Ingredients » Dry Malt Extracts

Both liquid malt extracts (LME) and dry malt extracts (DME) are produced by first simulating the germination of the barley grain with a process called malting. This procedure entails immersing barley in water to encourage the grain to sprout, then quickly drying the barley to halt the progress when the sprouting begins. Enzymes then begin to break down the starches in the barley and turn them to sugar. This sugar is called malt, or maltose. The quick drying step stops the sprouting, but the enzymes remain active.

The next step in the brewing process is to extract the malt sugar from the barley. This is done by "mashing", which further breaks down the starches. Brewers boil the grain in precisely heated water, dissolving the sugars and pulling them from the solid casing. The liquid produced from this is called wort. Wort is then concentrated by using heat or a vacuum procedure to pull the water from the mixture.