Big beer extract impact?

Question

My system can comfortably mash up to 10kg of malt. But it can easily fly sparge only 5kg. 8kg is doable, but stretching it. In my recipe I have:

• 5kg Pale Ale
• 1kg Munich I
• 1kg Munich II
• 1kg Melanoiden
• 2kg DME
• candi sugar, caramel etc added later
• Belgian yeast

Previous incarnation of this ale was using no DME and 8kg Pale Ale (rest unchanged) and it was delicious. I decided to substitute 3kg of malt with 2kg of DME to only sparge once.

Problem is, it turns out that I only have 3.5kg of Pale Ale. I'm 1.5kg short. Possible solutions:

1. Buy more. More authentic taste, but sparge will be long.
2. Buy DME or LME. Easy sparge, bad for pocket. Taste impact?
3. Use more Munich I and II. Cheapest, I already have it. But would alter the flavor. On the other hand, it's supposed to be malty.

How bad would be using extract or Munich? I'd prefer it to be either cheap or easy.

Answer 1

I would avoid option 3. You've already got plenty of Munich in the recipe, and it would likely alter the flavor too much. If you do go this way be sure to use your lightest Munich as the higher roasted Munich will lose its enzymes and no longer be suitable as a base malt.

My choice would be to use more extract, preferably LME. It's easy and effective. You will not have an excessive amount of your recipe coming from extracts and I expect you will still get a good depth of flavor.

Option 1 will also work out well.