substituting DME for sugar

[beerturtle]

Hello all,

Hope the holidaze have been good for all, so far.

I received a Mountmellick Brown Ale kit (can of 4 lbs. of hopped extract and dry yeast) for Christmas. The recipe calls for adding x lbs. of sugar (not sure how many, as i don't have the recipe in front of me) to the boil. Anyone have a formula for converting #lbs. of sugar to lbs. of DME? I think i read somewhere that its like 1.5 lbs. DME for every lb. of sugar....

Any help would be appreciated. :)

[jsmurphy]

How big is your batch?

For 5 gals, it's generally 3/4 cup sugar =1 1/2 cups DME

EDIT** Sorry, my info is for priming. Read your post wrong.

[axis714]

Im not sure on the conversion Im sure youre fairly close ....i would add at least 2 lbs.. of DME to achieve around 1.050 SG
Amber Dme works well in an English brown...light DME if doing a partial volume boil will darken just about right myself I would add 3 lbs. amber and finish hop with an ounce of East Kent at 15 ....but its your brew! I would definitaly not add the sugar as Im sure the extract directions call for...but you already knew that.
Have fun! make a great beer.

[Jughead]

Palmer says corn or cane sugar yields 46 ppg where DME is around 42 ppg.

So the formula should be something like
y lbs of dme = x lbs sugar * 46 / 42

And I have a related question. Is there any problem with adding DME after the boil if the OG should be too low for some reason?

[beerturtle]

Thanx for your replies, fellas. I will check out the recipe tonight and do some figgerin'. An ounce of EKG seems about right for what i want to do.

Cheers!:)

[GunNut76]

If you add DME after the boil you will get hazy beer...you might also have other things get into your beer. If your OG is too low just add about 1 cup of Dextrose at a time until you either 1) reach your target OG or 2) hit 5% sugar added. I would not go over 5% sugar in a beer.

This has been my .02...thank you for listening!

[Caffinehog]

What does it really matter? Use a little extra malt extract. Maybe use a lot extra. If you use a pound or two extra, so what? You get a maltier, sweeter, stronger beer. Keep in mind malt extract is not 100% fermentable, so yeah, you'll need to add more. If you like it hoppier, add a few hops.

[Tweek]

And I have a related question. Is there any problem with adding DME after the boil if the OG should be too low for some reason?

Dont forget you can check your gravity long before flame out. Try grabbing a sample when you throw in your finishing hops. You can always adjust for temperature with your hydrometer. Always better to boil just in case.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by Tweek
Dont forget you can check your gravity long before flame out. Try grabbing a sample when you throw in your finishing hops. You can always adjust for temperature with your hydrometer. Always better to boil just in case.

Checking the gravity of a wort while it's still boiling is an excellent way to do it. Boiling liquids are thoroughly mixed so that don't stratify. Like Tweek said make sure that you correct for temp.