Lme question

[ganderila]

So, I went down to my LHBS to get ingredients for John Palmer's extract w/ specialty grain esb recipe from how to brew. The recipe calls for 6.6 pounds of LME and I know throughout the book he refers to LIQUID malt extract as LME. When I asked the guy working there for a little bit of help gathering ingredients(me being a beginner) he looked at the recipe said that LME stands for LIGHT malt extract, as in light colored dry malt extract. So long story short I got dry malt extract because he told me to, made the beer and probably will end up with way too high of a gravity and now I'm wondering if he didn't know what he was talking about. Does anyone have any insight into this? Light vs liquid?

 

[BigJack]

LME means liquid malt extract. You need a new store to shop at.

 

[ganderila]

right?! i suppose it's my own fault for letting that guy convince me otherwise. seems like such an obvious thing to that i just defaulted to assuming i was wrong since he is the one who works at a brewing supply store and i don't.

 

[CBXBob]

The dry extract will work, did you check the original gravity? If it's higher than projected for the recipe, the worst that can happen is a higher alcohol content.
I've used both liquid and dry, and prefer the liquid for ease of mixing. Taste should be very close. The more you brew the less concerned you'll be about exact ingredients, and more concerned with cleanliness, sanitation, and temperature control. I blew my second brew by fermenting at too high a temperature. Broke my heart to toss 5 gallons of beer
I'm about 30 5 gal batches in so far, mostly kits, and a few variations on kits, and other than the one tossed, they have turned out good, really good, and a couple awesomes! I'm drinking a beer from a variation of a super simple kit I liked, bought the ingredients, changed up the hops a little, varied the boil time, and the LME addition time, and it is very good. About $22 for 5 gal
Have fun, soon you will be making beer as good as any out there.

 

[Nickyssix]

I always prefer 'light' Liquid malt extract...but i bet your beer will taste nice !

 

[unionrdr]

Well, actually... The more I brew, the more concerned about exact ingredients I became. Changing colors, flavor complexities,etc. But the guy was pure D wrong. Color notations, whether DME (DRY) or LME (LIQUID) are an extra notation along with the style of extract. For example, Gold LME, Amber DME...here's a conversion chart that may prove handy; http://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/

 

[brewprint]

There's about 20% more fermentables in DME than LME. Not that big of a deal. Now if the recipe called for dark or amber or extra dark or whatever that may have an impact.

 

[unionrdr]

It certainly will. The color of extract must of course be matched to the intended style of beer.