wilbanba

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ExpertBrewers

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If you want to add "mouth feel" without changing the flaovour too much malto dextrin would be your best bet. Malt and malt extract would give you a malty taste and not really add a lot to the mouth feel.

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johnsma22

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I just made a batch with Gnome extract. They call for 10 cups of sugar for a 5 gallon batch. I also wanted to experiment a little and get some more mouth feel. So I made some sweetener substitutions. I went with 6 cups of cane sugar, 2 cups of light brown sugar and 3 cups of clover honey. In addition, I added 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 4 tbsp of malto-dextrin.

With this combination I nailed the exact sweetness and mouth feel that I was looking for on the first try! How often does that happen? I really think the addition of the honey and the malto dextrin made the difference in the special sweetness and mouth feel of this batch. Everyone that has tried it has loved it!

I usually use the one gallon jugs of pre-sweetened Sprechers syrup, which in my opinion makes the best 5 gallons of root beer that money can buy. I didn't have any left so I had to go with Gnome, which I can get locally. You can only keg with the Sprechers syrup though because it has preservatives that will not allow for carbonating with yeast.

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Cheers,
John

"There Are No Stupid Questions, But There Are a LOT of Inquisitive Idiots!"

wilbanba

Recipes 

thanks for the reply
im on my 3rd batch and am getting close i can feel it
did you add vanilla pre or post fermentation?
im moving now to using force carb with a handheld co2 system
then on to raw herb recipes

wilbanba

Recipes 

thanks for the help
are any of the carbs in malto dextrin consumed during fermentation?

johnsma22

Recipes 

I keg and force carbonate my root beer (30 psi through 40' of 3/16" beverage tubing). Perfect level of carbonation and a perfect pour! I heat about 1 gallon of water to ~150˚F in order to dissolve all of the sugars. Once dissolved, I remove it from the heat and add both the root beer extract and the vanilla extract. Then I let it cool to room temp before covering it and putting the whole pot in the fridge to cool.

In the meantime, I chill and carbonate 4 gallons of filtered water (plain water carbonates much faster than water with a lot of sugar in it). The next day when the extract/sugar mixture is at fridge temp I add it to the already carbonated 4 gallons of water and put it back on the gas. It's perfect in a day or two after that.

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Cheers,
John

"There Are No Stupid Questions, But There Are a LOT of Inquisitive Idiots!"

ExpertBrewers

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It is around 12% fermentable.

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wilbanba

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thanks thats extremely helpful
my next batch will have a DIY carbonator and CO2 via an Ultraflate Plus charger
is your 30psi the outlet pressure or the final vessel pressure when fully carbonated or both? im new to force carb
how do you calculate line diameter and length to reduce pressure?

yermej

Recipes 

There's lots of info on carbing and calculating line length in the Sticky-Kegging FAQs.

johnsma22

Recipes 

The 30 psi is coming from a "Y" fitting on my primary regulator. One side sends the 30 psi to my root beer to carbonate and serve, which is why I need to serve through 40' of 3/16" ID tubing to balance that tap for a good pour. This is a dedicated soda tap. The other side of the "Y" fitting sends 30 psi from my primary regulator to the input of my dual secondary regulator. This allows me to keep the other two kegs in my fridge at different pressures, according to style.

There are some rules of thumb regarding line length, diameter, pour rates, etc. Rather than type it all again, I will copy and past this response I made to a similar question in the past. Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Unless your keg fridge is remote, meaning more than 10' from the taps, you don't want to use 1/4" ID tubing. 3/16" ID thick walled beverage tubing is what you should use.

I serve through 10' of tubing regardless of the style being served. The only thing that changes with the serving pressure is the pour rate. A Hefe served at 18 psi has a pour rate that is faster than a stout served at 8 psi. Both will serve foam free though, that is the goal!

It really is a game of compromise. Choose a length of line that gives you the flexibility to serve higher carbed beers and the trade off will be that when you serve lower carbed beers your pour rate will be a little slower. I have not found this to be a problem.

There is a rule of thumb that each foot of 3/16" ID beverage line has a pressure drop of 2 psi. That is a little simplistic. There is a large set of variables involved in balancing your system. The higher the carbonation level - the slower you want the pour. The faster the pour the quicker the co² will be knocked out of solution during the pour.

The rule of thumb that I use is:


Carb level = Desired Pour rate = Effective 3/16" Line Resistance at that given volume of CO2

1.8 to 2.3 volumes = 110-120 oz/min = 2.19 lbs/ft
2.4 to 2.6 volumes = 100-115 oz/min = 1.81 lbs/ft
2.6 to 2.8 volumes = 90-105 oz/min = 1.40 lbs/ft
2.8 to 3.0 volumes = 75-85 oz/min = 0.94 lbs/ft

So you can see that just using the 2 psi per foot pressure drop figure for 3/16" ID beverage tubing to balance your system does not take all factors into consideration.

__________________
Cheers,
John

"There Are No Stupid Questions, But There Are a LOT of Inquisitive Idiots!"