Brew Booster

[TonyynoT]

What are the pros and cons of using brew booster (500g dextrose, 250g corn syrup and 250g maltodextrin)?
I've been using it lots lately and seems to be a lot better than brew enhancer in all aspects.

 

[MHB]

Corn Syrup and Maltodextrin are the same thing (the Americans call dextrose Corn Sugar)
The other problem is that Brew Booster and Brew Enhancer are just names that manufactures put on products they don't have a defined set of contents so you might have to tell us what is in the Brew Booster you are referring to.
Mark

 

[Bribie G]

It's definitely an improvement over just using a kilo of sugar with a kit.
AFAIK the mixture from your LHBS is just a knock off of the Coopers brew enhancer.

Until I got my new fermenting fridge last month I did a few 42L partials in my 60L fermenter using a single batch AG mash plus a tin and a kilo.

Depending on where I got the tin from I'd buy either a box of BE2 or a bag of LHBS mix and didn't find much difference.

 

[Digitalsea]

I think the benefits of a brew booster are everything is measured and packaged for you. Just open it up and pour it in with your tinned pre-hopped mixture, fairly well balanced and great for making a kit brew taste less kit like. If you move to extract brewing where you hop your own malt extracts, definitely steer clear of the brew boosters, they are very much only really for the kit based tins like the Cooper's tins and similar to the Brew Enhancers that Cooper's sell.

 

[TonyynoT]

Thanks, i like the idea of extract brewing. I will give it a go. Any tips?

 

[CmdrRyekr]

Keep things CLEAN! Clean, clean clean. Use a good cleaner, PBW is the go, Starsan sanitiser is the other must-use.
Pitch two packs of yeast, not one - Higher pitching rates are KEY to good extract.
Control your ferment temps, an old/cheap Gumtree fridge will do the job - keep your ferments around 18c for best results.
If you have the means, a shot of pure oxygen at pitching-time helps NO END!

 

[Gigantorus]

The maltodextrin will add body = mouthfeel and head retention. I've played with it a bit over the past year - maybe using 200grams per 23Litre batch. It does appear, as reports would suggest, give the drinker beer farts. But it does give a nice thickness to the beer, which coats the mouth.

In the past few brews I've not used the maltodextrin and have simply added more specialty malts (up to 1kg), which I've steeped in 3 or 4 litres of hot water (65c to 70C) for 30 to 40 minutes. I've the strained liquid into the boiling pot and boiled for 30 minutes or so to pasturise (extract brewing). I tend to think this give body but more flavour as well.

Cheers,

Pete