Please click on an FAQ link below to view information regarding that question.   Question: What is malt extract?   Answer: Malt extract is a thick, sugary syrup or dry powder prepared from malt. Basically, it is sweet wort reduced to a syrup or powder formed by removing most of the water by low vacuum evaporation. Generally speaking, the more you add the greater the alcohol content and body of your beer.   Question: What are the differences between various varieties?   Answer: Manufacturers of extract usually do not disclose the exact ingredients they use, trade secrets and all. It might be that the only indication given of the constituents comprising malt extract can be found on the label of some wheat malt extracts, where they proclaim a ratio of say, 65% wheat malt and 35% barley malt. The variables that go into producing malt extract range from variety of barley used, kilning time and temperature, and how the malted barley is mashed. The malt extract products generally break down to 4 main categories. They are; "Extra Light" (generally used for pilsners or other straw colored beers), "Light", "Gold", or "Pale" (Three names demarking basically the same thing. Great as a fermentable base for most pale ales and some lagers, or used in conjunction with the amber or dark extracts and/or with specialty grains.), "Amber" (darker and with more residual sweetness than the "Extra Light" or "Light"), and "Dark" (Can be used for Porters and Stouts but needs to be infused with portions of chocolate and/or roasted barley to achieve varying degrees of those flavors, which are desirable for the style. The reason being that dark malt extract does not contain appreciable levels of these types of grain.)   Question: What is the difference between the syrup and dried forms of malt extract and what is the ratio between the two?   Answer: Manufacturers use sophisticated equipment to condense malt extract by carefully evaporating much of the water. The evaporation of water from malt extract is carried out in a vacuum. The low air pressure environment created by the vacuum allows the liquid to boil at a lower temperature. This procedure is economical as well as being less pernicious to the integrity of the end product. If the final product is syrup, the water content is usually around 20 percent, with the other remaining 80 percent composed of sugar and unfermentable solids that are important to brewers. If the final product is a dried powder, the malt extract has undergone a complete evaporation process by way of "spray drying", thus removing virtually all of the water. The ratio for use between the dry and syrup forms of malt extract can be approximated as follows: 1 pound of dry malt extract would roughly equal 1.2 pounds of syrup malt extract. Likewise, 1 pound of syrup malt extract would roughly equal 0.8 pounds of dry malt extract.   Question: How can I determine what my specific gravity will be using malt extract?   Answer: Dry malt extract (DME) produces about 44 degrees per pound per gallon of water, while liquid malt extract produces about 35 degrees. If you'd like to determine how much malt extract to use to reach a predetermined starting gravity, use this simple formula: (degrees of extract) x pounds of malt used by gallons of beer to be brewed. For example, if we use 6 pounds of liquid malt extract to make 5 gallons of beer, we would have 35 x 6 = 210... so, 210 divided by 5 (gallons of beer to be brewed) = 42, or a starting gravity of 1.042.   Question: All my beers are coming out darker that I want. How can I make a light-colored beer?   Answer: A couple things to try. For one, you may want to consider stepping up your boil capacity to a full 5 gallon boil. The less concentrated the wort is during the boil, the lighter color wort you will produce. That said, there is a solution for partial boil brewers. One method is the "Late Extract" method. Withhold 75% last 15 minutes of the boil. This will give you a lighter colored wort, as the wort is less concentrated for a majority of the boil. As a benefit, you will actually get better hop utilization as well, so this method is especially beneficial for light-colored, hoppy ales and lagers.