Maltodextrin (1 lb)

Body Without Sweetness • Unfermentable by Design • Fixes a Thin Beer

Maltodextrin is a tasteless, largely unfermentable carbohydrate used to add body and mouthfeel to a beer that finishes too thin. Yeast cannot break down its long sugar chains, so what you add stays in the finished beer as texture rather than turning into alcohol, which is exactly what a watery light beer or an over-attenuated IPA needs.

At 40 PPG it raises gravity readings the way any sugar does, but almost none of that gravity ferments out, so it lifts final gravity and body while leaving alcohol essentially unchanged. It contributes no color and no flavor of its own.

Flavor & Aroma Profile

• Essentially flavorless
• Fuller, rounder mouthfeel
• Slight perception of sweetness from body alone
• Improved head retention
• No color contribution

Small additions round out a beer that finishes a touch dry. Larger additions build a distinctly fuller, almost creamy body, though pushing too far leaves a beer that feels heavy without tasting like anything.

Brewing Applications

Maltodextrin is used across styles where body matters, including:

• New England IPA
• Milk and Sweet Stout
• Low-Alcohol and Session Beers
• Fruit Beer
• Hard Seltzer
• Any beer that over-attenuated

It is also a common fix mid-process: if a beer finishes drier than intended, maltodextrin can be dissolved and added before packaging to restore the body it lost.

Usage Recommendations

Use 4 to 8 oz per 5 gallon batch for a noticeable improvement in body, and up to 1 lb for a distinctly full, creamy mouthfeel. Add it to the kettle in the last 15 minutes of the boil so it dissolves completely and is sanitized.

If you are adding it to a finished beer, dissolve it in a small volume of boiled water, cool, and stir it in gently before packaging to avoid oxidizing the beer.

Specifications

• PPG (Points Per Pound Per Gallon): 40
• Color: 0 °Lovibond
• Flavor Notes: Neutral, adds body and mouthfeel
• Usage Rate: 4 to 16 oz per 5 gallon batch
• Beer Styles: Hazy IPAs, sweet stouts, session and low-alcohol beers

Whether you're building the pillowy body of a New England IPA, rescuing a beer that finished too dry, or giving a session beer something to hold onto, maltodextrin adds weight without adding sweetness or alcohol.