Maltodextrin for body

I brew my beer from Brewers Best beer kits. The last two kits I made were German Altbier style. The first batch I made was by the book per their instructions. The beer was great but had a bit of chill haze, so the next batch I made I used Irish Moss in my boil to help with clarification but this batch turned out less to my liking, seeming too thin and a little less tasteful. What sort of effect would it have if I added 4-8oz of maltodextrin to the boil? Would it have much effect or any negative effect on the bier aside from adding body? How much would you recommend I use? I'd rather it be a bit too full than not full enough.

The only thing it will do is add body. Otherwise...it's tasteless, so all you have to worry about is viscous, syrupy beer if you add too much. And it won't solve your "less tasteful" problem---for that, you'll need more specialty grains and hops.

I typically use between 4 and 8 ounces, rarely more.

Evan! said:

The only thing it will do is add body. Otherwise...it's tasteless, so all you have to worry about is viscous, syrupy beer if you add too much. And it won't solve your "less tasteful" problem---for that, you'll need more specialty grains and hops.

I typically use between 4 and 8 ounces, rarely more.

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Well Evan, is it actually possible that the irish moss robbed some of the flavor or was it simply that I imagined it, confusing fullness with taste?

No the irish moss wouldn't have detracted from the flavor, I would second Evan and try tweeking the amount of specialty grains you are using and hop additions.

Cheers

MadHatter said:

Well Evan, is it actually possible that the irish moss robbed some of the flavor or was it simply that I imagined it, confusing fullness with taste?

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Nope, the only thing that may rob flavor from the beer is filtering (plate, etc), which you didn't do. All Irish moss/Whirfloc does is bind to the proteins that cloud up your beer and cause them to sink more quickly (if I'm mistaken, someone feel free to correct me---this is merely how I understand it).

Sometimes, less body gets confused with less taste, but unless the recipes were exactly the same, I'd be more apt to guess that it was the grains/hops lacking.

Thanks fellahs. Yeah, the recipes were exactly the same and I'm making another this evening. I'll use the moss and the malto-d this time and see how it turns out. I'm still learning the ropes, btw, so I plan to make one adjustment at a time and see where that leads me. At any rate I'm sure it will be more enjoyable than some of the ales I've been buying off the shelf.

:rockin:

Adding some light crystal or dextrin malt should add body and flavor. I guess I'm just not a big fan of adding other adjuncts to my beer.

Craig

I would recommend against using more than 1 oz of MD per batch.

Any more and the brew gets "thick" like old congealed gravy...just my opinion.

I've had mixed luck with the Brewer's Best kits. The grains are pre-crushed, and who knows how long they've been sitting on the shelves. Crushed grains get old & stale, and could contribute to the difference in your two batches. Look at the dates on the kits, and don't leave them sitting for weeks before you get around to brewing.