Coopers Light Dry Malt 500g, what it does in your beer
If you've poured a batch you were happy with on paper and found it went thin and watery across the tongue, the thing worth changing first is what you put in the fermenter alongside the tin, because that's a cheaper experiment than a new kit and it's usually where the body went missing.
What's actually in the bag
Coopers Light Dry Malt is 500g of 100% light dry malt extract made from malted barley, and Coopers list it as improving body, malt character, head retention and mouthfeel across a range of beer styles. Head retention is the one people underrate, because it's the difference between a beer that still looks like a beer when you're halfway down the glass and one where the foam has gone before you've sat down.
Why it does something plain sugar can't
Coopers Dextrose is 100% dextrose and it ferments right out, which means it lifts the alcohol and leaves no flavour behind at all, and that's genuinely useful when you want a bit more strength without changing the taste of the beer. Dry malt works the other way round, because a good part of what it brings stays in the glass as body and malt character rather than turning into alcohol. So if your last batch tasted fine and just felt hollow, more dextrose won't fix it, and dry malt will.
The brew enhancers sit in between, and that's worth knowing before you buy anything, because Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 is a blend of dextrose and light dry malt with maltodextrin in it, so you're already getting a share of this in the bag. If you're using Enhancer 2 and the beer still feels thin, adding dry malt on its own is the next thing I'd try, and on straight dextrose it's the first thing.
When to put it in
It goes in at the start with the rest of your fermentables rather than later, and it wants dissolving in hot water before it goes anywhere near the fermenter, because dry malt clumps badly if it hits cold liquid and you'll be standing there stirring lumps out of it. Follow the quantities on whatever kit you're brewing rather than a number off the internet, because 500g is deliberately a part-batch size and it's meant for adjusting a recipe you already like.
Coopers recommend it across a range of beer styles rather than one in particular, so a pale ale, a lager, a stout or a bitter will all take it, and the only real difference is how much malt character you want showing at the end. If you want a bit of colour along with the body, the 1.5kg tins of amber and dark malt extract do the same job with a heavier hand.
If you're new to this
Nobody works this out on their first batch and there's no shame in that at all, because the only way you learn what each bag in the cupboard actually does is to brew a few that come out thin and then change one thing at a time. Ask us when you're in and we'll tell you which one your kit wants.
Shop related products
- Coopers Light Dry Malt 500g. The bag this post is about.
- Coopers Light Malt Extract 1.5kg. The tin version, when you want it across a full batch.
- Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 1kg. A blend, if you would rather buy it ready mixed.
- Coopers Dextrose 1kg. Alcohol without the body, for when that is what you are after.
- Coopers Amber Malt Extract 1.5kg. Body and colour in the one tin.
Did you know we also stock Coopers Wheat Malt 1.5kg in the shop, and it never made it onto the website. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The Coopers range sits in our Coopers collection, the rest of the gear is in homebrew, and Brewhilder will help you work out which one your kit needs.
- Brewing beer with liquid malt extract, the basics
- The great brew enhancer debate, Coopers 1, 2 and 3
- Beer styles explained: pale ale, amber, porter and stout
I'm still the sort who reads the tin twice before tipping anything in, and I'd recommend it.
Cheers,
Candeece
