Dextrine Malt vs Powder Conversion

I'm planning to redo my nut Brown as an AG and BeerSmith converts everything except the 2oz of MaltoDextrine powder. Any reason why it doesn't and any idea what a conversion rate would be?

GroovePuppy said:

I'm planning to redo my nut Brown as an AG and BeerSmith converts everything except the 2oz of MaltoDextrine powder. Any reason why it doesn't and any idea what a conversion rate would be?

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This is your priming sugar right?

EDIT: DO'H Ignore this, read it wrong.

What's your recipe? You could add 1/2 pound of carapils instead of the MD, but it might not be needed if you already have some caramel malts.

6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.22 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 12.03 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6.02 %
5.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 3.73 %
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
1.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
2.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 60.0 min) Misc

But the extract version had the Caramel malt as well as the Maltodextrine. Is 2oz going to do much? Neither BeerSmith nor John Palmer expound on quantities and their effects.

GroovePuppy said:

6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 78.22 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 12.03 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 6.02 %
5.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 3.73 %
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
1.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
2.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 60.0 min) Misc

But the extract version had the Caramel malt as well as the Maltodextrine. Is 2oz going to do much? Neither BeerSmith nor John Palmer expound on quantities and their effects.

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With the crystal 20L, I'd skip it. But if you really wanted to ensure a lasting head, you could add 8 ounces of carapils/dextrine malt. I'd NOT use malto-dextrine, as I don't think you need it. You should have enough body in the recipe, especially if you mash high. Mash at 156-158 for 45 minutes, and you'll have all kinds of body!

So the Maltodextrine powder adds only body where the Dextrine malt adds head too? I thought the powder was the equivalent of a DME for Dextrine.

No, dextrine malt (carapils) is not the same thing as maltodextrin powder, so maltodextrin does not convert into a grain. If the extract recipe called for MD powder, you'll still want to use it in the AG recipe if you want it to be a similar beer. But as Yooper said, one of the benefits of AG is that you can adjust the mash temp up a little to get more body and not necessarily need the MD for body, but you won't get quite as high of attenuation either.

OK, still confused.

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Increasing the Body

John Palmer talks about body being increased by unfermentables giving higher FG, yet when I add a pile of Maltodextrine to a Beersmith recipe the gravity numbers don't twitch. He also says that Caramel 60 adds more body than lower SRM Caramels but BeerSmith again doesn't show that as differing gravities. So how exactly is body measured if not by FG?

Also here:

How to Brew - By John Palmer - Gravity vs. Fermentability

"The heavier body is nice to have in a stout for example; all-grain brewers would add American Carapils malt (a.k.a. Dextrin Malt) to their mash to produce the same effect. Brewers using extract have the alternative of adding Malto-Dextrin powder, which is a concentrated form."

This sounds like he's saying the two are equivalent at some level. At least he's saying use Dextrin Malt and not Maltodextrin powder in an All Grain.

On using mash temp to tweak body I guess I gave my Oakham JHB more body than the style 'cos that's where I mashed. Oh well.

Yeah, beercalculus does not give any gravity points for MD either but you know it has to affect the reading to some degree. I have seen AG recipes that use maltodextrin, like Edwort's Bee Cave Robust Porter.

MD and dextrine malt do accomplish similar goals, but they're not exactly the same thing and I haven't used either one enough to offer an ounce for ounce substitution ratio for you to use. The recipes that I've made that called for Cara-pils used from 8 oz to 1 lb in a 5 gallon batch and the only one I've made with MD used 8 oz.

I'd follow Yooper's advice and either use a small amount of cara-pils (4-8 ounces) in your recipe or skip it altogether. It was only 2 ounces of MD, so I doubt you will miss it.