LME vs DME

[burns629]

So after reading a few articles about malt extracts I had a question about which is better, liquid or dried malt extract. The articles were mentioning that over time LME's flavors can change as proteins breakdown and made it sound like DME does not suffer from these aging changes. However in the process of completely driving off all the moisture from DME aren't the flavors also changed possibly even dramatically?

It seems (to me at least) given the choice between a fresh liquid extract vs dried the liquid would win hands down. However, after poking around a little I haven't been able to find a comparison/ recommendations about which to use. Does anybody have any advice/ or have read any articles comparing the two?

Thanks!

 

[Parker36]

When brewing extract, I would always go by price - whatever is cheaper. I would say I used LME 80% of the time since I could get it in bulk from the LHBS. The only times I have used dry is to supplement LME since you can get it in smaller increments from online retailers. That being said, there really isn't anything wrong with either.

 

[burns629]

Gotcha, so far I've been using LME about 90% of the time because like you I can get it from LHBS's bulk tanks in any amount I request so I'm not left with leftovers. But just wondering if there was any substantial differences.

 

[Parker36]

I honestly, don't see any recongizable difference, especially when using late extract additions, I'm sure others will disagree one way or the other, but I would say there is no consensus as to one being superior.

 

[netjunk1e]

The LME from my LHBS tastes like ass. Very metallic off flavours in the beer. Im moving to all grain soon so it isnt a big deal. DME is a bit more expensive but its worth it because its always fresh.

 

[Yooper]

I've always preferred DME. It's easy to measure out what I need, and keep the rest in a ziploc bag. It does get "old" and it tastes better in my opinion. I still keep a 3# bag of DME in my kitchen cupboard (it's cool and dry there) for starters, and I've been using the same bag for at least a year or more.