Malt Extract. Liquid Or Dry?

[Albioninoz]

Hi Guys,

All my brews to this point have been Kit and Sugar mix as recommended by my local brew shop. Now the expert has gone and I'm left to fend for myself. Going on this forum has opened my eyes to a whole range of options to improve my brews. Still, I will take it bit by bit and the first step I'd like to explore is substituting Malt Extract for sugar/dextrose. I've found a recipe on the Grain and Grape website that calls for 1.5kg 'Light Malt Extract'. One of the articles on this website talks about using 1.5kgs Liquid Malt Extract instead of 1kg sugar but is liquid or dry better? Or what is the difference? I want to make an English style ale. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[felten]

Liquid has ~20% water by weight in it compared to the dry extract so you have to use more of it. And it has a lot shorter shelf life, but comes in a larger range of varieties.

They're pretty much interchangeable, but if you are using liquid make sure it's as fresh as possible.

 

[Bribie G]

If you want to do an all-malt UK bitter I'd go for Light Dried Malt Extract (LDME) but consider a wee touch of sugar as well so it doesn't turn out too cloying. Something along the lines of:

750g LDME
250g White Sugar

And use the Coopers UK bitter kit.
Alternatively, a good bet is always the Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 which contains some LDME, dextrose and maltodextrin. I always had good results with that in my kits days. Add 500g extra dextrose for a stronger beer.


There aren't many kits out there that will make a convincing UK style, unless you can get a fresh Muntons kit.