Dark DME

[gnresende]

Hi.

Every beer kit that I have used Dark DME has turned bitter. Does this happen to other brewers?
Will the bitterness fade away with time?

I had better results using light DME.

I still have 2 kg's of Dark DME and I don't know which Beer Kit would turn good with this dark DME.

 

[IslandLizard]

Are you perhaps referring to astringency when you said "bitter?"

Dark malt has that tendency already. Boiling extract for a long time, can also cause astringency and since Dark DME contains roasted malts even more so. Only add 1/3 of your DME or LME (light, golden, whatever) at the beginning of the boil and the balance at flameout or 5 minutes before. Dissolve well. Also prevent potential scorching by turning the flame off while adding and dissolving it.

I get smoother tasting dark beers by steeping the very dark grains separately and adding the black potion right before or at flameout. It doesn't get boiled for an hour that way.

Why not compound recipes found here and elsewhere from loose ingredients? There's no need to use Dark DME, you can use Light DME instead and provide color and flavor by steeping appropriate amounts of specialty and dark grains.

 

[flars]

Can you post one of the recipes, with amount of dark DME, for a beer that turned bitter. Do the beers that turn bitter seem to be over carbonated? The recipe might help find a reason for the change in taste.

 

[gnresende]

Hi.

Yes, bitter is not the best word to describe it. "astringency" seems more adequate

I make beer from beer kits as I started only a few months ago and it seemed the easiest way to learn.

I used 1,5kg Dark DME on a Coopers Irish Stout and on a Brewferm Abdji beer kit and it turn bad because of the flavor. Now I am not sure which kind of beer should improve with Dark DME and also how much portion I should use...

 

[IslandLizard]

Hi.

Yes, bitter is not the best word to describe it. "astringency" seems more adequate

I make beer from beer kits as I started only a few months ago and it seemed the easiest way to learn.

I used 1,5kg Dark DME on a Coopers Irish Stout and on a Brewferm Abdji beer kit and it turn bad because of the flavor. Now I am not sure which kind of beer should improve with Dark DME and also how much portion I should use...

Some kits are simply better than others. For the sake of ease, not best flavor, some kit manufacturers cut corners by providing hopped extracts in a can (which can taste horrible from what I gather) and the balance in either sugar (no flavor) and/or dry malt extract (=spraymalt) which is better. Most recipes you'll find here on HBT (or Brewer's Friend, BYO, etc.) will include steeped specialty grains for color and flavor and the fermentables made up of light or golden Dry Malt Extract (DME).

As @Flars said, a recipe for the bad tasting beer will help to spot the problem.

Truly, assembling a recipe from "raw" ingredients is as simple as buying a couple bags of light or golden DME, a few ounces to a pound (or 2) of Specialty Malt (for steeping), hops, and yeast at your local brew store. Stay away from "magic" cans and unless you do Belgian styles there is little or no sugar involved.

I've only used one kit, which was the steeping grains and DME variety and it turned out quite well, at least for that time and my limited knowledge.
Now after a few years brewing and reading Palmer's "How to Brew," scouring HBT (and other sources) I would say the instructions were OK, but not great. They let me boil all the extract for an hour (not good), rack to a secondary (totally unneeded), there was no mentioning of keeping fermentation temps lower, rather than higher, and the omission of a dry hop (it was a Pale Ale). I went to the brew store next and bought the basic ingredients and brewed recipes from Palmer's book and others I found online. The rest is history.

 

[RM-MN]

My dark beers are always a bit "harsh" when first bottled but that harshness fades away as the beers mature. Make a batch of a lighter color beer, perhaps very light like a wheat if you like that style or an amber and drink that while your dark beer sits somewhere at room temperature. Give the dark beer 3 to 6 months and try it again. It will be a different beer.

 

[flars]

The Irish Stout recipe calls for light DME, so using the dark would give it to much of the "extra" flavor.

Here is a link to a Coopers recipe that does call for the use of dark DME.
http://us.diybeer.com/brewing-info/recipes/stout-recipes/best-extra-stout-20-litres

A lot of these recipes use pre hopped malt extract. The kits with pre hopped extracts should not be boiled. Boiling will also give a more astringent taste. Add these liquid extracts, and the dry malt extract, in hot water to dissolve and mix.

Hope this helps. Also, the DME will keep forever if it is kept dry, just like table sugar will last forever if it is kept dry. You won't need to be in a hurry to use it up.

 

[gnresende]

I don't boil the beer kit.

I have used Dark DME as suggested by the local brew store... it left a strong flavor in the beer.

The last 3 beer kits that I made I used Light DME and it shows better results.

My question is about where can/should I use Dark DME to improve the beer kit.