HELP: IS THIS "DME" OK FOR A STARTER

[PaulStat]

Sorry for the caps, but I think I might of been sold the wrong thing by my HBS (brewers droop). I went in and asked for some light DME for a starter and he gave me this big blue tin that said "EDME DMS Diastatic Malt Extract", hmmm DME sounds right to me I thought.

Anyway I just opened it up and it's like big tin fully of runny caramel!!!! My impression was DME is a powder. I'm thinking even if I can use this for a starter, how the hell am I going to keep the rest of it!

Edit: This!

[Graham]

Sorry for the caps, but I think I might of been sold the wrong thing by my HBS (brewers droop). I went in and asked for some light DME for a starter and he gave me this big blue tin that said "EDME DMS Diastatic Malt Extract", hmmm DME sounds right to me I thought.

Anyway I just opened it up and it's like big tin fully of runny caramel!!!! My impression was DME is a powder. I'm thinking even if I can use this for a starter, how the hell am I going to keep the rest of it!

Aha! One of the problems with the Americanisation of British home brewing, and an ever bigger problem with people forever using abbreviations because they think it makes them sound cleverer. In English, DME traditionally meant diastatic malt extract (Diastatic Malt Syrup), but in American it means dried malt extract.

Yes, you can use it for your starter no problem.

Storing it may be a problem. You may get some surface mould on it, after a while, but it's harmless. Some beer kits have a cap on them (or used to have), and they are useful for resealing such tins. At the moment you are left with the cling-film option or transferring it to some sort of (preferably collapsible) bottle (so that you can collapse the air out of it) and storing it in the coldest place you can find.

[PaulStat]

Thanks Graham! Question though, with the powdered version I was advised to use about 100g per 1L of water. How many spoons of "goop" do I need per litre?

[oxford brewer]

120-130g of the LME(liquid Malt Extract) should be ok.

[edit1now]

Decant it into small plastic boxes, enough per box for one starter, and put the boxes in the freezer. It'll last for ever, almost.

[flything]

As long as you boil it then it should be ok