Optimum Amount Of Liquid Malt Extract?

[mancer62]

Is there such a thing as the optimum amount of LME when making a 5 gallon (40 bottle) batch of home brew?
For years I just brewed using Coopers Kits which is 1.5kg of extract then added some dry hops and to me with great results.
I used to listen to others who claimed this wasn't enough to give the beer a proper mouthfeel and it was watery.
I have since sourced liquid malt extract where I can get 2.4kg for approx same price of the coopers.
I have now made several batches along with my dry hops but must say I am not totally convinced that it is an improvement from the Coopers.
Not a taste expert or anything but I do feel my beer is now that bit thicker but disappointingly I feel that bit sweeter.
So my question to the forum is using 2.4kg too much? Would I be better using the 1.5kg or 1.8kg or 2kg etc.
I know I will be told its personal taste but I would just be interested to know if anyone else has had this prolem and maybe tweeked the amount of LME used till they got it right and what that actual amount was? ty

 

[labrewski]

I would use 3 kg if it was for me depending what strength u want also I suppose

 

[Brewnaldo]

What's the SG of 3kg in a 5 gallon batch? Quite high id imagine?

 

[marshbrewer]

I have since sourced liquid malt extract where I can get 2.4kg for approx same price of the coopers.
I have now made several batches along with my dry hops but must say I am not totally convinced that it is an improvement from the Coopers.

Apologies if I'm being a bit thick here, but are you adding 2.4kg of LME to a Cooper's kit then dry hopping?

 

[Dutto]

Once upon a time …. (i.e. before kits became worth brewing) … we used:

• 2kg to 3kg LME
• 1kg sugar
• Dried Ale Yeast
• 25g of East Kent Goldings
• Tap water

All ingredients (except the tap water) were bought from Boots the Chemists.

Method:

• The EKG was boiled for an hour in my wife’s pressure cooker.
• The liquid was strained into an FV (usually a plastic bin).
• The sugar was added and stirred until it dissolved.
• The LME was added, the tin was scraped clean and the mixture was again stirred as the tap water was added to bring the volume to 5 gallons.
• The yeast was added when the mixture felt “cool”.
• Finally, after fermentation stopped, the brew was transferred to old screw-top pop bottles and allowed to clear before drinking!

It had its drawbacks!

1. God only knows what the ABV was (but a next-door neighbour who mistook “inexpensive” for “free” was banned from visiting by his wife, after I made a high ABV batch and she caught him piddling into her airing cupboard).
2. Apart from rinsing out everything absolutely nothing was sanitised. (I gave up brewing for many years after having two consecutive brews turn to vinegar in the bottle!)
3. The kits at the time (late 60’s) were terrible with very little hop bitterness, no hop aroma and watery with an ABV that came mainly from sugar!

I was lucky to have a Superintendent (Mike Toop) who gave me the recipe that I followed.

Nowadays, I would decide what I wanted to brew, get a recipe from t’Internet and then follow it to the letter!

Try this site for a start;

https://www.brewuk.co.uk/blog/home_brew_beer_using_extract/
Enjoy.
:hat:

PS
Try this site for more ideas:

https://uk.diybeer.com/brewing-info/recipes

 

[Slid]

Is there such a thing as the optimum amount of LME when making a 5 gallon (40 bottle) batch of home brew?
For years I just brewed using Coopers Kits which is 1.5kg of extract then added some dry hops and to me with great results.
I used to listen to others who claimed this wasn't enough to give the beer a proper mouthfeel and it was watery.
I have since sourced liquid malt extract where I can get 2.4kg for approx same price of the coopers.
I have now made several batches along with my dry hops but must say I am not totally convinced that it is an improvement from the Coopers.
Not a taste expert or anything but I do feel my beer is now that bit thicker but disappointingly I feel that bit sweeter.
So my question to the forum is using 2.4kg too much? Would I be better using the 1.5kg or 1.8kg or 2kg etc.
I know I will be told its personal taste but I would just be interested to know if anyone else has had this prolem and maybe tweeked the amount of LME used till they got it right and what that actual amount was? ty

Hi, I guess the first question is whether you have a taste for cheap supermarket beer?
For many years I bought the 250ML bottles of beers made in Northern France and surroundings.
I was very happy with the Coopers kits, done with brew enhancer, or perhaps 500g DME and 1kg sugar.
In a sense, if that is what you like, why change?
Adding some extra hops and maybe changing the yeast may be just the job, as it were.
I have turned into something of a HB snob (pseud?) over the years since returning to HB, but I'm sure there are lots of brewers happy with a pimped kit?

 

[labrewski]

I got bored with kits and started getting 1.5kg lme and 1.5 dextrose a little water maybe 6 litres
Got it to a gentle boil added various hops simmered for 20 min dumped into fv topped up to 22 litres with tap water made some really nice beer
Then 3kg lme same story really nice beer
Then a bag of grain and never looked back lol

 

[mancer62]

Sorry if i wasnt clear marshbrewer....no dont add 2.4kg to a 1.5kg coopers kit.
i now use 2.4kg of liquid malt extract instead of using a 1.5kg coopers kit. i then add 1kg brown sugar and i dry hop with 100g of hops. im just wondering recently if its all just a bit sweet,,,,,and before u ask my last batch was og 1044 fg 1004 so i think it had finished fermenting

 

[labrewski]

What hops are u using

 

[labrewski]

Maybe u need to pick a good bittering hop

 

[marshbrewer]

Are you boiling your LME with hops for a bittering addition at all, or are your dry hops the only ones you are adding?

 

[mancer62]

i only dry hop my brews... i have used several different hops to do a single dry hop..citra, chinook, bravo, columbus, centennial, cascade
i have also used a couple of crossmyloof brewerys mixes a neipa mix a rewdog mix etc and i tend to use 110g

 

[marshbrewer]

Ok, so when using a kit, Coopers or otherwise, you are using LME that has been hopped for bitterness.

If you are using unhopped LME then you need to disolve it in water, bring it to the boil, and add a bittering hop addition for between 30 and 90ins, depending on recipe. You might also add flavour hops in n the last 30 - 0 mins.

Then, once cooled, you proceed as normal, adding yeast and then dry hopping as you are now.

Just dry hopping won't add sufficient bitterness to counteract the natural sweetness of the malt.

 

[Dutto]

Alternatively, you can boil the hops in plain water for an hour and then add the LME in the FV.

EKG are always my “go to” hops for bitterness!

 

[Davegase]

If you don't want to boil you could try isomerised hop extract !
https://www.brewuk.co.uk/isomerised-hop-extract.html

 

[mancer62]

I have just checked and the LME I am using is indeed "unhopped" this would obviously explain why I am getting a sweeter beer.
I purchased this LME because it is a good deal plus getting 2.4kg for the price of 1.5kg However not realising its Unhopped may mean its a false economy as I'd need to buy hops to bitter plus use gas to boil for an hour.....Currently I have a 5 gallon batch made and ready to keg....is there any way at this stage I can add the bitterness or is it too late for that?. I also have two brews to make each with 2.4kg of the unhopped LME. For each brew I have 100g of hops to dry hop...Do u suggest using some of these hops for bittering (if so how much would be sufficient) before adding g the rest as a dry.hop. One brew has 100g of Columbus while the other is a100g US C Hop Mix.

I also have half a bag of summit hops in my freezer. Could these be utilised and used for bittering or would it not go well with the above mentioned hops?

 

[Davegase]

I have just checked and the LME I am using is indeed "unhopped" this would obviously explain why I am getting a sweeter beer.
I purchased this LME because it is a good deal plus getting 2.4kg for the price of 1.5kg However not realising its Unhopped may mean its a false economy as I'd need to buy hops to bitter plus use gas to boil for an hour.....Currently I have a 5 gallon batch made and ready to keg....is there any way at this stage I can add the bitterness or is it too late for that?. I also have two brews to make each with 2.4kg of the unhopped LME. For each brew I have 100g of hops to dry hop...Do u suggest using some of these hops for bittering (if so how much would be sufficient) before adding g the rest as a dry.hop. One brew has 100g of Columbus while the other is a100g US C Hop Mix.

I also have half a bag of summit hops in my freezer. Could these be utilised and used for bittering or would it not go well with the above mentioned hops?

https://beersmith.com/blog/2016/08/...erized Hop Extract,post-boil or even earlier.

 

[mancer62]

Please excuse my ignorance.but would simply adding this extract solve the bittering problem in unhoppped LME?

 

[Dutto]

I suggest that you make up a Hop Tea with a suitable “Bittering Hop”.

Use your hops to make a 1 or 2 litre batch using boiling water and then wait until it cools to a temperature about the same as your FV. Strain it and then you can taste it before adding it to the brew.

It will reduce the ABV but it should give plenty of bitterness to your brew.

For aroma you can do the same but drop the temperature below 70*C before you start to make the Hop Tea.

Enjoy.
:hat:

 

[Davegase]

Please excuse my ignorance.but would simply adding this extract solve the bittering problem in unhoppped LME?

Short answer yes.
Using Isomerized Hop Extract
Isomerized hop extract requires no boiling and adds bitterness no matter where it is added in the brewing process. Most often it is added after fermentation to adjust the bitterness of a finished beer.