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You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Brewing Forum --> Brewing Discussion --> Maltodextrin use (not for BU challenge)

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gruuk
Queens, NY
36 Posts


I have a beer in primary which has a couple of issues, which by themselves aren't a big deal but combined have me concerned.

First, I mis-evaluated the boil-off and ended up with a higher volume than expected, missing my target OG by 3 points. Second, I would normally live with it, but the yeast I chose is highly attenuative and I worry about having a beer that's much too thin.

The easiest solution appears to be simply adding maltodextrin (mixed in a small quantity of boiling water, then cooled) in the bottling bucket at the same time as the priming solution, though I am uncertain about how much to use; Maltodextrin has a gravity of 1.040 (based on what I found) and assuming a batch size of 1.8 gallons, would I be correct in thinking that 3oz would be enough to bump the FG by about 4 points? I'm hoping that it would be enough.

Thoughts?




Posted 34 days ago.

ingoogni
nl
314 Posts


What yeast? Some Saison yeasts don't make thin beer despite fermeting deep, some of those even metabolise maltodextrins to some extent.




Posted 34 days ago.

gruuk
Queens, NY
36 Posts


Oh, right! that's true about body and the yeast I used - Belle Saison. I've had it drive my beers down as low as 1.005 while still not too thin - still, I would like more a bit more body in this one.

However, I did not know that it could chew through maltodextrin (which I thought to be unfermentable), even to a limited degree. Thank you for that info, it means that if I do add any to my beer, I better add it to the fermentor and give it a week. Or play it safe and not add it at all.




Posted 34 days ago.
Edited 34 days ago by gruuk

ingoogni
nl
314 Posts


Belle Saison (and 3711 ?) are amylolytic yeasts, they can excrete amylases that break down maltodextrin to some extent. Normal beer yeasts can't do this. These Saison yeasts als make more glycerol than most beer yeasts and that crates some body.




Posted 34 days ago.

gruuk
Queens, NY
36 Posts


I took a gravity reading yesterday afternoon before adding anything and was surprised to see it only 1 point below the normal range for the style; if tomorrow I get the same reading, I won't be adding maltodextrin after all since the body should be fine.

Thanks again for all the info, I now know more about one of my favorite yeast's quirks!




Posted 34 days ago.

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