Question about light malt extract

[stigmata242]

I am brewing a beer this weekend (a black IPA recipe) that calls for 7 pounds of light malt extract, but the extract I purchased only comes in 4 pound cans. I am wondering what impact the final brew would have if I use all 8 pounds as opposed to 7? Thanks in advance.

 

[GrogNerd]

depending on the rest of the grain bill, but by itself in a 5 gallon batch, going from 7 to 8 pounds of LME takes OG from 1.050 to 1.057 & ABV from 4.9% to 5.6%

using 1 oz of Centennial (10.00% Alpha acid) at 60 minutes, IBU goes from 35.1 (in the 1.050) down to 33.2 (1.057)

so, increasing the LME increases OG & ABV, decreases hop utilization

tho there will be argument over the hop utilization. some say gravity has no effect, but you cannot find a IBU calculator that doesn't take gravity into consideration

 

[strambo]

I'd use the 8lbs, not worth leftovers. Just up the hops a tad to keep the same gravity to IBU ratio.

 

[RacingRam]

Keep the extra 1 lb and use it for a starter on your next batch. Always nice to have a little malt extract sitting around.

Edit: sounds like it's liquid malt extract (as opposed to dry) in a can. I'd probably just use it now rather than mess with storing it.

 

[Math0]

Not worth the storage! Put it all in. An extra pound in that case will not make a huge difference.

You can also think of addind slightly more of everything to keep a good ratio and do a stronger beer.

 

[stigmata242]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I appreciate the input.

 

[signpost]

I agree with the other replies. I'd go ahead and use it all, but you will probably want to up the hops if you can. The extra pound will change the balance between IBUs and gravity AND likely reduce the hop utilization.

Although, you can get around the hop utilization difference by doing a late extract addition. I'd probably add one of the 4-pound cans of extract at the beginning and add the other one at flame-out. That will actually increase your hop utilization. But being a black IPA, you should probably still increase the hops a bit to stay with the style.

Regardless, it'll still be beer. RDWHAHB.