DME vs. LME

[bsoper]

Hey everyone,

I am pretty new at brewing and was wondering what was the benefits of dried malt extract vs. liquid malt extract. I have done 3 kits so far, the first was an Irish Red with all LME, the next was a Belgian Blonde with LME and DME, and the next was a Pale Ale with all DME. I am considering doing my own recipe (probably some kind of Spicy Belgian) and was wondering which malt extract I should be looking into and how much. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

I used both in my current batch. 1.4kg (3lbs) of Munton's plain extra light DME with 1 can (1.7kg) Cooper's OS lager (pre-hoped LME) to which I added a 15 min hop addition. I also made a 1 1/2C starter for the old Cooper's ale yeast for 3.5 hours.
May Finally get to dry hop with another ounce of hop pellets today. We'll see how it goes. So far,it seems to have good color & flavor. Some say DME tastes "muddy". Others say the beer doesn't clear as well.
Imo,mixing DME/LME together can give many different profiles. Especially from dif countries. I used LME from Australia,DME from England,hops from the US. That sort of thing. Different country,different tastes. Also,you can tailor the colors with those tastes with,say,an amber DME added to a light LME. I'll know for sure in a few more weeks. Can't rush the goodness.

 

[cms]

There's a good comparison in the "this vs. that" sticky.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I prefer all DME. Lme tends to change over time with storage. DME does not.

Not that I store too long, but you don't know how long it has been on the shelf or in the back room.

 

[TTB-J]

In my experience, DME is nominally more expensive, but it has several advantages over LME - stores longer, easier to get the majority of it into the boil, takes less of it to get the same gravity, easy to keep on hand for making starters, etc.

 

[unionrdr]

I used DME for my starters too. I made a 1 1/2C starter with 1/4C DME. Let it sit for 3.5 hours. Working a lil too well in my pale ale,imo. But who knows,it might turn out great after aging/carbing.
Sure works great for awakening old yeast. Gunna use this method from now on,just tailor the volume to the OG. For instance,I think my pale ale would've been better with just a 1C starter,with maybe 1/8C DME.
It could just be the fact that I only used 1.7kg of pre-hopped LME with 1.4kg Of DME & a hop addition in the kettle. An OG of 1.044 seemed a tad low for all malts & no dex or brewing sugar. I also probably should've added some maltodextrin to it. Wasn't sure on that point. It does bug me that DME is more $. But mixing the 2 types together does give more color/flavor options. So,just keep both feet on the wheel & do what you feel...