Malt extract questions

[Knutz38]

I have a couple of questions regarding the malt extracts. I'm new to this so bear with what may be dumb questions.
I've gotten 2 kits and both have the Malt additions either in the beginning of the boil or at the end, or both.

My questions are:
Will there be any difference in the final result with late additions?
For example, one kit I have from Midwest calls for adding 6 lbs of LME in the last 15 minutes.

Also, and this may be a dumb question; In the kits I have, they have the additions of DME & LME at different times - that is, not added at the same time.
So, the question is: can LME & DME be added at the same time?

 

[BridgewaterBrewer]

You can add LME and DME together but there are a few reason people add the malt later in the boil. 1) The longer the malt is boiled, the greater chance (in theory) of overcooking it and giving you off flavors (some say this gives you an extract "twang" flavor) or a beer that is darker than desired. 2) You get better hop utilization (in other words, more bitterness/flavor extracted from hops) when boiling in a less dense wort. This is an issue when you are not boiling the full final volume of the beer, which is often the case with extract/new brewers, who tend to use a smaller pot and less heat. The reason you don't add all the malt late is because hop utilization is better with at least some malt in the solution (maybe 1/3 or 1/2 of total malt for the recipe). There are recipe calculators that try to adjust for late extract additions/partial boils but not everyone is convinced they work well. So most people say you should always boil at the largest volume you can handle.

For both of the above reasons, people tend to add the liquid malt last rather than the dry malt because A) it mixes in faster than dry and B) it sinks and is more likely to be scorched on the bottom of the pot during a long boil (although I find this is not an issue if you add slow and stir very well).

 

[Knutz38]

Thanks Bridgewater - I used to live in Warren Township.

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

Does it matter if you do full boils? I imagine it's much more difficult to scorch the wort when your boiling 7 gallons.

In my simpleton mind 7 gallons of wort is the same regardless if the sugar came from extract or grains.

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[Yooper]

Does it matter if you do full boils? I imagine it's much more difficult to scorch the wort when your boiling 7 gallons.

In my simpleton mind 7 gallons of wort is the same regardless if the sugar came from extract or grains.

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That is my thinking as well. But since boiling the extract darkens it (due to maillard reactions), I'd probably still add some of the liquid extract at flame out.

I've found that for me, using 1 pound of extract (more or less) per gallon of water in the boil seems to give great results. So, if I was boiling 5 gallons, I'd use approximately 5 pounds of extract at the beginning.

 

[BurntOrngeLonghorn84]

Color doesn't bother me as much as adversely creating sugar that can't be fermented or a different taste profile.

Personally, color is the last thing on my list when evaluating beers.

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