clumping dme issues

[Wayne1]

Hello all - I mainly am focusing on winemaking, but make beer with my Coopers setupfor purposes of consumption - as you may know, it is a no-boil system and you just add the ingredients to the fermenter along with hot or boiling water and stir - the last couple of batches I have made, one of the ingredients added was light dry malt and I am finding some of the stuff clumps into concrete-like lumps that seem to be practically indestructible - I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if this is unavoidable???


Thanks!

 

[smurfe]

DME is super sticky and that is a problem.I try to add somewhat slowly when I use it and never add it to boiling water/liquor over a flame. Heat or boil your liquid and remove it from the flame and add slowly. It will drop straight to the bottom of the potIf you add over the flame you chance scortching it to the bottom of the pot and adding off flavors as well as darkening your beer. Just stir stir stir till it disolves. It will eventually disolve. It don't use it much in beer but do use it all the time for yeast starters.

 

[Wayne1]

Thanks Smurfe for the advice - I just dumped it in and I'll try pouring it in more slowly next time - Wayne

 

[fratermus]

Are the clumps before, during, or after addition to the wort?

If before, I'd say a cheap mortar/pestle should break that up. I have used that on some (literally) rockhard yeast nutrient. Sounds like the bag isn't a moisture barrier. Maybe use a freezer ziplock to store the entire DME bag until use?

If during, I'd say that steam from the hot water is getting on the DME and causing clumping. Could try pouring from smaller containers so minimal DME is exposed to steam at any given time. Big --> small --> fermenter.

If after, I'll have to do the "unsolicitied advice" thing and say that boils, even relatively short ones, have great positive effect on beer wort for various reasons.

Did you make it to the grapefest in Grapevine this year? We were planning on it but scheduling intervened.