BeerBorg

I'm not really a "Beginner Brewer" but I thought this question would fit best in this category. I have been brewing for over 3 years and made tons of great beers using LME, DME, and steeping grains. Sometimes I get that "extract twang" in a batch of beer and I have read that it comes from using liquid malt extract. I guess my question is 2 fold so here goes...
1) Can I brew a quality batch of beer using only DME and steeped grains? I want to make good beer, not drinkable beer.
2) If so, how do I use the DME? Do I use a small amount in the hop boil and stir the remaining amount in after the boil or would I boil all of the DME for the whole hop boil?

Assuming this is an option I would think 3.5 to 4 pounds of DME for a LBK sized batch would be a good starting point.

Thanks in advance and cheers!

1) You can make award winning beer with just DME and steeped grains - and hops and yeast of course.

2) It depends on how big your pot is. Can you do a full volume boil to achieve the 2.whatever gallon batch of beer you want to end up with when the boil is over with? And if so, can you cool it to pitching temps quickly? If so do that. If not then use enough dme along with your steeped grains to get your boil to volume to a 1.03 - 1.04 wort, and then do your hop boils in that. I'd then suggest you dissolve the rest of the dme in some water in a separate pot and then add it to your boil in the last 10 minutes or so, and then cool, and pour into LBK with cool water and top up as you would normally do. In theory you could just add it to the boil at the end directly, but in practice I find that this makes dme "marshmallows" that are annoying as hell to get to dissolve.

RE: 3.5 to 4# - it depends on what gravity you are targeting. I'd rarely use 4# of DME in a batch, because I rarely brew beers of that strength.

DME is 20% more potent then LME as far as how much OG it contributes.

So off the top of my head, 3.5# of DME in a 2.15 gallon LBK batch is going to be around 1.070/7% ABVish. 4# is going to be around 1.080/8% ABVish.

Too much for me most of the time.

As far as "Extract Twang", I've never gotten this with fresh bulk LME. Only old canned LME. I tend to buy fresh bulk LME.

Put your recipe in Qbrew to see how it comes out.

You should also consider how important color is to you. If you don't mind that the beer looks a bit darker, don't worry about adding all the extract early. But if you want an ale as pale as Christopher Walken, you will want to follow the previous instructions for adding a bit for the hop boil, then the rest after. The OG of your hop boil can also affect your hop utilization I've heard, but I don't know enough to tell you how.

jpsherman wrote:The OG of your hop boil can also affect your hop utilization I've heard, but I don't know enough to tell you how.

You get the best utilization in a 1.030 to 1.040 wort AFAIK. That's why I suggested such as above.

All of my partial volume beers fall into that range, with a late extract addition of the rest at about 10 minutes before flameout. That method has always made the best beer for me when doing partial volume boils with extracts in the mix, be it a fully extract beer, or a steep or a partial mash. This also keeps your color lighter.