can malt extract vs dry powder malt extract

[bigdtbine]

Im a newbie and trying to understand what the difference in the canned or dry malt extracts are ?

 

[Kate00]

The difference is just the amount of water boiled out of the extract. Liquid malt is boiled down to a syrup. Dry is boiled completely dry. You use a heavier amount of syrup to get the same amount if sugar because there is water in the syrup. Liquid generally costs less to make a beer with.

 

[VikingChrisColby]

Both liquid malt extract and dried malt extract are made from wort (unfermented beer), which is made from mashing grains. Liquid malt extract is made by evaporating the water at low pressure and fairly low temperature until it is a thick syrup. (Brewery grade) dried malt extract is made by spraying droplets of condensed wort into a tower under a vacuum. As the droplets fall, they shed moisture and fall to the bottom as a powder.
Dried malt extract (DME) is a more dense than liquid malt extract (LME) because more water has been removed from it. If you dissolve 1 pound of dried malt extract in a gallon of water, the specific gravity would be near 1.045. If you dissolve 1 pound of liquid malt extract in a gallon of water, the specific gravity would be in the range of 1.033–1.038.
Because it contains less water, dried malt extract keeps longer (as long ad you keep it sealed away from any moisture, even the moisture from air). However, because less water has been removed from it, wort made from liquid malt extract is lighter in color.


Chris Colby
Editor
beerandwinejournal.com

 

[bigdtbine]

Do I have to add any ingredients to the malt or will the make a good beer by themselves ?

 

[boydster]

You'll probably want to add hops, as many malt extracts are unhopped. It is possible to make a decent beer with just extract and hops, but you'll find you can add another dimension of flavor by steeping specialty grains like crystal malts, chocolate malts, and others for different variations in color and flavor.

 

[VikingChrisColby]

You can make beer using malt extract as your only source of fermentables, but I recommend making a small partial mash when you brew extract beers. This will add some malt aroma to your beer, especially the aroma of base malt.
Most extract recipes call for some specialty grains to be steeped to add flavor, aroma and a small amount of fermentables to the wort. Making a partial mash is slightly more involved than this (you need to "steep" within a certain temperature range and within a certain liquid-to-grain ratio), but the results are well worth it.

http://beerandwinejournal.com/add-base-malts-to-your-extract-beers/


Chris Colby
Editor
beerandwinejournal.com