Coopers amber, dark or wheat malt extract, which to use

The short answer is that amber malt extract gives you caramel and body without any roast in it, and dark malt extract takes you into roasted coffee and burnt toffee territory. Wheat malt sits off to one side doing a different job again, which is softening the mouthfeel and holding the head on the beer. So the question is what you want the finished beer to taste like, and once you've answered that the tin more or less picks itself.

What a malt extract is actually doing

Malt extract is wort that's already been made and then concentrated down, so when you stir it into your fermenter you're adding the sugars the yeast will eat plus everything that came with them, which means colour and flavour, plus the proteins that give a beer its body. That last bit is why swapping some of your brewing sugar for a malt extract changes the beer so much. Plain sugar ferments out and leaves almost nothing behind, so you end up with the alcohol and a thinner beer. Malt extract ferments out too, but it leaves the character behind, and that's the difference you can taste in the glass.

Amber malt extract

Coopers Amber Malt Extract is the one I'd reach for when a beer is coming out a bit thin and I want to round it out without darkening it much. It carries a warm caramel sweetness, it lifts the body and it helps the head stay on the beer, and because there's no roast in it you can use a fair bit before the beer starts looking like something it isn't. It suits an amber ale or a red ale obviously enough, but it's just as useful propped into a pale ale kit that you thought was a bit watery last time round.

Dark malt extract

Coopers Dark Malt Extract is the bolder one and it changes the colour and the flavour in a hurry. You get roasted notes, a bit of chocolate, that burnt toffee edge, and a much darker pour. If you're brewing a stout or a porter it belongs in there, and the same goes for a dark ale.

The thing worth knowing is that it's easy to overdo. Dark malt is assertive, so if you aren't sure, go lighter than you think and taste the result, because you can always push the next batch further and you can't pull a batch back once it's in.

Wheat malt

Coopers Wheat Malt is the odd one out here because it isn't really about colour at all. Wheat gives you protein, and protein is what holds a head on a beer and what gives a wheat beer that soft, slightly cloudy feel in the mouth. If your beer keeps going flat-looking in the glass within a minute of pouring, a bit of wheat malt is often the fix.

Can you use more than one

You can, and mixing is where it gets interesting. A dark ale built mostly on amber with just a splash of dark comes out with real depth but without the roast taking over, and that's a beer a lot of people prefer to a full-on stout. I'd change one thing at a time though, and write down what you did, because the batch nobody can remember the recipe for is always the one that turned out well.

How much of it to use

I'm not going to give you a number here, because the amount depends on the kit you're starting from and Coopers print their own guidance on the tin. Read what's on the pack in front of you and work from that, rather than from something you read on the internet, and that includes this.

None of this is hard, it's just unfamiliar, and those are different problems. Nobody walks into a brewing aisle already knowing what crystal malt does. You find out by brewing a few batches and paying attention to what changed, which takes a while and is honestly most of the fun.

Shop related products

• Coopers Amber Malt Extract 1.5kg. Caramel and body without the roast.
• Coopers Dark Malt Extract 1.5kg. For stouts and porters, and for dark ales.
• Coopers Light Malt Extract 1.5kg. Body and head retention with barely any shift in colour.
• Coopers Light Dry Malt 500g. The dry version, handy when you only want a little.

Did you know we also stock Coopers Wheat Malt 1.5kg in the shop. It isn't on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.

More on brewing

• Coopers Amber Malt Extract, what it does in your beer
• Coopers Dark Malt Extract, when to use it
• Coopers Wheat Malt, what wheat does in your beer

If you're stuck on which way to take a batch, Brewhilder is our homebrew adviser and it'll talk you through it. The rest of the range is in the homebrew collection, and you can always come in and ask us.

Still working out my own preferences, same as everybody else, and still forgetting to write the recipe down.

Cheers,
Candeece