Different Extracts & Flavor

[revco]

Hi all. I'm three batches in and am loving my new hobby! I'm so glad I found these forums - they've proven quite resourceful! You beer geeks are rockin' my world with these RIMS systems and other sweet setups! I tried searching for the answer to this question - but couldn't find anything easily in the first 10 pages of searches.

My question is this - I'm curious if there is much of a difference between the overall flavors between extracts from different companies? There's obvious taste differences between say light, amber, wheat and dark LME/DME's - but is there significant potential differences between, say, a light LME from my LHBS vs. somewhere online? I know a little about the extract process - presumably there might be slightly different recipes between different extract suppliers?

Likewise, would there be differences between DME's and LME's of the same style (e.g. light, dark, etc.)? I've pretty much exclusively used LME's so far, but I want to venture into DME's in my next batch or two. Just curious how much room for experimentation there is with different types of extracts.

Thanks to all who entertain my question and offer whatever experience they have!

 

[Pappers_]

Hi Revco. Aside from wheat extract, I think brewers should stick with the lightest extract available and use that as their base. Then use specialty grains to add flavor, aroma and color. The bottom-line is that brewers don't know exactly what is in an amber or dark extract. Here's another way to think about it - its analogous to all-grain brewers using a two-row as a base malt in all their beers. You can make a cream ale, an APA, a belgian, an ESB, or stout, all using two-row barley malt as your base. The same is true of extract.

Hope that helps! Sorry I don't have any specific info on brands of extract. Cheers!

 

[Stormrider51]

You would think that extract would be extract. Not true and the differences aren't just between different companies. The same company can have distinct variations from batch to batch. Just to keep things interesting, LME will change with time and storage conditions. It will get darker in color for one thing. This is less so with DME but it still happens.

From reading your post it appears that you are trying to find ways to expand your all-extract brewing experiences. The truth is that you are pretty limited and definitely at the mercy of the extract. Going to at least a mini-mash will greatly expand the possibilities for you. You will need to add a reusable grain bag, a strainer, and a pot to your arsenal of equipment to do mini-mash. It will add an hour or less to your brew session. It will be worth it. I have not gone to all-grain after 7 years of brewing and may never do so but I haven't even considered doing an all-extract beer in more than 6 years.

John

 

[cheezydemon3]

Using pale or extra pale DME, I find definite consistency.

I am a rare brewer who has gone all grain, but my preferred method is PM.

I rely on pale DME as my base malt, and specialty grains plus a lb or 2 of pale 2 or 6 row
for fantastic beer.

The only drawback I found, was a ph problem with making dark beers from extract.

A little baking soda in my dark beers has eliminated that "twang" as some refer to it.

I will go back to AG when my kids are older, but even then, you can bet I will take the weak second runnings from an AG batch, fortify that with 3 lbs of DME and have another 5 gallons that easily.

 

[revco]

I appreciate the answers so far and it's kind of what I expected. The question was really just out of curiosity of whether one could experience relatively different results with different extracts. I just hadn't read anything about any kind of extract standards nor have I seen many ingredient lists that one could use to compare.

All of my batches so far have used steeped grains for better flavor definition. Pure extract recipes are just not all that interesting to me and ultimately I seek as much control as my skills and equipment permit. Once I feel rather comfortable with the brewing process, my intention is to start doing PM's as I all ready have the proper gear to do so.