Use of branded malt extract in a recipe

[ChrisNH]

Hi,

I have a number of recipes I am getting ready to buy ingredients for during a road trip that will take me by some good brew shops. They are out of the book Beer Captured. I am going to try the Sierra Nevada Porter and the Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (so it can be ready for Dec 31st, 2011..). After that I will return to lighter ales and try my hand at partial grain.. but anyway..

Both recipes call for a can of "Alexander's Pale Malt Extract" as well as some Munton's DME.

How important is that Alexander's malt to the final result? Is there a way to reproduce the effect using much cheaper bulk malt that I can buy by the pail on my vacation? I am not super concerned about getting the beers exactly right.. but I did think it would be nice to have a reference point to compare my work against which is why I chose to do some clone recipes.

I am just trying to understand what the branded malts bring to these recipes.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[samc]

I'd rather use a fresh malt from a vendor who does a lot of business vs. canned extract (age unknown). Any quality Pale extract would be fine.

 

[Malticulous]

As long as it's just light or pale it won't make much difference. Dark and amber can be a quite a bit different from one manufacturer to another.

 

[ChrisNH]

According to their website, the Alexander's Pale Malt is SRM 2.2... to get a consistent color should I use Munton's Extra-Light? My understanding is they tend toward a bit darker..

Thanks,

Chris