The primary difference between liquid and dry malt extract is the amount of water in each. Because the two types of malt are different in water content, a pound of liquid extract and a pound of dry extract differ in sugar content as well. Therefore, liquid and dry extract are not interchangeable in a recipe. However, there is a simple formula to convert between types of extract.

Malt Syrup: If the final product is syrup, the water content is usually around 20%, with the other remaining 80% composed of sugar and unfermentable solids that are important to brewers.

Dried Powder: 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.

Conversion: 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 dry malt extract.