base malt substitutions for LME?

Hey everyone,

I have a recipe (extract grain) and have five pounds (surplus) of 2 row at home and wondered if or how you can make substitutions? I would like to increase the 2 row into a stout recipe and not rock the boat with the dark LME called for. (6.6 lbs for a 5 gallon yeild) If I kept the LME intact, and added some "discretionary" amount of base grain, what would I be doing to to the beer? Addiding fermentability, alcohol potential, gravity? Would it be a one for one exchange?

I'm wanting to increase my knowledge here and would also like to add just a touch of oatmeal to this batch (to steep with) but my specialty grain bill doesn't contain enough diastatic points to convert anything? Here 's the recipe, thanks for any input, advice or direction....

Iron Rat Stout

Malt:

6.6 Dark Malt (Briesse LME)

Grains:

8oz Crystal 90
4oz Chocolate Malt
16oz Roasted Barley
4oz Black Patent
8oz Cara-Pils

Hops:

2oz Williamette (at boil)
1oz Williamette (at 30 in)

Additives:

2tsp Irish Moss
4tsp Gypsum

Yeast:

WLP004

lgtg said:

6.6 Dark Malt (Briesse LME)

Grains:

8oz Crystal 90
4oz Chocolate Malt
16oz Roasted Barley
4oz Black Patent
8oz Cara-Pils

Click to expand...

Jeebus--with 20 oz of black malts, 4 oz chocolate, and a pound of crystal (90L + cara-pils), I'd nix the dark LME (in favor of base malt or light ME) altogether anyway--that's *plenty* of dark/character malt for this beer or for even a higher OG version of it, IMHO.

Your character malts will all steep fine. 4 oz of oatmeal wont convert to sugars much in a steep, meaning you'll get some starches, but in a stout this dark, who really cares?