Late Addition of DME?

I know if you are using lme and want a clear beer you will do a late addition if you want to avoid some of the extract twang or to keep your beer light. Do you need to do the same thing with DME as well? I assumed so thinking the sugars in that can carmelize as well but then I thought well then why cant AG sugars do the same.

I want to brew some lighter beers(someday) and late additions screw with your hops a lot so if i can keep it to a minimum I will. Thanks for the info.

You can do late extract additions with DME. There is a lenghty thread on the topic, but I couldn't find it.

DME?? Whats that??

Never mind DRY Malt Extract! I'm wondering about L(?)ME (Liquid Malt Extract.

I am guessing that it is because it carmelizes easier than AG? Not too sure about that.

The reason for the late addition is to lessen the density of the liquid during the boil. The less dense the liquid is the better hop utilization you will get. Also, the less dense it is the less likely you are to caramelize the sugars. All grainers don't worry about it because they're typically doing full boils, which are twice as big and half as dense. By doing a half boil and a half extract addition at the beginning of the boil you are reducing the density of the boil to what it would have been if it were all grain. You can get away with adding extract to the end because it has already been boiled and doesn't need to be boiled for a full hour again. And, yes, it works the same for LME as it does for DME.

I've done Late extract additions with DME....I usually put 1-2 pound in initially for the hops, then the remainder in the last 20 minutes of brew....But in some extract beers I've also dumped all the Dme in right away...usually those are darker beers to begin with.

Ok I figured that, so if I do a late addition I can get away with using a lot less hops.

Take a look at the Hop Utilization chart in Papazian's TCJOHB.

It'll tell you to keep the water and DME at the same measurement...1 lb for 1 gal, 2 lbs per 2 gals, etc.

Ok I will be brewing a stout soon(Ode to Arthur extract version made by BierMuncherso I am more worried about taste than color. I don't want caramel flavor in my beer unless I put it there and since this is supposed to be a sort of Guinness Clone these flavors wont go unnoticed. Here is the recipe:

Guinness Clone
Dry Stout


Type: Extract
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 1.60 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (2 Gallon)


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.58 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 61.47 %
2.09 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 28.10 %
0.78 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 10.43 %
3.62 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 29.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (White Labs #WLP004) [Starter 475 ml] Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.043 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.02 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 29.4 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 23.2 SRM Color: Color

So I would be doing a 60 min boil with about 2 Lbs of DME and a 15 min boil of 2.6Lbs DME. Obviously this will change my hop utilization so in BeerSmith do I just adjust the hop quantities untill I get the correct IBUs that I want? I just want to be sure as I want this beer to not have any off flavors caused by the extracts so I can get a "true" flavor to work with.

GunnerMan said:

Do you need to do the same thing with DME as well? I assumed so thinking the sugars in that can carmelize as well but then I thought well then why cant AG sugars do the same.

Click to expand...

Yes...all malt extract is the same. The reason the AG is different is because the sugars in extract have already been cooked once. When you boil extract you are cooking the sugars for a second time.