HughRichardson
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Brewing with Liquid Malt Extract
I have obtained a 4 KG sample of Liquid Malt Extract from an importer, and am planning to try it out as a replacement for sugar to brew a batch of Coopers Bitter (Alternatives in stock are Coopers IPA and Coopers Real Ale-in case anyone feels they would work better?) and as this is very experimental, I have a number of questions about how to proceed, and am wondering if anyone else on these forums has prior experience which might be of help. To start with the LME is NOT a product from the homebrew market which is non-existent where I live. Presumably it is produced for the use of food manufactures of one sort or another. The guy who gave it to me says he THINKS other home brewers may have used it in the past and bought more from him so it is probably usable! He suggests that I should probably double the weight which I would use if I used ordinary sugar so for one KG sugar, substitute 2 KG LME etc.
Questions:
A lot of questions, and in the end I probably just have to leap in the dark, but if anyone on the site has experience which might help reduce the number of variables in the equation, I am interested to her from you!
I have obtained a 4 KG sample of Liquid Malt Extract from an importer, and am planning to try it out as a replacement for sugar to brew a batch of Coopers Bitter (Alternatives in stock are Coopers IPA and Coopers Real Ale-in case anyone feels they would work better?) and as this is very experimental, I have a number of questions about how to proceed, and am wondering if anyone else on these forums has prior experience which might be of help. To start with the LME is NOT a product from the homebrew market which is non-existent where I live. Presumably it is produced for the use of food manufactures of one sort or another. The guy who gave it to me says he THINKS other home brewers may have used it in the past and bought more from him so it is probably usable! He suggests that I should probably double the weight which I would use if I used ordinary sugar so for one KG sugar, substitute 2 KG LME etc.
Questions:
- I can mix the LME into the brew in the same way as I would normally mix up a batch of Coopers i.e. pour the beer mix plus the LME into the fermenter and then pour in 2 or 3 litres of boiling water and stir away. Or perhaps it would be better to boil it all up in a pot with about 5 litres of water and boil it all for 20 minutes or so. This second option would overcome one concern I have as to exactly how clean and bacteria-free is my sample
.but can LME be boiled in the same way as DME can after it has been mixed with cool water? Does anyone know that?
- I can use either Safale SO-4 yeast or the one that Coopers supply. Would either be equally workable?
- Does anyone know anything about the shelf life of LME? My sample is in a sort of 4 KG plastic jar with a screw on lid. I have placed it in fridge till ready to use, but I expect to use only half and then keep the other half for a few weeks till I can start another batch once I know how this one turns out! The usual packaging is in 25 KG buckets, so that would presumably need to be decanted into 2 KG containers and stored. Can LME be frozen ? (I have loads of freezer space, but not a lot of fridge space) and how long can it reliably be kept?
- An alternative and much lighter coloured product is labelled as Liquid Glucose is that the same thing as LME or what is the difference? Unfortunately the supplier is not able to impart this sort of basic knowledge in any language to which I have access, so the obvious solution of asking him is a closed door!
A lot of questions, and in the end I probably just have to leap in the dark, but if anyone on the site has experience which might help reduce the number of variables in the equation, I am interested to her from you!