dme

[dangermouse]

.................why does it always clump and congeal when i use it...whats the knack with this stuff,shud i boil it first to get all the lumps out????

 

[Walker]

I'm a little confused by your post.

You always boil the DME, right? That's why I didn't understand the question about whether you should boil it first....

 

[homebrewer_99]

Too simple...The answer is...you are adding it to HOT WATER!!! That's a no-no. The heat is carmalizing the malt creating a hard coating and clumping.

You need to add the malt to WARM WATER, just when the water starts getting those really small bubbles in the pot. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in your malt. I add it 1 lb at a time and it usually dissolves in about 10 seconds without clumps.

 

[Ivan Lendl]

when do you add it?
i add mine before bringing the wort to a boil, it takes a bit of stirring, but i dont have any real problems getting it all to disolve. But i do partial mashes so im disolving it in 76C (170F) wort...are you adding it to cold water?

edit: opposite anwers on this one in 2 posts! which one is apposite?

 

[dangermouse]

you are adding it to HOT WATER!!! That's a no-no. The heat is carmalizing the malt creating a hard coating and clumping.

....yeh last time i threw the malt in it was like a fricking big football size thingy ....me arm are was aching from all the stirring ,it took me ages to get it to dissolve.......this time though ive stuck it in a pan with cold water and stirred it and gonna bring to the boil later b4 i stick it in me bucket!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Add the malt to the water as it is warming.

Cold water will just about get you the same effect as hot.

Trust me, I've been using DME since 1993.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I would trust Bill on this. Having said that, and taking into account the fact that I only use DME for making starters, I have pretty good luck bringing the water up to a boil, removing it from the heat, and then vigorously whisking in my DME before returning to the heat.

But I'm only talking about 3-6oz of DME, depending on whether it's a 1 or 2L starter.

 

[Walker]

I always bring my water to a boil and turn off the heat. Then I whisk the water into a whirlpool and slowly add the DME as I continue to stir. I've never rhad any clumping, and I'm adding it to 200+ degree water.

Maybe you are just dumping it in too fast?

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

Maybe you are just dumping it in too fast?

That's a good point...I also do the slow stream of DME.

 

[dangermouse]

yeh im guity as charged...i tend to whack it all in and get it covered as soon as possible rather than having the lid off to long..

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

yeh im guity as charged...i tend to whack it all in and get it covered as soon as possible rather than having the lid off to long..

With respect to the lid...you are boiling without the lid, aren't you? Using it to get back up to a boil is okay, but you definitely want to boil without it or you will trap undesirable compounds in your beer that you really want to evaporate out.

 

[Walker]

With respect to the lid...you are boiling without the lid, aren't you? Using it to get back up to a boil is okay, but you definitely want to boil without it or you will trap undesirable compounds in your beer that you really want to evaporate out.

Yeah.. just ask Der Kaiser about DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide). This is the main thing you want to allow to evaporate from your wort, and this requires the lid to be OFF (at least partially) during the boil... unless you like drinking beer that tastes like cooked vegetables.