Maltodextrin at Bottling Time

I've done it in the past, I didn't notice that much of a difference upon adding half a pound, but it can't hurt to try it.

8 oz? Must have been pretty thin brew. I can tell the difference with 1 oz.

I followed a recipe asking for 4 oz and that was too thick.

I made a batch the other day and used 2 oz. This was the first time I used MD in like 2 years.

I started out at 1.056 and ended up at 1.009. According to the recipe I was following, should have been closer to FG 1.013. Maybe my mash temp got a little lower than expected. Who knows. Tasted it when I racked it to secondary and sure enough, good flavor but thinner than I would have liked.

Maybe I'll just add the MD solution about 1 oz worth at a time (up to about 4 oz) in the bottling bucket, mix it in, and sample until it seems right or things start tasting funny, whichever comes first. I rarely use the stuff either, but desperate times...

Mainly I was just making sure I wouldn't see any adverse effects to doing it at bottling time rather than in the boil.

captaineriv

There shouldn't be any adverse effects. It only adds body not flavor.

Additionally, you may just want to add it dry because with several additions added with water it'll thin yout your brew. Something to think about.

homebrewer_99 said:

Additionally, you may just want to add it dry because with several additions added with water it'll thin yout your brew.

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I haven't messed with MD, but if it's anything like corn sugar, a few ounces should dissolve in only a cup or two of water, which is pretty insignificant in comparison to a 5-gallon batch. If your goal is to add it a bit at a time and taste the effects, I would think you would DEFINITELY want it pre-dissolved so you don't get undissolved MD sitting at the bottom of the bucket, not realizing it, tasting it and thinking you need to add more, and then ending up with too much. Just a thought...

The plan was to just dissolve the stuff in the saucepan along with the corn sugar for priming only using the amount of water I'd normally use for the priming solution. May need to add a little extra water but hopefully not by much. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

captaineriv

captaineriv said:

The plan was to just dissolve the stuff in the saucepan along with the corn sugar for priming only using the amount of water I'd normally use for the priming solution. May need to add a little extra water but hopefully not by much. Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

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That's fine if you have decided how much MD you're adding and doing it all at once, but if as discussed before you want to just experiment with adding it a bit at a time, you don't want it dissolved with the corn sugar, otherwise you'll only be adding that a little at a time as well, and that should be a fixed amount.

Along the same lines, it might be wise to add/tweak the MD before you put priming sugar in, just so the sweetness of the priming sugar doesn't change your perception of the taste/body, since the priming sugar will later ferment out anyway. However, I've never tasted my wort immediately before and after adding priming sugar so I don't know how big a difference it makes, but just something to think about.

I agree with the last two comments...