Dextrins in Sorghum Beer

Dextrins containing from 4 to 10 glucose units were determined in sorghum malt, wort and beer by means of HPLC. Throughout a malting period of 10 days approximately 5% fermentable sugars and only trace amounts of dextrins could be detected and the pattern remained constant. During mashing, using maize adjunct and at pH 4, there was a rapid build-up of a wide range of dextrins but their content was greatly reduced during the final stages of mashing. Both sorghum and barley beer contained similar amounts of dextrins containing 4 to 9 glucose units. The majority of these dextrins was branched as their concentration was reduced to a great extent by the action of pullulanase. Dextrins containing more than 10 glucose units were detected and their concentration was also diminished by pullulanase.