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YOUR OWN TECHNIQUES
You may find your own techniques that are easier for you than
our method. You are the brewer and the owner of the brewery, so
you may find methods that suit you better. As long as you meet
the above general principles, you may add ingredients in any
manner.
If in doubt, experiment and find out!
ADDING DME
Dry malt extract is very hydroscopic and may form clumps when
added but as long as 90% of it is dissolved, move onto the next
step. Residual clumps will dissolve over time.
If you intent to measure the SG of your wort/must to be able to
calculate the alcohol content of your final beverage, then you
need to dissolve all the DME. This is better done by adding the
DME in smaller amounts and stirring before adding the next
amount.
If you do not intend to measure the SG then some clumping is
acceptable and it’s easier to just add the DME one bag at a time
and stir it all in, accepting some lumps that will dissolve by
themselves over the next few hours in the vessel.
For the Standard Method we have purposely planned the
addition of the DME to be into approximately 45°C (113°F)
water in the cone, as we have found it dissolves well at this mid-
warm temperature.
ADDING LME
Liquid Malt Extract is best stored cold in a refrigerator to avoid
it ageing. However cold extract is difficult to pour, so take it out
of the fridge the night before you use it so it can warm up and
pour more easily. Alternatively you can warm it up in hot water
for 15 minutes before opening. Remove the yeast sachet from
under the can lid if you are going to heat up the LME, as the
heat will damage the yeast.
It is important to dissolve all the liquid malt extract before
adding it. This is to avoid osmotic stress on the yeast should
they come into contact with un-dissolved liquid extract.
THE ALCOHOL CONTENT OF BEVERAGES USING THE
STANDARD METHOD
A 1.7kg (3.74 lb) can of LME plus a 1.36kg (3lb) bag of DME
made up to 23 Litres will give a wort/must of 1.0454.
The wort/must will then get fermented down to a minimum SG
at the end of fermentation that is dependent on the residual
starch in the ingredients (which cannot be eaten by the yeast)
and the yeast strain used.
The table below shows the alcohol content for 5 different final
SG readings.
To increase the alcohol content, you need to add more
ingredients. For more information on alcohol calculations, see
Appendix 3 Taking SG samples and calculating alcohol %’s.
FINAL SPECIFIC GRAVITY (SG)
ALCOHOL % (IF ORIGINAL
GRAVITY (OG)) IS 1.0454
1.006
5.28%
1.008
5.01%
1.010
4.75%
1.012
4.48%
1.014
4.21%
