NO

Stay tuned for the plethora of reasons to not to, as well as ways to make it work.

Actually, yes, you can. As long as you boil it first, you should be fine - if you're that concerned with it. However, be aware that you hop utilization will the be decreased (unless you compensate by boiling the DME with the appropriate hop amounts to achieve your original IBU/OG ratio).

Lots of high gravity fermentations are done this way by "dosing" the fermenter during fermentation in order to not stress the yeast so much at one time.

I assume yours isn't really a high grav fermentation, but the same methodolgy could apply if you really want it.

Since nobody has said why yet, the DME needs to be boiled so that it is sanitized - obvious when you've been at it a while, probably not so obvious when you have not, yet.

It looks all clean and innocent lying there in its bag, but it can harbor all sorts of nasties you do not want in your brew. So dissolve it in some water and boil for 15 minutes, then cool and pour the resulting syrup into your fermenter.

OTOH, you can simply RDWHAHB - so the alcohol content is a little low? So what? Are you in this hobby to get drunk, or to make beer? Lower gravity beer can be just fine.

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I am thinking I might just pass on the DME this time around, since it did start with a pretty high OG. I actually made the 888 RIS, so it did start out with a pretty high OG already.

No, it needs to be sanitized, and why would you want to do that?

Has anyone tried this recently? I brewed a WPA yesterday and only got about 60% efficiency (I've chalked it up to a poor crush from Midwest. When I crush my own, I'm in the upper 70's).

I hit around 1.034 SG when I expected around 1.052 SG. I was already pushing the limits for this beer with 40 IBUs at the estimated SG of 1.052. With such a low SG (1.034), I fear it's going to be waaay too bitter.

I was simply thinking about boiling a pound or two of pale DME then adding it to my primary.

BarkerBrewing said:

Has anyone tried this recently? I brewed a WPA yesterday and only got about 60% efficiency (I've chalked it up to a poor crush from Midwest. When I crush my own, I'm in the upper 70's).

I hit around 1.034 SG when I expected around 1.052 SG. I was already pushing the limits for this beer with 40 IBUs at the estimated SG of 1.052. With such a low SG (1.034), I fear it's going to be waaay too bitter.

I was simply thinking about boiling a pound or two of pale DME then adding it to my primary.

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Sure, you could do that. Cool it first, of course, then gently add it without splashing. One pound would add 9 SG points, two pounds would add about 18 points. Just use a little bit of water- you don't want to dilute the beer further!