Dme V's Lme

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SJW

As you must brew, so you must drink
Joined
10/3/04
Messages
3,401
Reaction score
211
As i am in the middle of a frantic brewing cycle i have made an interesting observation. In a lot of american recipes they use DME instead of LME. I can understand this as DME would cost a lot less to post for a mail order type shop. So if you have the choice what is better to use DME or LME? is there any advantage of one or the other?
 
good question. i dont really have much of an answer though. i have used a bit of both and what i am interested in knowing is how each would affect the fg (if one ferments lower than the other), and also the color of the finished beer (if one gets darker during the boil)?

sorry sjw, didnt mean to step on any toes.
joe
 
1.2kg of LME = 1kg of DME

This is due to th ewater in LME.
LME does have a tendancy to darken over time and can get darker/caremilised in the boil.
Some brewers attain a certain taste to LME - due to the process involved of vacum boiling it.

Hope this helps.
 
DME is easier to handle IMHO and keeps better. It is slightly more expensive per point than LME.
 
DME is LME just without the water exactly the same. ;)If you hydrated the DME you will get LME. Hence the properties of one will equal the other. The SG differ only because of the water.

I dont know from experience but i would pu my favourite nut on the fact that boiled LME and DME would have the same colour.


I stand to be corrected though. :ph34r:
 
wedge said:
but i would pu my favourite nut on the fact that .....
Does the non-preferred one ever get the sulks? :lol: :D :p
 
I prefer D to L. I found that the L spoiled really quickly and all of the beers I brewed from it had a sour lactic tang - maybe the byproducts of the mould got into the boil. I dunno, but I'm off bulk LME for life and will gladly pay the price premium for DME - better storage, easier handling and measurement lighter colour etc etc etc...

I've had no problems with canned LME tho.
 
I like bulk DME for ease of use. Easy to weigh. Easy to store. I like to pack up a few large tupperware containers with weighed brew-sized quantities and put the rest (in its bag) into a retired fermenter with the airlock and tap-hole sealed up. I also keep an old honey container full of about a kilo for starters and priming etc. Fresh as a daisy to the last brew. From memory, it works out about $6 a kilo.

I have read about liquid leaving an 'extract' taste. Dunno. I think dried also has a distinct taste and residual sweetness that can be minimised by certain strategies. I actually don't mind that taste in heavier ales.
 
Back
Top