What is a good grain replacement for extra light malt extract?

[jdvaldez1]

So I am doing an ale and the recipe asks for 6.6 pounds of "extra-light" malt extract. So my question is what is a good replacement for that type of extract or a good rule of thumb for extract types.

 

[unionrdr]

Pilsen malt would be one of them imo. Here's a handy conversion chart to help out; http://www.jaysbrewing.com/2011/11/17/lazy-chart-for-converting-dme-lme-grain/

 

[jdvaldez1]

Thanks for the suggestion I figured something on the light side of course, but I wanted to verify, also thanks for the conversion chart I was trying all these tedious math conversions.

 

[unionrdr]

Basically,any malt with a low SRM number is what you're looking for. 2-row can be had with low color. You'll need base malts with high diastatic power to convert themselves & the other grains from starches to sugars.

 

[freisste]

Regarding "tedious" math:

Not sure how exact you want to be, but a quick conversion is 5lbs grain to 4lbs LME or 5 lbs grain to 3lbs DME. I didn't open the link Union mentioned above, but iirc it shows basically the same values. Probably some rounding errors though.

On the other hand, I'm really good at doing math in my head. If you aren't, what he mentioned is a good lookup table. If you had something more exact (like 43ppg for a grain vs 44ppg) you'll either have to accept the error or do the tedious math.

Edit: regarding the actual question - yeah, pilsner or two row would be good. Or mix the two. And if you really want to follow the recipe exactly, let us know the maltster. Someone can probably let you know a rough breakdown of base malt to crystal included in the extract.

 

[jdvaldez1]

Thanks Friess, from the conversion I found the exact amounts were off by 1/100 so I figure it wouldn't affect the flavor and sugars by enough to notice

 

[Queequeg]

I think pale malt would be ok. Most extra light DME is darker than the description anyway.

 

[DAlexander]

2-row my good friend. Pilsner would also be acceptable.

 

[DAlexander]

I think pale malt would be ok. Most extra light DME is darker than the description anyway.

The SRMs are read immediately after processing. Extract will darken over time, so there is a deviation in color between the two time frames once it gets to you.