If you're looking to brew your beer, you're probably seeking the right ingredients for it. One of them is malt which is crucial to activating the fermenting process. Malt makes brewing much easier and will shorten your labour (no matter if you're brewing at home, or brew beer in a bigger brewery). If you're new to the whole brewing thing and don't know which type of malt to use (whether malt syrup or dry malt), here is some useful info.
What's Malt Extract?
Malt extract is defined as concentrated sugar extracted from brewing-grade malted barley. It comes in both liquid also known as malt syrup and dry form and has a similar consistency to molasses. Dried malt extract (DME) on the other hand is like a fine powder. The types of malt extract differ depending on the grains that are used during production. For instance, 1kg of Dextrose is roughly equal to 1.1kg of DME and 1.2kg of LME.
How's Malt Extract Made?
The production of malt extract is very similar to all-grain beer. The grains are mashed in the same way to create wort; the wort is then slowly heated which makes the water evaporate and the wort concentrate. The wort is often placed under a vacuum so lower temperatures can be used to make the excess water evaporate. Many brewers use malt extract alone or a mix of malt extract with steeped specialty grains.
Why Get Malt Extract in Your Home Brewery?
Make a Yeast Starter
A yeast starter is a small batch of wort utilised to grow sufficiently viable yeast cells that should ferment your beer. Using a starter allows you to ensure a healthy fermentation. This way you can avoid problems such as off-flavours or a slow start. Making a yeast starter with malt extract will make things much easier. In other words, you don’t need to make the wort from scratch (mashing your chosen grains for an hour) every time you need the yeast to pitch.
Instead, heat the water, add malt extract, boil the mixture, cool it to pitching temperature and finally, add the yeast. Malt extract contains most of the nutrients and minerals required for a starter, so you won’t need to add additional nutrients like it's the case of making a dextrose starter.
Liquid Malt Extract in Beer Making
If you're choosing liquid malt extract for beer making, you should keep in mind that it's not used the same way syrups are used for soda, where you simply add water and yeast and then ferment from there. This is not the case. Having liquid malt extract will help your yeast gets activated and ready to pitch. It's rich in fermentable sugars and other nutrients essential to the production of beer such as magnesium, niacin, and manganese.
Once you add the malt you will know immediately if the yeast is ready to go; if it isn’t, the malt will get it activated and working before you need to pitch it. If you're using a concentrated form of liquid malt extract, it will jump-start the fermentation process, preventing you from wondering and worrying. Just add the yeast to the malt extract a day before pitching it into the wort and just wait for fermentation.
Steps to Use Liquid Malt Extract
First of all, bring a pot of water to boil and then stir in the liquid malt extract, and boil it for ten minutes. Then remove the wort from heat and let it cool entirely. Transfer the wort into a sanitized flask and vigorously shake the container letting all ingredients integrate. Then pitch the yeast and cover the container with tinfoil or cheesecloth to allow the process of oxygenation, which will keep your yeast active. Let the starter sit for at least 12 hours, shaking occasionally during that time.
Before pitching, pour all of the surface liquid, leaving only the bubbling, frothing yeast ready to pitch. Then let it sit and monitor the wort ferment. If your yeast doesn't get to create fermentation within 12 hours, your ingredients might be bad, and you might want to start again with fresh yeast. Make sure to keep the necessary equipment on hand to measure your yeast viability, but know that some yeast can be fully achievable with rates close to 90% and can still be slow to start fermenting.
Storing Malt Extract
Just as with any fresh ingredient, the storing of malt extract is essential. If not stored properly it will affect its quality and the results of your finished beer. Dried malt extract should be stored in a dry place where oxygen is present as little as possible. Store it at temperatures between 10–21 °C (properly stored dried malt can endure up to one year).
Liquid malt extract is pasteurised and can last for up to two years. If you have opened a pouch of liquid malt, pour the remainder of the malt into the smallest container possible, to stop headspace and exposure to oxygen. Store it in the fridge to keep it as fresh as possible and use it within three months of opening.