What DE is the maltodextrin used in brewing?

Does anyone know what DE maltodextrin is commonly used in brewing? By looking at it (and the fact that it is advertised as low fermentable sugars) I would guess around 10 DE, but I've never actually bought any to taste it.

In the real world you can get anywhere from 10 DE (practically starch) up to 24 DE at which point it becomes corn syrup solids (very sweet) for ~$4 cwt ($4 for 100lbs). I have a line on a nearly unlimited supply, and would like to try some things out.

what is DE?

RogerMcAllen said:

Does anyone know what DE maltodextrin is commonly used in brewing? By looking at it (and the fact that it is advertised as low fermentable sugars) I would guess around 10 DE, but I've never actually bought any to taste it.

In the real world you can get anywhere from 10 DE (practically starch) up to 24 DE at which point it becomes corn syrup solids (very sweet) for ~$4 cwt ($4 for 100lbs). I have a line on a nearly unlimited supply, and would like to try some things out.

Click to expand...

From Wikipedia, "Maltodextrin, a lightly hydrolyzed (DE 10–20) starch product used as a bland-tasting filler and thickener."

Starch is a long chain of dextrose molecules. DE is dextrose equivalent, or basically how much of the starch is hydrolyzed to dextrose. The DE is also essentially the % of fermentable sugars in the maltodextrin (something I have seen asked about a few times on these forums).

Depending on where you stop the chemical reaction, you can make any DE you want.
DE 1 = 1% free dextrose
DE 5 = 5% free dextrose
DE 10 = 10% free dextrose
...
DE 18 = 18% free dextrose (at this point it starts getting sweet, and they call it corn syrup)
...
DE 100 = 100% dextrose

Never seen a rating on any of the MD I've used, but I'd be surprised if it was as high as DE 10. Every source I've used rated it as an unfermentable and I've never noticed any sweetness. Since it's used for mouthfeel and body, I suspect it has as low a DE as possible. I know Briess makes a DE 3 product.