Low gravity

Can a low gravity make a beer taste watery? I am ready to bottle my beer and it taste watery. I am way off on my original marks. Can you add MD now or is it too late?


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FG is supposed to be 1013 and it's 1008.


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Do you mean malto dextrine? You could add the malto dextrine, after boiling and chilling. This would increase the body of the beer. It would also increase the sweetness. The beer may become so sweet as to be undrinkable.

Carbonation and bottle conditioning will change the characteristics of the flat green beer from the fermentor. I would let this one go as it is. Try one after three weeks of conditioning and then decide how to do the next brew.

How much MD would I add for 5 gal? It's been sitting in the secondary for two weeks, so it's ready to be bottled. So would I boil and chill it, pour into bottling bucket then rack the beer on top?


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I'd also vote for letting it go and just bottle as is. I typically get lower FGs than beersmith calculates on every batch and while some of them might seem watery when they're warm and flat, they don't seem that way at all once they're carbonated.

I'm with flars. Although you can add it I don't think you should. Flat beer out of the fermenter almost always tastes and feels watery.

As a side note did you undershoot your OG by about 5 points too?

jknapp12105 said:

How much MD would I add for 5 gal? It's been sitting in the secondary for two weeks, so it's ready to be bottled. So would I boil and chill it, pour into bottling bucket then rack the beer on top?


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If you really are worried about the final outcome of your beer, are are going to add MD no matter what, go with 4 to 8 ounces boiled and chilled.

I'm not sure of my numbers, but it would take nearly 2 pounds to bring the SG up to the estimated FG with maltodextrin. I would say for certainty you would not want to drink the beer if you added two pounds.

I would be cautious and use just 4 ounces to add to the body, which may not be a problem anyway after bottle conditioning.

Check the maltodextin you have for % fermentability. Not all MD is 100% unfermentable.

Just for reference, I brewed a brown mild a while ago. 1.038 > 1.009 I kegged it about 3 weeks ago and when I did, I took a sample to taste. I was really worried that it was going to be watery. I let it condition for another two weeks, then put it on the gas a week ago. It's still not fully carbed, but what is there, has made a huge difference. The wateryness I was worried about is completely gone. I can't wait for it to be fully carbed.

Thanks for the input and help y'all!


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