Maltodextrin Brewing and Taste Test Experiment

The last time I brewed, I decided to do a slight experiment with my new recipe.

I brewed the same recipe for my new brown ale in consecutive weeks. (I can't resist not buying grain when I'm on that side of town.) The second time I brewed though, I decided to add in 1 oz of maltodextrin to the boil.

I didn't do a new recipe post

Maltodextrin is a white powder that is used to slightly sweeten a (dry) finished beer in addition to improving the mouthfeel of the beverage. It's a tasteless powder that yeast cannot ferment. With the beer recipe I am using now, I'm predicting that it will affect the mouthfeel.

So how much does maltodextrin improve mouthfeel? It was time for a side-by-side taste test.

Obviously, one of these has had more time to bottle condition

The beer with the maltodextrin added had a slightly different taste than the one without. It felt softer on the mouth and had a smooth aftertaste. But the flavor profile felt different as if it were slightly diluted by the maltodextrin.

The brew without maltodextrin added had a more flavorful brown character in comparison. The aftertaste on this one lingered on the tongue for a bit longer. This one did not taste/feel as smooth as the one with maltodextrin.

So after the taste test, which beer was better? I do enjoy the brown character of this recipe, but after tasting the recipe with maltodextrin, I liked the smoothness too. I think that a balance between the two would be ideal going forward with this recipe. I'd likely tweak the recipe to use only 0.25 oz of Not Cocaine maltodextrin per gallon.

What did I learn from this? Maltodextrin is useful for creating a "smooth" beer. However, too much can cause bitter flavors imparted from specialty malts to fade away.

Next time I'll try substituting a different specialty malt in place of brown malt.

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