Dry Or Liquid Malt?

[Cronessa]

Hi All

First time poster, long time reader!

Apologies if this topic is covered elsewhere, I did a bit of reading around the place, but couldn't find a definitive answer.

I'm just starting to get into 'Kits & Bits' brewing, the next logical step in the climb towards AG, and was wondering whether there is any difference between using dry and liquid malt extracts? Apart from the fact that 1kg dry malt is equivalent to 1.5kg of liquid. There seems to be quite a price difference with the dry malt being almost half the price of the liquid.

I'm planning on making up a batch this Saturday using a Coopers Pale Ale kit, cascade hops, crystal malt and a re-cultured Coopers Pale Ale yeast and was wondering what malt to use.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Pennywise]

IMO there's no difference at all. I tend to use the dry because it works out cheaper.

Edit: Nice little recipe you have there too

 

[jbowers]

Just so you know, and you may very well know this, but a yeast like US-05 will give a much cleaner profile for what looks like an american pale ale recipe. If you want the coopers yeast taste, go for it. Just thought I'd make sure it was an informed choice.

 

[Cronessa]

Thank you for the prompt replies and the yeast suggestion!

Looks like the dry malt is the way to go.

I used re-cultured Coopers Ale Yeast in my last batch of Pale Ale which was just a straight Coopers kit with 1kg LDME 350gms Dextrose and 150gms Malto-Dextrine. I was actually quite surprised at how clean the taste came out in the end, didn't really pick up much of the 'bready' taste associated with the yeast.

 

[Pennywise]

How are you planning to add the hops? And how much? Keep in mind that because the kit is pre bittered you really only want to add hops for say 20min boiling or less. Personally I'd add about 30g for either just a couple of mins or add them straight to the fermenter after about 4-5 days.

 

[Cronessa]

I was planning on adding 15 grams of hop pellets at 15 mins, 5 mins and directly to the fermenter after 4-5 days. So 45gms of hop pellets overall.

Overkill?

Also, I'm planning to ferment at 17-18C for two weeks so would the 4-5 day addition to the fermenter still be appropriate?

Thanks again.

 

[thanme]

Sounds pretty decent.
And I tend to try hop anywhere from day 5 - 7 with no dramas at all.

Also, I prefer dry malt purely from a storage perspective. I can buy it in bigger amounts and store what I don't use away quite easily.

 

[Cronessa]

It would be great to hear your opinions on fermentables for the above recipe.

Is Dextrose and Malto-Dextrine appropriate, or should I replace some, or all, of it with Malt?

I was planning to add 1kg of LDME, 350 gms Dex and 150gm Malto-Dex in the batch.

 

[thanme]

Personally I haven't used dextrorse or malto-dextrine since my 2nd or 3rd extract brew (almost at 10 now )

So you're talking about adding other fermentables to the Coopers Pale Ale kit?
Personally I'd go straight for 1.5kg of LDME.
But I guess it's personal preference at the end of the day. Maybe do one of each and see if you can pick the difference?

 

[Cronessa]

Thanks again everyone for your replies.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[Pennywise]

I wouldn't add the maltodextrine, IMO any all malt brew shouldn't need it as the malt wont completely ferment out, thus leaving more body, which is what maltdextrine will do. The dextrose I'd leave ATM, brew this one and if you want it a little thinner boddied sub some of the LDME with dex, maybe start with 100g and work from there. Nothing worse than a watery brew :icon_cheers:

 

[Rodolphe01]

dry malt for sure, it isn't as messy to use, it is cheaper and won't oxidise like the liquid stuff. there are some 'blended' liquid malts that might be good if you can't be bothered steeping grain though.

 

[Mickthe]

I'm only on Brew 5 now but my first decent beer was a Coopers PA kit + 1 kg BE2 (LDME, Dex, Maltodex) + 500grams LDME, Cascade teabag which i left in the Primary fermenter right through so maybe you don't need quite as much in hops but it isn't adding bitterness so not a problem either way?

I ended up with a terrific head that lasts, great hop aroma, hit of malt initially and then a slight hoppy finish that does not linger which suits me. More than a tallie of this and it catches up with you but maybe i just drink it too fast, next time i might drop 250 grams of fermentables to make it more sessionable. (Is that a word? )

I used and would endorse US-05 yeast, unless you are trying to exactly replicate Coopers PA.

Will rack next time and maybe use hops for a quick boil and then maybe dry hop in secondary.

I don't think in this style you can go too wrong, whatever you brew will be a good base to work from.

Cheers

Mick.

 

[mfdu]

i reckon us05 gives me a sinus attack. especially if i crack a brew before around three weeks in the bottle. no other yeast seems to do it to me. anyone else found this?

 

[brendanos]

Dry
Easier to store, and much better stability (flavour and colour) than liquid

 

[manticle]

In regards to purely extract based beer - I'd say a touch of both. Dry is cheaper, easier to store etc etc but has a limited range. Liquid is expensive, contains water so needs more malt per volume and is difficult to store if you don't use all of it but you can get a decent range. You can use dry as a base then build it up with LME in the colour range you want.

Of course you can bypass all that by going dry + spec malts which will give a better beer anyway.

 

[Cronessa]

Thank you for all the fantastic replies and the introduction to the forum.

I decided to go with the dry malt extract.

I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going to have plenty of questions over the next few months!

 

[RobH]

I used 1.5kg of Coopers LDM + Coopers English Bitter Kit made up to 18 litres back in November - bulk primed for a lower carbonation - now 5 weeks after bottling it has a great body, flavour and smoothness to it - even did that Kilkenny/Guinness thing when you pour it and the bubbles rise up in the glass as the head settles.

And that was just with a Kit and 1.5kg of Light Dried malt! It will be good to hear how you go with The Coopers Pale + LDM and some steeped grains.

Oh, and what does the use-by date on the bottom of your Coopers Pale tin say? I bought a few from K-Mart Penrith last weekend with a best before date 27/11/11 ...from what I have gathered, 16 months before use-by is a pretty fresh kit

 

[Cronessa]

Oh, and what does the use-by date on the bottom of your Coopers Pale tin say? I bought a few from K-Mart Penrith last weekend with a best before date 27/11/11 ...from what I have gathered, 16 months before use-by is a pretty fresh kit

The kits I used had similar best before dates.

I'm yet to see a Coopers kit that has been sitting on the shelves long in Adelaide!

Can I ask you how much primer you added? I'm planning to do an Irish Stout and a Milk Stout for my next run.

 

[RobH]

The kits I used had similar best before dates.

I'm yet to see a Coopers kit that has been sitting on the shelves long in Adelaide!

Can I ask you how much primer you added? I'm planning to do an Irish Stout and a Milk Stout for my next run.

I planned on 80 grams in 18 litres to get a target CO2 volume of 2.0 - what I ended up with is somewhere between 80 - 90 grams (kitchen scales have 20gm increments about 1mm apart ... hard to be so accurate) in about 17 litres as there was some wastage when I tapped it to the secondary, and then from the secondary to the priming vessel.