First Time With DME

[Britski]

Today I am going to use DME for the first time because I am ready to reap the supposed glorious benefits this will bring.
I am using a Coopers Draught kit. My two questions are:

1) Is 3 pounds going to be too much DME? (for 5 gallons obviously)

2)How long do I boil the DME? I have been told 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and 1 hour. I would ideally like to keep the final result as light as possible, which is why I am currently leaning towards 30 minutes.

 

[bigjohnmilford]

If you're looking for a lighter color put it in with about 15 minutes left in your boil.

 

[homebrewer_99]

DME has already been cooked once.

The only reason to boil for 60 mins is for hop utilization, the extraction of the bitterness.

Read upon Late Addition brewing...you'll learn a lot more.

 

[cheezydemon]

3 Lbs in 5 gallons is about the minimum that I would use. I am not sure of which glories you are speaking. It is a little more bang per pound than LME, but other than that I didn't know it was percieved to be so much better.

 

[5 Is Not Enough]

3 Lbs in 5 gallons is about the minimum that I would use. I am not sure of which glories you are speaking. It is a little more bang per pound than LME, but other than that I didn't know it was percieved to be so much better.

Holds better, often easier to store (bag/box vs can/bucket), lighter final product, easier to mix, less likely to scorch, more fermentables.
Thats all I can think of. Ask HB_99 he uses a lot of DME.

 

[5 Is Not Enough]

1) Is 3 pounds going to be too much DME? (for 5 gallons obviously)

I made a 5 gallon batch w/ just 4lbs of coopers light dme one time and it seemed about as watery as coors light. At least the swmbo was ok w/ it. But, hey, if thats what you're going for...
I usually use at least 6-8lbs for a decent kick.

 

[BREW N QUE]

It sounds like you are replacing the sugar in your Coopers kit with DME. If this is the case, 3# should be plenty along with your canned extract. If your can of extract is pre-hopped you really don't have to boil any of the extract for more than about 20 minutes. If the can of extract is the usual 3.3 lb. size you should have a original gravity of about 1.050 and a final gravity of around 1.013, giving you an ABV of about 4.8% according to Beersmith.

 

[Britski]

Thats what I was looking for, thanks.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I'd offer more assistance, but I don't know what the question is...

 

[grasshopper1917]

I have some coopers draft bottled in the basement now - and 3lbs of malt extract will be just fine. Dont boil the kit though just heat up the water a temp below boiling stir your ingerdients in and let sit on the heat for 15 minutes to kill any bacteria. The Aussie draft has a little bit of a bitter kick to it and if you boil the kit it may boil the bitterness out of it - then again if you dont like bitterness........

cheers