Brewing With DME: What It Is, How It Works, and Best Practices

Brewing beer from scratch – while rewarding – can be quite a tedious experience. But you don’t have to go through all that every time, especially when there are ingredients that give you just-as-good results. 

Enter DME malt extract, the star of the show.

Thanks to its ease of use, consistency, and versatility, DME is a popular choice for both beginners and experienced brewers. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of DME, how to use it effectively, and why it’s a must-have for your brewing process.

What is DME Malt Extract?

Put simply, dried malt extract (DME) is a wort whose water content is reduced to about 1-2%. You know how instant coffee is created by dehydrating brewed coffee to plain extract? Well, DME is made in the same manner.

Here’s what that process actually looks like: 

1. First, malted barley is mashed in hot water. Mashing creates enzymatic activity where grain components break down into fermentable sugars. 

2. The liquid created, called wort, is then filtered and heated to reduce water content to 20%, creating liquid malt extract (LME).

3. To make DME, this syrup is further dried using a spray-drying process until it turns into fine powder.

To make wort using DME, mix it with water to rehydrate it. The amount of water you add depends on the desired beer gravity. 

Key Benefits of Using DME

We’ve discussed in detail what DME is. But what makes it the right choice for brewing beer, you might ask?

The main benefit of dry malt extract homebrew is its ease of use. As we established, DME has no more than 1-2% water content, meaning it’s plain powder. This makes it easier to measure by weight, which is particularly important when making small batches. 

Furthermore, a low water content means DME has a longer shelf life compared to its liquid counterpart. If stored away from moisture, it can last up to two years.

Another benefit of DME is consistency and control. With practically all water removed from it, DME provides a more predictable sugar contribution to the wort, ensuring better control over the original gravity (OG) and final alcohol content.

Finally, since DME is easy to add in increments, it offers finer control over the final gravity and fermentability in partial mash brewing and recipe tweaking, making it more versatile than LME.

How to Use DME in the Brewing Process

While DME malt extract should simplify brewing beer at home, there are still a few things you should pay attention to when using it.  

Here’s how to brew with DME:

1. Start by measuring the amount of DME in your recipe. Since DME is highly concentrated, you should use a digital scale to achieve precise measurements.

2. Grab a pot and fill it with the amount of water based on the size of your batch. You want water to be hot but not boiling – somewhere around the 150°F mark.

3. Once the water is hot enough, gradually add the DME to prevent clumps. We don’t recommend stirring as that could potentially contaminate your wort. 

4. After the DME is fully dissolved, bring the wort to a rolling boil. Keep in mind that DME can cause boilovers when it first starts boiling, so be ready to reduce the heat if necessary.

5. Let the wort boil for up to an hour, adding hops when required. Once it boils, rapidly cool down the wort to a yeast-pitching temperature for your brew.

Modifying a Recipe Using DME

What if the recipe you’re following uses base grain instead of extract?

That’s actually not a problem as long as you know how to convert from one to another. Put simply, you’ll need 0.6 pounds of DME for every pound of base grain.

Tips for Achieving Consistent Results with DME in Various Beer Styles

The main benefits of using DME in brewing are convenience and consistency. However, in order to achieve such results across different beer styles, there are a few things to pay attention to.

First, measuring. Given that DME is highly concentrated, even tiny variations in measurement can impact your beer’s gravity and the final characteristics of your brew.

So, for measurements, forget about teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups. Instead, opt for a digital scale. 

It’s worth noting that unlike LME, DME is not hop-flavored. The reason behind this is simple – hops wouldn’t survive the spray-drying step. Because of this, DME is the way to go if you want a crisper and cleaner flavor in your beer.

While DME types may vary between manufacturers, the most commonly available are: 

• Extra light/pilsner - made of pale malt

• Pale/gold - a blend of pale and crystal malts

• Amber - pale, munich, and crystal malts

• Dark - includes black malt

• Wheat - a blend of wheat and pale malt

If you’re just starting out and want to make things simple, you can match the DME color with the color of your beer. For instance, if you’re making a pilsner-style beer, use extra light DME.

Later on, you can modify the flavor of your brew by playing around with different types of DMEs.

Troubleshooting and Best Practices

As we established, DME has many benefits. But of course, it’s not a flawless ingredient. 

The main downside is its hygroscopic property, meaning it tends to absorb moisture from the air. What this means is that as soon as it’s exposed to air, it grabs onto water molecules, causing it to clump up. 

This can happen if you store DME in a humid environment. This is why you should always store it in an air-tight container and a dry place. Furthermore, heat and direct sunlight can degrade DME over time, so it’s best to keep it in a cool, dark pantry or cupboard away from temperature fluctuations.

DME can clump up when added to a boil, not only when stored. Luckily, you can prevent this from happening by adding DME slowly. While stirring would help with dissolving, it can also cause cross-contamination from using a spoon that’s not properly sanitized. 

Using DME for Gravity Adjustments and Yeast Starters

The great thing about DME is that you can use it for adjusting gravity and creating yeast starters as well. 

Since it’s so concentrated, DME has a high sugar density. For that reason, you can use it to raise the specific gravity (SG) before fermentation begins. At the same time, if OG is lower than expected, you can also do post-boil adjustments by dissolving DME in sterile water before adding.

When it comes to yeast starters, DME is also rather simple to use. If you’re working in metric, use a 10 to 1 ratio. This means adding a gram of DME for every 10 milliliters of final volume. In imperial units, that’s 0.03 ounces of DME for every 0.33 ounces of water.

Real-World Examples and Testimonials

Using DME in brewing sounds good on paper, but not sure how to actually do it? Here are a few examples of how we use it at iGulu.

In this Seasonal Pale Ale recipe, you can see how we used both Pilsen Light and Bavarian Wheat DME in different steps of the process – both before and after the fermentation.

If you want to make brewing as simple as possible, then simply mix all the ingredients in your iGulu Automated Beer Brewer and let the machine do the job, like in this Hazy IPA recipe. 

If you’re more of a visual learner, you can see this quick-start guide.

In Conclusion

Whether you're adjusting gravity, creating a yeast starter, or fine-tuning a recipe, DME is the way to go. 

This reliable ingredient offers precision, consistency, and convenience for brewers of all levels. It’s flexible, easy to use, and has a long shelf life, making it a suitable option for any brew.

Try using DME in your next batch, and share your results with us! If you don’t know what to try next, we recommend this "New" New England IPA recipe for a perfect, refreshing spring beer.

FAQ

How much DME should I use?

The amount of DME you should use depends on your brewing method, original gravity, and batch size. For standard brewing with no grains, you should add 1 pound of DME per gallon.

What are the benefits of DME over LME?

Compared to LME, DME has a longer shelf life, and it’s easier to measure and use in brewing. Furthermore, DME is rather versatile since it’s suitable for extract brewing, partial mash, yeast starters, and gravity corrections

Can I add DME after the boil?

Yes! If you’re adjusting the gravity post-boil, dissolve DME in sterile warm water before adding it to the fermenter.