Dryness in extract beers

Hey,
I have been brewing extract for a year now and still struggling to get past the excessive body in my beers. Any suggestions on how to brew dryer beers using extract?

Add most of your extract near the end of the boil. Replace 0.5 to 1lb of extract with a simple sugar. Use a yeast strain with higher attenuation. Those the basic strategies. Of course, that assumes you are aerating well and pitching a proper amount of yeast already.

Thanks! That's really helpful!
So in 5.5 pound recipe I'm replacing .5 pound with simple sugar and splitting it something like 2 and 3?

Every time I use extract I get the same thing. Made a basic lager using Pilsen dme and it just has a bit of cloying sweetess or "tang" at the back of the mouth. Otherwise it is a nice beer.

Bboybrewing said:

Thanks! That's really helpful!
So in 5.5 pound recipe I'm replacing .5 pound with simple sugar and splitting it something like 2 and 3?

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Yes. What I would do is use about a pound of extract per gallon of water in the boil (more or less, no need to be exact), and then add the simple sugar and more extract at flame out.

Those are good general intructions Billl gave, but if you have a recipe next brewday, we can take a look and give more specific advice, like don't use maltodextrine, or use more sugar, or none, or change out the yeast, etc. Each recipe can be different, because an IPA is more light bodied than, say, a barleywine. An IPA can often use quite a bit more simple sugar than a dopplebock (which would have none), so while generalizations are great we can be more precise with a specific recipe and goal in mind.

Wow awesome! I just signed up to homebrewtalk, and this was my first post....you guys are so incredibly helpful, thank you!

how about this pale ale:

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Bboybrewing said:

Wow awesome! I just signed up to homebrewtalk, and this was my first post....you guys are so incredibly helpful, thank you!

how about this pale ale:

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Click to expand...

I'd definitely reduce the amount of Carapils in your recipe. It adds body to the beer, so if you're wanting something drier/thinner, you might want to reduce that down to 0.25-0.5lbs.

Looks a little light on the hops for a Pale Ale.

Calder said:

Looks a little light on the hops for a Pale Ale.

Click to expand...

And a little light on the color.

But yeah, that's way too much carapils, this is often unnecessary with extract kits, because they will usually leave more unfermentables than all-grain. I would substitute that with .5lbs 20L crystal malt, personally. According to beersmith, that should have you landing at around 1.011, which is plenty dry for a pale ale.

Though, if you also add .25lbs table sugar, this will boost the abv a bit more, and could help dry it out even a little more.

For that recipe, there are 2 main areas I would try first.

#1 - that is way low on the IBU range for an american pale ale. You'll want to shoot for something around 35-45 IBU. That isn't going to actually cut the body, but it will dramatically change your perception of it.

#2 drop the carapils completely. A half lb of light crystal some flavor contribution without upping the body as a lb of carapils.

Personally, I'd just try it with those 2 changes and the early/late extract addition method and see if it's closer to what you were hoping for. It's a low enough ABV beer that you should be able to get decent attenuation that way. If you find you still prefer it drier, you can start subbing in some simple sugar in future batches and dial in to what you really like.

Once it's fermented, you might consider some dry hops to kick the aroma up a bit, but that is just a personal preference.

ive never seen anything with close to 16% carapils. Thats you answer right there

Ok got it! def less carapils and more hops, thanks guys that was really helpful.