Malt Extract Tastes

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing
1

I am planning to make a few SMASH brews and have two questions.

  1. Would extract be acceptable in a SMASH brew?

  2. How strong are the characteristics (example: wheat malt extract, pilsner extract) of particular extracts or are they pretty generic?

2

The problem with using extract for SMASH beers is that most extract is a blend of different malts. For example, the Wheat DME I used a couple weeks back is 60% Wheat & 40% 2-Row. Same with the Pilsen LME I have used before, it is a 50-50 mix.

You would have to do a little research yourself, but I believe that Munton’s Light LME is 100% 2-Row. But I think the only 100% single malt extract you are going to find will be a 2-Row extract.

Obviously you can use a single type of malt (Wheat DME, Etc…) to get an idea of flavors each one will produce. In fact, this is (kind of) my plan to dial in the recipe for my house APA. Leave the recipe the same except 1 ingredient each time until I think it is perfect. True “stylists” will knock you for calling it a “SMASH” beer though.

Happy Brewing!