Maltodextrin / Maltodextrose

[benchharp]

Hi,

On the recommendation of a local brewery I purchased some "Maltodextrin" or "Maltodextrose" as it says on the packaging.

I had all the grains and hops and needed it quickly I just went via Amazon rather than the Malt Miller.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

My post boil gravity reading came out at a whopping 1.078 - I was expecting 1.070.

Pre Boil had been spot on and i'm pretty consistent now with numbers.

Does anyone know if Maltodextrin and Maltodextrose are different from each other and perhaps i've picked up the wrong thing?

I can't find much from a google search.

I understood

Maltodextrin is not fermented by yeast, so it does not increase the alcohol content of the brew.

I'm a little surprised it pushed the post boil gravity up so much.

Am i missing something?

Many thanks fellow brewers

[An Ankoù]

Hi benchharp. I'd never come across maltodextrose so I did a bit of googling. Maltodextrin is the polysaccharide composed of multiple glucose molecules and is normally unfermentable by beer yeasts. The info on maltodextrose is not so clear, but it seems that the starches have been fully hydrolised into their constituent monosaccharides and is, effectively, synonymous with glucose. the latter should be fully fermentable and I'm not sure that's what you wanted. The extent to which the difference would affect your OG, I have no idea, but that's not really the issue as it's the FG that I think you're more concerned about. The labelling in the Amazon link you provided is ambiguous, but the description is for maltodextrin. It's also from Richie's, which if they are the same company that used to be known as Ritchie Products, are an old home brewing supplier so you should be OK.
Hope that helps.

[benchharp]

Hey, thanks for your research - by the sounds of it i'm going to have a pretty strong beer! i'll stick to the Malt Miller in future!

[McMullan]

Hi,

On the recommendation of a local brewery I purchased some "Maltodextrin" or "Maltodextrose" as it says on the packaging.

I had all the grains and hops and needed it quickly I just went via Amazon rather than the Malt Miller.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... UTF8&psc=1

My post boil gravity reading came out at a whopping 1.078 - I was expecting 1.070.

Pre Boil had been spot on and i'm pretty consistent now with numbers.

Does anyone know if Maltodextrin and Maltodextrose are different from each other and perhaps i've picked up the wrong thing?

I can't find much from a google search.

I understood

Maltodextrin is not fermented by yeast, so it does not increase the alcohol content of the brew.

I'm a little surprised it pushed the post boil gravity up so much.

Am i missing something?

Many thanks fellow brewers

Starch (energy storage molecule in green plants - stored ‘sunshine’ if you like) is hydrolysed (chopped up) to produce malto-oligosaccharides (sugars). Everything between starch and dextrose (glucose), including maltodextrin. The degree of starch hydrolysis determines composition of the final product. In the case of the product you’ve used, maltodextrin and probably about 5% maltodextrose (glucose), as it’s just food grade therefore not the purest available dextrin on the market. The key difference between maltodextrin and ‘maltodextrose’ (glucose) is the former is non fermentable whereas the latter (dextrose/glucose) is fermentable by brewer’s yeast. So you’re not going to get a bigger beer than you thought, by bumping the OG using maltodextrin. Your FG is going to be higher than you thought. By about 8 points? Whereas maltodextrin adds mouthfeel/body, glucose thins mouthfeel/body. Personally, I wouldn’t use maltodextrin in a big beer. Adding a proportion of simple fermentable sugars produces more drinkable big beers, but that’s according to my personal taste.

[Jocky]

Adding a proportion of simple fermentable sugars produces more drinkable big beers, but that’s according to my personal taste.

I find that alcohol itself adds a lot of sweetness and body to a beer, so thinning out big beers can be a good thing if you don't want them to be cloying.

Of course if you want to make a beer that you can stand a spoon up in then fill your boots with adding dextrins.