Liquid Malt Extract

[Brendan]

I think I know the answer, but can anyone comfirm that there is no enzymatic activity left in Liquid Malt Extract ?

I think the enzymes are destroyed in the extraction process, as i'm fairly sure they are in dried malt extract... :think:

[Sam.]

They boil it down to concentrate it don't they? :think:

[Brendan]

They boil it down to concentrate it don't they? :think:

I really wasn't sure...so you're saying they get a malt wort, and then boil it to evaporate some of the water, to end up with a thicker syrup?

[Urrazeb]

Afaik the mash never goes above 75C and is thickened through evaporation, retaining most of the nutrients and properties valuable to the yeast :smile:

Edit: spelling again

[kiwikeg]

as far as I know, there is both diastatic and nondaistatic LMEs available, Hopefuly a beer guru will be along soon to elaborate further.
Muntons makes a diastatic LME.

[Brendan]

as far as I know, there is both diastatic and nondaistatic LMEs available, Hopefuly a beer guru will be along soon to elaborate further.
Muntons makes a diastatic LME.

Ahh, i've been buying the Saunders one from Woolies for $9...guessing there's nothing going on in that tin :handgestures-thumbdown:

[Kravin]

For LME; Wort is boiled under vacuum, this allows evaporation, creating the syrup without\minimal caramelisation as the wort boils at a lower temperature (pasteurised long enough to ensure sterility). All enzymes are denatured and gone, unless it's stated as 'active' or 'diastatic' on the tin.

Active LME is generally used in cooking to convert starches like flour, corn, rice etc, for extra sweetness.
I can't see any reason why you couldn't use it to help convert any other starches of the same type for mashing.

Kravin

[Sam.]

For LME; Wort is boiled under vacuum, this allows evaporation, creating the syrup without\minimal caramelisation as the wort boils at a lower temperature (pasteurised long enough to ensure sterility). All enzymes are denatured and gone, unless it's stated as 'active' or 'diastatic' on the tin.

Active LME is generally used in cooking to convert starches like flour, corn, rice etc, for extra sweetness.
I can't see any reason why you couldn't use it to help convert any other starches of the same type for mashing.

Kravin

What he said :text-lol:

[vsboost]

Anybody use the Saunders Malt Extract 1kg tin from Woolies $9

Says on the back Ingredients: Extract of Malted Barley

[r.c.barstud]

the enzynmes are gone in extract, i have never used it myself, i find using 6 row and malting it myself is the best solution, malting or peating is piss easy and you know how clean it is rather than a potential variable compounding the issue......

[Bushy]

the enzynmes are gone in extract, i have never used it myself, i find using 6 row and malting it myself is the best solution, malting or peating is piss easy

Who's the new guy?
Sounds like a brewer. Say g'day ya barstud. ;-)

[vsboost]

Hopefully he can fill us in on his malting and peating process.

[r.c.barstud]

whoops my bad....G`day. :greetings-waveyellow:

[r.c.barstud]

Ok, this is how I do my malting. There are numerous ways of doing this, but I find this is by far the quickest and easiest, taking into account I live in the tropics, so I don’t get any mould delemas, or delayed starting.

• I weigh out my grain and allow 10% extra (just in case)
• I then soak my grain in a bucket with clean water for 24 hours and remove any ka ka runja that floats to the surface
• I soak old potato sacks thoroughly and soak the ground until the water pools around the area im using
• Spread the soaked grain evenly onto the potato sacks and cover with some hessian and soak again. (the top covering hessian cant be too thick so that the sunlight cant penetrate it)
• Keep the grain moist, not soaked, I rarely have to re-wet the grain, cause pre-soaking the ground really well and capillary action from the top layer of hessian will draw up the water
• 4 days later, walla !!! you will have perfect malt.

Peating, once again, there are lots of ways to do this.
• I use a slightly modified fish smoker, instead of the tray, I use some crim safe, it’s a stainless steel woven mesh that works just great for peating, remember, you will need to remove the powder coating from the mesh, I used a sand blaster, usually it wont cost you anything to get somebody to blast it if you bribe them with a bottle………
• I use some busted arse peat from bunnings, its about $9 a kilo
• Soak the peat for a few hours in some clean water and then fluff it up and place it under the fish smoker
• Spread the moist grain evenly onto the mesh of the smoker and light the peat
• The peat will just smolder away and the smoke/heat will penetrate and circulate the grain giving you peated malt

Points to remember
• Weigh the crim safe mesh, just the mesh and nothing else
• Don’t get things above 50 deg C
• Vary your smoke output for different drying/smoke ratios, the tighter the soaked peat the slower it will smolder (more smoke), the more open the peat the hotter but less smoke
• This is where you need to remember you required grain weight, some recipes require say 18% moisture, so if you had 1 kilo of grain and it needed to be at 18% it would need to weigh 1.18 kilos. Place the grain and mesh onto the scales and subtract the weight of the mesh and keep a tally on the grain weights as you go.

For malt I cheat a bit here, I use a food dehydrator, they are cheap and work just great, they don’t get hot enough to denature the malt and it saves a bit of time, you could use the oven to dry out the malted grain, as long as you don’t go over critical temperature (65 deg C).

De-husking, well I just use a garden sieve, a good shake, rattle and roll and ya done, ready for processing.

[vsboost]

Fantastic write up :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[r.c.barstud]

getting back to the liquid malt extract.... you could use it IF you could boost/replace the lost enzyne. the enzyme required is Alpha Galactosidase. The enzyme is what converts everything. This is where is totally sucks, you cant buy that enzyne over the counter here is Oz, you will need a prescription to buy it, alternatively, jump on ebay and get yourself some "beano" from the U.S.. the enzyme just stops farts before they become farts, so i dont know why we cant buy it over the counter here??

[crow]

splitting hairs here but the enzymes you will find in most malts that are the most useful are alpha and beta amylase :-B . they can be got from HBS but it would be cheaper to buy liquid malt for them rather than purchase malt and add enzymes, if you just want the malt flavour then you got no issues either way :handgestures-thumbupleft: :-B

[r.c.barstud]

Yup

[crow]

Just a thought here, are you sure Suanders malt extract' s enzymes are denatured. Just I remember reading a post a few yrs back (by Hookline I think) about making whiskey just using this stuff

[vsboost]

Id be willing to experiment with that, any recipes come to mind ?