I bought some Briess pilsen light DME (my LHBS was out of golden light) to use for making starters. I first just boiled the water/DME in quart jars in the microwave but noticed a lot of silt in the bottom of the jar. Yesterday I decided to mix up some on the stovetop but even after letting it boil for 10 minutes there was still a fair amount of silt/grit settled on the bottom of the pan after I let it cool a bit.
Should I have boiled it longer or would it have eventually dissolved?
Something sounds wrong there.
Are you sure the “silt” wasn’t hot break from the boil or even minerals in your water?
I brought to a boil very slowly and yes there was that hot break, if I understand correctly what hot break is, but all of it dissipated quickly. I never used DME in a brew but acted much like my regular AG wort does. The DME wort sat in my fridge over night and still had a very cloudy layer on the bottom that was easily disturbed and then a dark gritty layer which was easy to leave behind as I poured into my stir vessel.
I actually had a gravity measurement of 1.038 which was higher than the estimated 1.036. The DME, in the bag, is fine and powdery as I suspect it should be with no visible imperfections so I am assuming I am doing something wrong. But, how hard can it be to prepare some DME wort right?
I’m pretty sure i get the same thing in my starters, I always assumed it was a little bit that gets carmelized and drops out. Might be grain solids though. Either way I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. Anyone else?
