Back-body and Mystery Sweetener

[raluttio]

I was given an ice cream tub full of a mystery sweetener by someone moving away and I am not sure what it is. The guy said it was maltodextrin but it tastes very sweet - I've read that both maltodextrin and lactose are not. It seems part way in-between regular sugar and powdered sugar in consistency. I am thinking now that it may simply be dextrose. Any ideas?

If it is dextrose, can I still use it to increase the body of my beer? It will be cold from now on so I don't need to worry about the yeast eating it up. Two days ago I kegged up a pumpkin beer that was supposed to finish at 1.01 but actually ended at 1.004. I was planning on using what I thought was the maltodextrin to add some body and maybe some sweetness but that plan isn't going to work. I am serving the beer tomorrow and I can't get maltodextrine or lactose as I am in Brasilia and would have to order it from Sao Paulo.

 

[day_trippr]

Dextrose will take you in the wrong direction as it will be so totally fermented it will actually lower the SG of the beer...

Cheers!

 

[Scturo]

It might be Maltose, and he just got the name wrong.

 

[isomerization]

Dextrose will take you in the wrong direction as it will be so totally fermented it will actually lower the SG of the beer...

Cheers!

Dextrose will not lower the final gravity of what he has now. It will ferment completely, but that’s just a net zero change in gravity. In fact, higher ABV might increase the body of the beer.

If you replace malt with dextrose (during recipe creation), then yes the beer would end with a lower gravity than before.

 

[raluttio]

I suppose I wasn't as clear as I could have been with my original post. I have a beer that is kegged and in the refrigerator right now that I want to back-body. I'm not asking about a batch I'm about to brew.

It might be Maltose, and he just got the name wrong.

If this is what my mystery powder is, can I use it to give some more body? I wouldn't mind if it added some sweetness as a side effect - I'm trying to make the beer taste like a pumpkin pie anyway.

 

[FatDragon]

Dextrose will not lower the final gravity of what he has now. It will ferment completely, but that’s just a net zero change in gravity. In fact, higher ABV might increase the body of the beer.

If you replace malt with dextrose (during recipe creation), then yes the beer would end with a lower gravity than before.

Alcohol in solution lowers the specific gravity of a beer because the alcohol is less dense than the rest of the beer. Therefore adding sugar that ferments out completely will increase the alcohol content and decrease the density (and body) of the overall solution. Certainly replacing malt with simple sugar before fermentation will have a more extreme effect because you have less of the proteins and unfermentable sugars that the malt would have contributed, but any addition that increases alcohol content without adding unfermentables will lower the specific gravity of a beer.

 

[day_trippr]

^exactly^

 

[Scturo]

If it is maltose, it would ferment out completely and not add body to the beer. Your best bet to add body and slight sweetness would be lactose.

Unless you know the guy who gave you that stuff pretty well. I would trash the mystery powder.

 

[isomerization]

I wasn’t clear enough, yes the SG will appear lower with higher alcohol (as explained by FatDragon).

For the OPs situation, I stand by what I said regarding the potential for increased apparent body from more alcohol, though.

 

[day_trippr]

How does that work?

Clarity is a funny thing

Cheers!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

To answer the OPs question, adding dextrose in the keg will add body and sweetness (given that it isn't going to be fermented because it's chilled and being consumed immediately) but IME tastes completely wrong (think about the taste of a bottle conditioned beer that hasn't finished carbonating). Body in beer from unfermentable sugars and dextrins doesn't taste sweet like dextrose. I haven't used lactose so I'm not sure how it tastes. I think you're better off leaving your beer as it is.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Try mixing some of the sweetener with a glass of beer - I bet it tastes awful!