How much malt

[Brutus Brewer]

I would like to formulate my own recipe for a red ale and am unsure how much malt extract to use. From most of the recipe's I've read I figure about 7 pounds. Does this sound right?

 

[Exo]

You should specify LME or DME...liquid or dry

 

[Brutus Brewer]

I'm sorry, I liquid malt.

 

[Exo]

I think your right in the ballpark!

 

[david_42]

7 pounds ~ 1.050 => 5%, sounds about right for a Red.

 

[user 4295]

LME has 36 gravity points/lb./gal
DME has 40 gravity points/lb./gal

That means that 1 lb of LME in 1 gallon of water will give you an OG of 1.036. So if you want a 5 gallon batch of beer to have an OG of 1.036 you would need 5 lbs of LME.

To find out what your OG would be with any given amount of extract, use this formula. Take the amount of extract in lbs, multiply it by its gravity points (36 for LME, 40 for DME) and divide that by the total volume of the batch. Lets use your figure of 7 lbs of LME. 7 lbs x 36 gravity points = 252 ÷ 5 gallons = OG of 1.050.

John

 

[Cregar]

Newbie here... how do you get a OG of 1.050 by dividing 252 by 5... I get 50.4.

Remember I am a newbie

Nevermind... did a search...

Thanks

 

[user 4295]

So, you realized what I was saying right? The 1 in the 1.050 is a given. 1 is the specific gravity of plain water at 60˚F, and any sugars in the water will raise the SG above one, and that the 36 gravity points for a lb of LME in a gallon of water means .036.

John

 

[Cregar]

yep.. I understand..
Thanks

 

[Engelramm]

So, you realized what I was saying right? The 1 in the 1.050 is a given. 1 is the specific gravity of plain water at 60˚F, and any sugars in the water will raise the SG above one, and that the 36 gravity points for a lb of LME in a gallon of water means .036.

John

I was still scatching my head. Thanks! That makes sense.