thinking of using DME instead of LME...

[AlphaXero]

hey guys, so from what i understand... you can use all DME in a brew batch. Now my biggest question, is what kind of DME would be the same taste of extremely close to a: "Muntons Hopped Light Liquid Malt Extract"

 

[tmendick]

No DME is prehopped as far as I know.

 

[bernardsmith]

I thought that all dry malt extract was made without hops, so my quick and dirty answer would be that none would be close.

 

[evrose]

None really. I've never seen a pre-hopped DME. (which may be a good thing... yuck)

Having said that, any light or extra light DME will get you a similar color and flavor profile. Minus the hops, which would have to be boiled... but if you can boil water, you can boil hops.

If you have a particular recipe or beer style in mind, someone can provide more detailed suggestions.

 

[grittanomyces]

I prefer DME, but since I like to experiment, I'd rather not spend the extra money (and it is significantly more expensive) unless the recipe is perfected.

It has a longer shelf-life so freshness typically isn't a concern, it's less messy, less likely to stick to the bottom of the pot and scorch when stirred well, and is more likely to taste better, but not significantly so to justify the cost in most cases.

And as was mentioned above, you will also then need to add hops and give it an hour-long boil, instead of none at all or a shortened boil for flavoring hops with hopped extract.

Also keep in mind that if substituting, then you'll need to convert the amount of LME to DME, which you only need 80% as much DME due to it not being liquid.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I HATE LME with a passion.

Boiling is the way to go. Then you can add more or less hops.

 

[AlphaXero]

My concern wasnt much of the hops, i just didnt know if any light DME would give me a similar flavor. Thanks guys!

 

[KepowOb]

I prefer DME, but since I like to experiment, I'd rather not spend the extra money (and it is significantly more expensive) unless the recipe is perfected.

It has a longer shelf-life so freshness typically isn't a concern, it's less messy, less likely to stick to the bottom of the pot and scorch when stirred well, and is more likely to taste better, but not significantly so to justify the cost in most cases.

And as was mentioned above, you will also then need to add hops and give it an hour-long boil, instead of none at all or a shortened boil for flavoring hops with hopped extract.

Also keep in mind that if substituting, then you'll need to convert the amount of LME to DME, which you only need 80% as much DME due to it not being liquid.

I've seen a few people say that LME is cheaper... where are you guys getting it? I'm in Canada, so different suppliers and all... but for me it's $11-12 for 3.3lbs can of LME, and it's $11-12 for 3lbs of DME... I just went to Northern Brewer to check there, and it seems roughly the same... 3lbs Briesse DME for $10.99; and $9.99 - $10.99 for just over 3lbs of LME. If you buy DME by the pound, it's $4.50+ per pound, but if you buy it 3lbs at a time, it ends up being roughly the same price, no??

 

[grittanomyces]

I've seen a few people say that LME is cheaper... where are you guys getting it? I'm in Canada, so different suppliers and all... but for me it's $11-12 for 3.3lbs can of LME, and it's $11-12 for 3lbs of DME... I just went to Northern Brewer to check there, and it seems roughly the same... 3lbs Briesse DME for $10.99; and $9.99 - $10.99 for just over 3lbs of LME. If you buy DME by the pound, it's $4.50+ per pound, but if you buy it 3lbs at a time, it ends up being roughly the same price, no??

True, if you're buying it by the can, you probably don't save money (though see below, as you can still get a price break by buying 6 gallon jugs).

I get mine from the homebrew shop, where DME is $12.99 per 3 pound bag, even more expensive by the single pound bags.

However, LME is bought in bulk there and poured from a large jug into a container, so it is just $2.49 per pound.

So, keeping in mind you need 7.5 LB LME to equal 6 LB DME, that works out to be:

DME = $25.98

LME = $18.68

That's a difference of $7.30, and can easily be a good bit more if you need more (as you will to achieve something higher than 4.5% without adding sugar) or if you buy additional 1LB bags of DME to complete the recipe.

But even if you don't have access to big bulk, you can save money on Northern Brewer by choosing the option for 6 LBs of Mallard's Malt LME jugs instead of 3 LBs, and that brings the price down to $18 (even cheaper for some varieties), coming out to $3 per LB.

You could get that down to $2.77 a LB by buying 6 at the time (assuming you're brewing regularly, because even though unopened it can last 2 years from production date, your excess of opened jugs will need to be refridgerated and used within probably a couple weeks). Might be worth it just to cut down on shipping costs, but maybe not if you regularly order the other ingredients you need too.

DME, on the other hand, the 3LB price break is it until you get up to 50LBs (which seems to be a huge pain, as you'll have to keep the bag dry and preferably vacuum sealed to last a long time. Whereas it has a longer shelf life unopened, it may not last that long after being opened without proper storage)

You will definitely save money by buying 6 LB jugs of LME over 3 LB bags of DME though.

 

[rodwha]

I purchase my extracts from MoreBeer. 3 lbs of ultralight LME costs $8.55. 3 lbs of extra light DME costs $13.25.

I do partial mashes these days, and I prefer LME mostly because of the cost savings.

I find both to be a bit messy to work with, but I avoid scorching problems by adding it at flameout.

 

[grittanomyces]

I purchase my extracts from MoreBeer. 3 lbs of ultralight LME costs $8.55. 3 lbs of extra light DME costs $13.25.

I do partial mashes these days, and I prefer LME mostly because of the cost savings.

I find both to be a bit messy to work with, but I avoid scorching problems by adding it at flameout.

Never thought to do that, but it makes sense, since if you weren't boiling (for those using hopped extract, not that I'd recommend it, but nonetheless), you'd add it in at that "flameout".

I haven't gotten bad enough scorching to mess up a beer, but it can be pretty tough to make sure every last drop of LME is stirred in.

 

[AlCophile]

I presently use Briess LME, bought in bulk: about $64/ 33#, $1.94/# Can't beat that.
For hops, I use my own extracts, but my next expt. is going to be boiling the hops in a wort made from a few # of grain, not in wort from LME. Both Briess and Munton's told me that one should not need to boil their LMEs.
It should work, as the pH of the grain wort is between 5 and 6. If that works, I'll combine the two after the boil.
Shouldn't be TOO bad???

 

[rodwha]

I've scorched mine once.

I use my spoon to scrape as much out as possible and then use a measuring cup to pour hot wort into the LME bag and shake it up a bit to get a good bit of the remainder out.

 

[cheezydemon3]

LHBS lady saw me buying $90 wotrth of DME.

She says "Oooh! Oooh! Wait!"

She got this huge jug of light LME out of the back. Somebody ordered it and never paid or picked it up.

She lets me have it, roughly 10% more fermentables, for $54......saving $40 or so.....


SO NOT WORTH IT

What it taught me is that LME is 10 time the PITA.

NEVER again.

 

[rodwha]

I made 2 smaller batches and order 1 bag of LME to split between them. In that instance it was a horrible mess that I won't do again. If it's too small to order it's own bag of LME (most are 4 lbs and up) then I use DME instead.

What I've seen my LHBS use is the large (33 lbs?) container with a pump dispenser similar to hand soap, and it's not messy from what I can see.