brands

[oguss0311]

I like to look recipes up online and try them- and have had some outstanding brews doing so. But I have to admit- there sure are a lot of brands of Liquid Malt Extract out there that are not available from my HBS. And I'm not about to pay shipping on something so heavy all the time.
What do all of you feel about the various brands? I'm most often using Muntons (light, dark, amber, etc). It costs me ten and a half bucks, which I'm happy with. BUt when I read about extract brands that are not available to me- I often wonder how much better and/or different the recipe might be.
Are there notable leaders in the category? Are some profoundly different from others?

 

[c.n.budz]

They're pretty interchangeable. It's kinda like comparing Heinz and Hunts ketchup, basically the same just some subtle differences. The only one I noticed any difference with was using Marris Otter extract instead of regular pale extract and even that wasn't a huge difference

 

[david_42]

There are some extracts, like Listermans, that don't attenuate well. At the other end of the spectrum, Northern Brewer's extracts dry out nicely. MO does give a difference result, but that's the nature of MO.

If you stick to pale extracts & use specialty grains for color & flavor, it doesn't matter all that much.

 

[malkore]

also, there are a lot of 'brands' that are the same exact extract, just labeled under different brands.
I think Williams Brewing does this with some of their extract. I know they do it with some liquid yeast, because the smack packs say Williams, but its obviously Wyeast produced, and matches Wyeast's catalog numbers.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I think they are all pretty much the same product with very mild differences unless you need a specialty malt, like wheat.

 

[oguss0311]

thanks for the info, now I'll not fret over the limited selection at the lhbs