JaCk_SpArRoW wrote:scblack wrote:there is NO hard and fast rule for beer brewing.
So really Chris's entry
2) Use either light dry malt (LDM/LME) or liquid malt extract.
The days of 1kg of white sugar are over. The days of Coopers brewing sugar (with sucrose) are over. Depending on your style of beer, I believe 500g LDM is a minimum. 1kg of LDM alone in my beers are almost standard. You are not doing your beer a favour by using dextrose and maltodextrin alone. (will this point be controversial?)
isnt a rule to go by then?....sorry for my ignorance but I've never used any of these ingredients so I dont know what the standard methods would be!
OK, my take on Chris's rule, is right, in the sense of not using sucrose, which adds less than desirable flavours.
My understanding is that if you used dextrose alone, it would be a thin, somewhat watery beer, due to the dextrose being fully fermented by the yeast. "Body" is added by using LDM. Body is a fuller flavour/feel due to the ingredients of LDM not fully fermenting, and being left floating through your beer. I'm no expert here.
I don't disagree with Chris at all, I don't brew with just dextrose myself, what I'm saying is, if you like that type of beer - go for it. If you're a newer brewer, experiment until you find what you like. I've done a grand total of 16 brews, and still experimenting (and will probably never stop experimenting). But of all that 16, they were all drinkable, even with so-called "errors".
I learn a huge amount from this site, and read it each day pretty much, and take in ideas - some I do, some I don't. But everyone likes different beer - and if carbonator likes dry beer with less body, good for him.
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry.