Help with extract amounts

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fishnfever

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I have been looking at recipes that call for 7 pounds 0.4 ounces of pale liquid extract. My questions is this,

Can I use 7 pounds of pale liquid extract and then just dme extract for the final 0.4 ounces?

Thanks in advance!!
 
I wouldn't even add the 0.4 oz. The 0.4 oz most likely comes from converting from DME to LME (and possibly back and forth a couple of times). My guess is that the original recipe was for 6 lbs of DME. There are too many other variables for that additional <1/2 ounce to make a noticeable impact on your OG.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking of not worrying about the small amount difference but on the same hand I would like to know for future brews.

mattlsull, So are you saying 1 pound of DME = 1.25 pounds of LME? If so why would I add more? The way I'm reading your conversion it seams like DME has more value the LME. I'm sure I'm just not looking at it right :eek:
 
LME is part water and is therefore heavier per sugar content than DME. Truth is, different brands and types of LME may have slightly different water/extract content. The usual rough estimate for converting DME to LME is 20%-25% more LME by weight than DME. A better way to figure out how much you need it to use brewing software and target a specific OG. E.g., BeerSmith tells me that 6lbs of XLDME in 5 gallons gives me an OG of 1.052, while 6.9lbs of Pilsen LME also gives me an OG of 1.052. But fretting over fractions of an ounce is pointless, and LME is often sold in 3.3 lb (1.5 kilo) cans. 2 of those gives me 6.6 lbs and an OG of 1.050. Maybe that's good enough? If I really want to hit 1.052, then I can add 0.25 lbs (4oz) of DME.
 
Thanks all!! I put google to work and found a couple of ways of doing the conversions that made since to me lol.

Captain Damage, Thanks for the break down and I didn't even think of BeerSmith.

Thanks again to all for the help for pointing me in the right direction of understanding this:mug:
 
yeah, sorry about the reversal, trying to work and read HBT at the same time.

The conversion would be less DME than LME weight wise. And like Captain Damage said, probably from a recipie that was either converted or scaled at some point and is negligible.

I use BeerSmith too. It is great!
 
mattlsull said:
yeah, sorry about the reversal, trying to work and read HBT at the same time.

The conversion would be less DME than LME weight wise. And like Captain Damage said, probably from a recipie that was either converted or scaled at some point and is negligible.

I use BeerSmith too. It is great!

No big deal!! It's all good now.
 
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