What is the difference between the syrup and dried forms of malt extract and what is the ratio between the two?
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 d
