Amber vs. Light DME

[jakis]

Hey,
Recipe I am brewing called for 2lbs of light Dme in addition to 6lbs of lme. My local homebrew store only had Amber dme and the moment. Will it be fine to use amber dme instead of light dme?

Thanks jake

 

[FloppyKnockers]

In that case I would go with 2.5 lbs. LME instead of the DME. Especially if you want to stick to the recipe. Otherwise I guess the amber DME would be okay.

I'm also not a fan of DME. I will sub with LME any chance I get.

 

[Sailingeric]

I think a lot of those recipes fit in to the mail order sizing. If your brew store, like mine, can pour out as much as LME as you like, I would do that.

 

[Calder]

Amber extract has something like 5 to 10 % Crystal 60. Using 2 lbs of amber DME would add the equivalent of a quarter to half lb of crystal to the recipe. LME is a perfectly good sub for DME. The only reason they used 6 lbs of LME is because that is the size of the package it came in.

 

[jakis]

Ya they only sell lme in 6lb orders so If don't want to get 6lbs of lme for just 2.5lbs.

 

[JohnSand]

It also depends on the recipe. If you are adding crystal malts anyway, you may be able to substitute the amber for light+crystal. What are you brewing?

 

[jakis]

6lbs lme
2lbs dme
1lb carafoam

Hops - Amarillo, citra, cascade

Safale us-05

 

[unionrdr]

If the LME is light, then the amber DME would give an amber-orange color. Great for PA/APA/IPA beers stylistically.

 

[jakis]

Would it change the flavour much or just the colour?

 

[unionrdr]

It'll change the flavor a bit too. Just a bit more bready malt flavors with a bit more creaminess &/or body. But not a lot since the amber malt will be the smaller of the two amounts used. Yeast also plays an important roll insomuch as esters produced & finial gravities are concerned. US-05 is a very forgiving, clean fermenting yeast. Rehydrating it before pitching is easy & will shorten lag time till it visibly starts fermenting & can give more robust fermentation. Getting the FG down to the low end of what the kit or recipe gives will keep the sweetness down to a more normal level.

 

[Calder]

Not sure the carafoam is going to give you anything more than starch. The light LME already has some carapils for head retention.

If it were my beer, I think I'd drop the carafoam, keep the amber DME, and add maybe a quarter to a half pound of C40, and a half pound of plain table sugar.

 

[aprichman]

To echo onto Calder's comments carafoam without the proper enzymes from 2 row for conversion is going to leave a ton of starch in your beer. Even if you were doing a full infusion mash 1lb of carafoam seems on the high side.

 

[jakis]

Not sure the carafoam is going to give you anything more than starch. The light LME already has some carapils for head retention.



If it were my beer, I think I'd drop the carafoam, keep the amber DME, and add maybe a quarter to a half pound of C40, and a half pound of plain table sugar.

What is c40?

 

[jakis]

Nevermind have now figured this out lol