# What Is Maltodextrin?



## B_Bear (3/11/06)

G'day

I have just purchased a Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 and i was wondering what Maltodextrin is and what does it do? Still learning all about this science.

Will it work well with the stout i am about to brew?

Cheers

Bear

:beer:


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## Screwtop (3/11/06)

Maltodextrin is a moderately sweet Polysaccharide commonly produced from starch from corn, barley or wheat. One of the most fermentable sugars it adds alcohol without adding body/sweetness and without the cidery taste produced by fermenting cane sugar.


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## B_Bear (3/11/06)

Screwtop said:


> Maltodextrin is a moderately sweet Polysaccharide commonly produced from starch from corn, barley or wheat. One of the most fermentable sugars it adds alcohol without adding body/sweetness and without the cidery taste produced by fermenting cane sugar.




So it's not like corn syrup or anything?


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## Screwtop (3/11/06)

Bear said:


> Screwtop said:
> 
> 
> > Maltodextrin is a moderately sweet Polysaccharide commonly produced from starch from corn, barley or wheat. One of the most fermentable sugars it adds alcohol without adding body/sweetness and without the cidery taste produced by fermenting cane sugar.
> ...





Screwtop said:


> produced from starch from CORN , barley or wheat



If it's syrup it's syrup if it's powdered it's powdered.


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## pint of lager (3/11/06)

Screwtop is mixing his kit additives.

Dextrose, or dextrose monohydrate is powdered glucose, made from starch by enzymes. The starch can be derived from corn, wheat, or whatever is cheap at the time. 100% fermentable. Much better than plain sucrose or table sugar in your kit beer.

Maltodextrin is a different kettle of fish entirely. It is typically 20% fermentable, meaning the remaining 80% stays in your brew after fermentation, providing body to your kit beer. Many people also detect a slimey effect from it in beer and don't like it. Many other people use it extensivelyand enjoy the extra body and mouthfeel it gives to kits.

Beer is made from malt, hops, water and yeast.


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## pint of lager (3/11/06)

In Australia, dextrose is called dextrose. Maltodextrin is often called corn syrup.

In America, dextrose is called corn sugar.

Confusing? 

Make sure your package is labelled dextrose or maltodextrin. Do not use the terms corn sugar or corn syrup.

Use both sparingly in your kit beer.

Dextrose is fully fermentable, adds alcohol to your beer. 

Maltodextrin gives mouthfeel and body and a small amount of alcohol.

While on the topic of sugars in kit beers. Table sugar is sucrose. Caster sugar is just finely ground sucrose. Both are not a good addition to kits, except as priming sugar.


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## Screwtop (3/11/06)

Further to POL's explanation have a read here:
Link

Dextrose will ferment out completely with no residual cidery flavours. Maltodextrin does not ferment thus improving the body, mouthfeel and head retention.


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## B_Bear (3/11/06)

Thanks for all your help. It's all taken on board. Brewing can be quite complicated when you really get into it! I am looking forward to learning as much as possible from all the experience here.

Cheers

:beerbang:


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## sstacey (4/11/06)

Maltodextrin just means malt sugar, i.e. malt.
It is just a powdered malt, and should be a yellowish off white colour, correct???
Because it is malt, it is not 100% fermentable (as pint of lager suggested), which is what you want in beer because it adds more mouth feel and helps makes the beer taste less thin.
From memory the coopers brew enhancers contain some maltodextrin and some dextrose (glucose), which is why I think there is some confusion. Because it also contains dextrose, the colour of the powder will be a bit lighter.


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## Kai (4/11/06)

It's not malt. It can be made from any starch source. Typically here it's made from wheat, iirc.


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## Aaron (4/11/06)

From Wikipedia:

For example, maltodextrin is a moderately sweet polysaccharide used as a food additive, unrelated to barley malt. It is produced from corn starch and is usually found as a creamy white hygroscopic powder. Maltodextrin is easily digestible, being absorbed as rapidly as glucose. The CAS registry number of maltodextrin is 9050-36-6.

Have a look at this articke:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrin

Try a search.


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## matti (4/11/06)

just putting my 5 cents worth regarding maltodextrine.
Pure malto Dextrine is off white and look a bit like corn flour.
Use it sparingly in kit beer and when using brewenhancers don't add extra. Slimey. 
If you go to a descent brew shop, they stock brew enhancers that supposingly emulates a style of beer. These have a mix of malt dextrines and Dried malt extract.
If you are after a fuller flavour only brewing kits, the darker Kit enhancer or Kit converters has less or no malto dextrines.
I am sure the your host will lead you in right direction.


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## Screwtop (4/11/06)

As Kai said, can be made from any starch, here in Australia mostly wheat, America Corn, why, as with most why's in life "IF IN DOUB'T, TICK COST". Probably the way to understand it is Maltodextrin is complex carbohydrate and Dextrose is a simple carbohydrate, has been refined/modified further into shorter chain sugars and is more fermentable.


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## Trough Lolly (4/11/06)

In many respects, maltodextrin is to extract brewers what Weyermann Carapils is to grain brewers...

Cheers,
TL


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## Tony (4/11/06)

I spent 5 years working in a Starch plant that made dextrose and Maltodextrin.

POL's description is correct to the letter.

Dextrose is sugar made from starch. They add enzymes and cook it till its 100% firmentable. at this stage it is a clear liquid glucose. They then cool it slowly while stiring it to crystalise it and run the crystaline slurry into a centrifuge to spin out the liquid. The sugar crystals are then dried and packed into bags.

Maltodextrin starts out the same way as starch and is only partially converted to sugars. Most of the stuff used in brewing was actually called "fieldose 30", being 30% fermentable. They go lower with ratings of 20, 15, 10 and even 5. It is pumped into a heated chamber under pressure by fine jets and dries instantly in the air, falling to the bottom as a powder. it is collected and packed into bags from there.

It has nothing to do with malted barly and is used for boddy and head retention in beer.

I will also back up the comment of......

MALT, HOPS AND YEAST.

If you are going to pur sugars in your beer use dextrose of Dry light malt extract.

I used to like a 50/50 mix of dex and DLME. 100% DLME is better but i say steer clear of maltodextrin, it doesnt belong there. 

Just my 2 bobs worth 

cheers


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## Bribie G (4/5/11)

Rubbish, as we all know beer is made from malt, hops, yeast water and _polenta _ B) 

A lot of the confusion that arises over maltodextrin is the "malt" part of the name. When it was first isolated it was seen to be related to maltose which at that time could only be produced from malted barley, so the name was allocated accordingly. However nowadays it's more likely made from corn or potatoes or belly button fluff. 

However I expect the kit manufacturer are very grateful for that "malt" syllable.


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