Maltodextrin and Sweetness?

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kinkothecarp

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So I was reading The Fat Duck Cookbook - for all you non-foodies, it's like a Bible of Molecular Gastronomy - and Blumenthal claims that Maltodextrin not only has sweetness, but was too sweet for one of his dishes. Later, its clear that it does ferment a little (but not much). Now, beer making is different than cooking, but this raises the question - does Maltodextrin have sweetness?
 
There are a range of products all called maltodextrin. The sweetness depends on the exact mix small and large sugar chains, AKA DE = dextrose equivalents. What we use in brewing is near the low end (DE=5) and about 1/10th as sweet as sucrose.
 
I just over did a maltodextrin addition in an Imperial Pilsner. It's has a flavor in large concentrations, I would not call it sweet but it is easily identifiable, someone who doesn't know beer could call it sweet.

By the way a drop of BEANO took care of Dextrin taste, by breaking down the long chain dextrins so the yeast could ferment them out.
 
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