difference between dried and liquid malt extract?

[brewnoob007]

Hello everybody I'm new to the forum and brewing and just got into partial mashing. My question is is their a difference in whether or not I use dried or liquid extract? I noticed a lot of recipes ask for dried in the beginning and liquid for late addition. Is thier a particular reason? I just brewed up a Belgian Witt though with the liquid at the beginning of the boil. Will my first batch still be alright?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I hate dried. If you want to use the liquid counterpart instead, just multiply the weight of the dried by 1.25...eg 3.1 lbs. DME = 3.875 lbs. LME. The same can be done for liquid to dry if you want. Just divide instead of multiply.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

The difference is water.

 

[TheMadKing]

No they are effectively the same thing. Liquid just has less water removed than the fully dried. I always preferred dried when I was doing extracts just because getting all the syrup out of those tubs is a PITA. Your beer will be fine! It really makes no difference.

 

[Gavin C]

Both can be used interchangeably but pound for pound DME has less water content and a correspondingly higher PPG (points per pound per gallon).

Higher gravity points in DME



More colors of LME are available I think so that could be one reason for using it. Also certain malts e.g.: Maris Otter is available in LME form but i don't believe it can be gotten in DME form.

Someone with more extract experience will hopefully correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[brewnoob007]

Thanks! Very informative helps a lot. Really dig this forum by the way, lots of questions already answered before I ask, just by browsing topics. Can't wait to try my first sip of my first batch, hope it doesn't suck.

 

[aprichman]

I use DME for priming bottles and will be using it for starters as well. I prefer it because it stores more easily and I only use small amounts. It's also easier to measure IMO. I'll usually grab a few pounds from Yakima Valley Hops since they tend to have good prices.

 

[unionrdr]

DME is definitely less messy than LME & is used in the boil for less Maillard reactions. That is to say, it darkens less readily than LME. Since I do partial boil, partial mash with 4-8lbs of grains, I only need a couple pounds of extract to get to OG. For that reason also, I use the mixed mash & sparge wort to come up to boil volume. In my 5 gallon kettle, that's about 3 1/2 gallons. I then add the extract, DME or LME, at flame out. Since the wort's still boiling hot, & pasteurization happens in seconds @ 160F, Bob's your uncle.