Author: Malcolm Frazer

To someone toying with the idea of homebrewing, the process of mashing grains then collecting the sweet prior to boiling can seem pretty daunting, especially given all the “rules” that exist for mash temperatures and what not. I’m pretty sure this is a large part of the reason most homebrewers start off using malt extracts, which can completely eliminate the need for a mash. Liquid malt extract (LME) is a viscous syrup that gets blended with water to create wort, and while many claim beers made with LME can be just as good beers made using all grain methods, the key to such success is often believed to be freshness.

I typically only use malt extract for making yeast starters and I also like to keep some around for OG correction on big beers. On a recent trip to my local homebrew shop, I picked up some Pilsner LME and realized after getting home that it was a bit older than I expected, packaged nearly a year prior to my purchasing it. This led me to do a little research on the shelf life of LME and I ended up finding the following on Briess’ website:

Store at temperatures <90ºF [32°C]. Best if used within 24 months from date of manufacture. Light-colored LME naturally darkens with age. Storing in a cool, dark location helps to minimize this effect.

Opening one of my year-old containers for use in a starter, I observed LME that was very dark, certainly more than I would expect for being made from Pilsner malt. When dilution didn’t rectify the issue, I couldn’t help but wonder how this age related darkening impacts beer characteristics, so I procured some fresh LME and designed an xBmt to test it out!



| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between beers made with either 1 year old or 3 month old Pilsner liquid malt extract.

| METHODS |

Since the purpose of this xBmt was to evaluate how age of LME impacts beer, I designed a very simple recipe using 100% Pilsner LME.

Viscosity

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5 gal 60 min 39.5 IBUs 4.4 SRM 1.050 1.014 4.8 % Actuals 1.05 1.012 5.0 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pilsner Liquid Extract 8.187 lbs 100 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Saaz 40 g 60 min Boil Pellet 7 Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 28 g 15 min Boil Pellet 4 Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 14 g 2 min Boil Pellet 4 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature German Bock Lager (WLP833) White Labs 73% 48°F - 55°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 104 | Mg 6 | Na 4 | SO4 100 | Cl 150 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

Finding fresh LME was more of a task than I imagined, but I was eventually able to get my hands on a lot from the same manufacturer that had been packaged about 8 months after the stuff I’d previously picked up.

Given the absence of grains, very little went into preparing for this dual batch brew day. After collecting 2 equal volumes of RO water and adding a small amount of minerals to achieve my target profile, I immediately began heating one up and started the second 20 minutes later. I added equal amounts of LME to both kettles once the water was around 170°F/77°C.

I’d forgotten how quick and easy brewing with extract is, this was footloose and fancy free! The first batch reached a boil barely 30 minutes after I started brewing, a point at which I’m usually waiting on my mash to finish.

Although I love the smell of a mash, the aroma of these all LME batches brought fond back memories of making beer for my roommates. Each wort was boiled for 60 minutes with hops added as listed in the recipe.

At the end of each boil, I quickly chilled the worts to my target fermentation temperature of 48°F/9°C using a pre-chiller attached to my JaDeD Brewing Hydra IC.

Equal amounts of wort were racked to identical glass carboys.

Out of curiosity, I took samples of both worts before and after the boil to monitor any changes in color.

Hydrometer measurements revealed both worts hit the same OG, an undeniable testament to my amazing math skills :-/

With both carboys sitting next to each other in my temperature controlled fermentation chamber, I split a large starter of Omega Yeast Labs Bock (OYL-111) that my friends at Helicon Brewing hooked me up with.

After hitting each batch with 90 seconds of pure oxygen, I closed the lid and left them alone. With a little wort from each batch leftover, I decided to check for any differences in pH and found them to be very similar.

I opted for a traditional lager fermentation schedule and returned 12 hours later to actively fermenting beers.

After 2 weeks at 49°/9°C, I noticed activity had slowed considerably and took hydrometer measurements showing both beers were at nearly the same FG.

I transferred the beers to kegs and moved them into a chest freezer where I reduced the temperature to 34°F/1°C over the course of a few days. The beers lagered for 4 weeks before I pulled samples indicating they were carbonated, clear, and ready to serve.

| RESULTS |

A total of 35 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the fresh LME beer and 2 samples of the beer made with old LME then asked to identify the sample that was unique. While 17 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to correctly identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, 23 (p=0.00009) were able to do so, indicating participants in this xBmt were able to reliably distinguish a beer made 3 month old LME from one made with 1 year old LME.

The 23 participants who made the accurate selection on the triangle test were instructed to complete a brief preference survey comparing only the 2 beers that were different. A total of 11 reported preferring the fresh LME beer, 9 liked the old LME beer more, and 3 reported having no preference despite noticing a difference.

My Impressions: These beers were so starkly different to my understandably biased palate that I was able to select the unique sample in every triangle test I attempted. In both aroma and flavor, the beer made with fresh LME had a grain-like sweetness and oyster cracker finish compared to the caramel and melanoidin character I perceived in the old LME beer. I even thought the mouthfeel was different with the fresh LME beer being cleaner, drier, and lingering less on my palate. Selecting a preference was difficult because it sort of depends on the context. As a lager, the fresh LME was more inline with my expectations, but the old LME beer was actually nice too, it just had a stronger malt characteristic more reminiscent of a Scottish Ale.

| DISCUSSION |

Freshness is a concept known well to those in the food and beverage industry, largely believed to lead to a higher quality product. This is certainly the case when it comes to most brewing ingredients many of which are believed to change over time, and liquid malt extract is no exception. Based purely on the appearance differences between the fresh and old LME used in this xBmt, it was obvious age had an impact, which makes the fact tasters were able to distinguish between beers made with either not terribly surprising. Based on both post-survey conversations with participants and my personal experience, the beer made with fresh LME was lighter, crisper, and tasted more like the German Pilsner it was meant to be while the old LME beer was perceptibly more like a malty ale.

Freshness generally being positively related to quality, it might be easy to extrapolate the significant triangle test results as meaning the old LME beer was worse than the fresh LME beer, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. In fact, the preference ratings of the 23 participants who were correct on the triangle test were pretty evenly split, and I thought both were pretty tasty as well, even if they were noticeably different.

This was the first all LME beer I’ve brewed since 2001 and the experience was quite nostalgic. Because the fresh LME beer came back a tad sweeter and darker than I’d typically aim for with a German Pilsner, I decided to enter it as a German Helles Exportbier in the 2017 Beer And Sweat Keg-Only Competition and Festival, one of my favorite annual brewing events. While a BJCP Grand Master judge scored it a respectable 37 points, it was beat out by other beers. I’ll continue using malt extracts primarily for yeast starters and to adjust OG on big beers, though this experience reminded me that they can be used to make good beers!

If you have thoughts about this xBmt, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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