Is DME better?

Well, winter is coming to the Northwoods and, as we all learned last year, I am becoming unabashedly a wimp about cold weather as I near the big Five-0. This means that, although I certainly COULD continue to brew outside, like in my garage or something, I'm going inside to do my brewing. This also probably means doing some extract brews again.

My question is this: I always did liquid extract brews with steeping grains before going to AG. By the time I did my last extract brew, though, I was getting sort of tired of them. They all seemed to sort of taste the same in a way. Do you think I would like the results better if I try doing it with dry extract?

I know many have strong opinions for both sides but I will say that I have made excellent beers from both DME and LME...no one ever commented on twang or other off flavors on the LME beers, including other homebrewers.

If you can get your hands on fresh LME, go for it. If all the LME is sitting dusty on a shelf at the LHBS, you may want to go the DME route. DME stays fresher much longer.

I'd focus more on getting the type of extract that will suit the type of beer you are making. Pick an extract suitable to the style, i.e., some extracts will produce fuller bodied beers and others drier beers (for both LME and DME). Instead of focusing on what is cheaper, or whether or not its LME or DME, choose an extract that will allow you to make what you want to make the best.

When I was doing extract/steeping grains, I loved using DME. I thought it gave me a better tasting beer.

I do AG in my kitchen. You live "down south" from me, so you know there's no way I'm moving my body outside to brew, especially in the winter. My wort chiller wouldn't even work, since my hose would freeze right away. If you have a decent stove, you could do AG in your kitchen. Just a thought!

I didn't notice DME making my beer taste better.

I did, however, noticed that it was more fun because I felt as if I was adding ground grain rather than ambiguous beer-making chemical stuff...

It's all in the perception and what feels better to you.

I only made a handful of extract brews. However, the ones I made with LME tasted significantly worse than the ones that I made with DME. Take that for whatever it is worth.

I tried both. Noticed no difference in the taste as other have stated. I did have a lot more problems with boil over with DME than I did with LME. I was careful about dumping it in my boil too, so I dont think it was a result of my procedure.

Yes! Well, I prefer it

Longer shelf life, dissolves better, less carmelization

I still use both sometime, tho

YooperBrew said:

When I was doing extract/steeping grains, I loved using DME. I thought it gave me a better tasting beer.

I do AG in my kitchen. You live "down south" from me, so you know there's no way I'm moving my body outside to brew, especially in the winter. My wort chiller wouldn't even work, since my hose would freeze right away. If you have a decent stove, you could do AG in your kitchen. Just a thought!

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I have thought about it, but the one time I had a smallish boilover on my stove, it was with a 2 gallon partial boil. I would sure hate it if I had it happen with my big stockpot doing a full boil on the stove. I suppose I would have to figure out a way to rig up my wort chiller to work inside, too.

I will say this-- as I gradually transitioned to AG, I did one or two full boil extract brews outside. I noticed right away that two things really improved by doing full boils. First, my hop utilization really increased and second, using a wort chiller rather than an ice bath to cool the brew. Then, moving to AG ramped up the quality even more.

nobes341 said:

I tried both. Noticed no difference in the taste as other have stated. I did have a lot more problems with boil over with DME than I did with LME. I was careful about dumping it in my boil too, so I dont think it was a result of my procedure.

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I note you are getting ready to do an AG brew. If you have had trouble with boilovers, here is an excellent tip that someone here was kind enough to share: get yourself a spray bottle full of water and use it to spray the top of the wort as is begins to come to a boil. I am sorry that I can't remember who posted that tip, but it really works. Somewhere there is a thread where he posted a link to a video that he did demonstrating how well the spray bottle works. I highly recommend it.

I agree. I think DME tastes better. Its also easier to work with.

I think the problem most people seem to have with LME stems from boiling it too much. I've made some very good beers using LME no boil kits, and using LME in receipes as late additions. Now that I have become a bit of a hop head I admit I do use DME a lot more often since long boils aren't a problem.

I've never really noticed any flavor difference, and I use them interchangeably. Different waters seem to be more critical to me.

Others frequently say that DME is easier to handle. I don't understand why or how this can be - they seem to be a nuisance to me.

IMO, DME is better than 'bulk' or 'large bin' LME. I noticed really poor quality LME when I was extract brewing, esp. from LHBS who bought 55 gal drums and made 'house' LME but never noticed this with M&F DME, which was my only choice. I don't know whether DME comes in a 'house' size but it was always my speculation that bulk LME sucked and the brand name, small (3.3 lb) cans were ok. Still noticed the extract off-flavor with both, but really, really bad with cheap LME. That's why I switched to AG.

mm

I haven't noticed a difference in taste. I do like the dissolv-ability of DME better than LME, tho. That being said, I wonder about recipe that ask for some of each. Is this because LME usually comes in specific amounts (i.e. 3.3 lb cans) and then you top up with LME?

mandoman said:

IMO, DME is better than 'bulk' or 'large bin' LME. I noticed really poor quality LME when I was extract brewing, esp. from LHBS who bought 55 gal drums and made 'house' LME but never noticed this with M&F DME, which was my only choice. I don't know whether DME comes in a 'house' size but it was always my speculation that bulk LME sucked and the brand name, small (3.3 lb) cans were ok.

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Interesting, that's exactly the opposite of my experience. I've had great luck with bulk LME bought from both my LHBS and MoreBeer.com (both of whom I'm sure move a LOT of LME) and have only noticed the "LME twang" when using the canned stuff. I've stopped buying in cans, just for that reason.

I also find it easier to add and dissolve. Just warm up the bag or tub in a pot of hot water, and drizzle it into the brew pot while stirring...so long as you don't go too fast, it dissolves easily. I hate how DME clumps up from the steam and develops blobs that refuse to break up.

To me, the only advantages DME has is that it's easier to measure and store.

When I brewed with extract, I used both. I generally selected which based on style. When making lighter colored beers, I always used DME and a late addition. I found it much easier to control the color that way.