help needed, what's the diffrence between these types of extract?

[red96jeep]

so im working on a recipe for a pale ale, i'm kinda wanting to learn a few things about different hops and grains etc. i'm looking on the northern brewer site and there are three different types of extract that i think would work well but dont know enough about to determine it on my own. the three are pilsen malt syrup ( Pale-colored malt syrup made from pilsner malt and Carapils. Excellent base for all pale styles.), gold malt syrup (Northern Brewer Gold is made from pale malt with a small amount of CaraPils and is light colored with a malt flavor.), and light malt syrup ( This is a certified organic 100% malted barley extract suitable as a base malt for any kind of beer. It is pale in color (2 - 6° L) with a malty flavor.). any info on the differences between these three and why i should pick a certain one would be extremely helpful.

 

[Parker36]

The organic one I'm guessing will be more expensive. The Gold Extract will be slightly darker than the other two. I always recommend to go with the lightest extract you can get (unless you are making a wheat beer, then go for a wheat extract) and get your color and flavor from the specialty grains.

 

[Adam78K]

I would go with a plain plain malt extract, cheapest, simplest and still will taste good.

 

[SavageSteve]

The different malt extracts are made with different grains.

Pilsen is made with pilsener malt, and is slightly darker in color and more strongly malt flavored than regular pale malt.

Gold and Light are basically the same thing, except the Light is organic and are made from pale, or base, malt.

If you're brewing a pale ale, then the Gold extract is a good choice. Pilsen might be too malty, and the Light is just more money.

BTW, Northern Brewer extracts are made by Briess, and you can find additional information about them here: Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.: Malt Extracts LME and DME

-Steve

 

[cuinrearview]

You won't lose with any of the three as long as you stick to one, use the same amount of specialty grains and extract in your beers, and use either a)the same weight of hops or b)the AA% equivalant in each beer. I haven't used any NB extracts, but have used the pilsen light and it's a good product. I'm sure that the other two will be too.

 

[red96jeep]

thanks guys for all the tips, and thanks savagesteve for that link, the info has been very helpful.