Extract: dry vs liquid

[Soulshine2]

For extract brewing do you use liquid or dry ?

Which is better and why ?

When I first started I used kits which had liquid and dry extract in them. Once I started making my own recipies I started buying dry in bulk to save money. But my final gravities never go below 1.018. So I am tring liquid extract only right now.

One brewstore owner in town says that liquid vs dry makes absolutely no difference. The other brewstore owner says that dry has more unfermentables in it and therefore the gravities won't drop down as low.

Let me start by saying I have only used extract in my first attempts at making beer. I have used AG for the rest. BUT, I have a Dunkelweizen kit that I ordered without realizing that it is in fact an extract kit. So, for that I'm going to jump back into it only briefly...Maybe it will expand my brewing ideas at the same time ,who knows ,right? I may try to do a PM .
Either way , take my comment with a grain of salt.
From what I have read ,both DME and LME are or can be equally important to the home brewer, each having its own merits . LME comes in cans ,right? But, once you open one , they dont store well and you pretty much have to use it up or it will go rancid .Unless, you plan on brewing again in sufficient time ,then you can use it up. On the other hand, DME is very easy to store once opened and unused, as long as it is kept out of sunlight, dry and cool , it'll last you a while remaining pretty much unchanged.
So, lets say your can of LME comes packaged as a 3 lb can...Your recipe calls for oh lets say 4.5 pounds. Instead of opening the second can and eventually tossing half of a can of LME in the trash , just use the first can of LME, and supplement with DME to make up the balance of the ingredient or even if only to adjust your SG .

 

[Apimyces]

3lb of LME will give about 5.0% ABV in 2 gallons. Unless you want to brew less than that, doesn't seem like one should be wasting.

That said, yea, if you intend to follow a specific recipe, you could end up with the hassle of surpluses. But if you brew at least 5 gals, with at most a handful of adjuncts, should be fairly easy to tweak recipes to end up without leftovers. But hey, I've never followed a recipe, so...

 

[ncbrewer]

LME comes in cans ,right? But, once you open one , they dont store well and you pretty much have to use it up or it will go rancid

It also darkens in a sealed can. I try to use all mine within three months, and I brew the paler beers first.