Beer Forum

Shea talked about using Convertase AG-300 to convert all starches to glucose on last week's Sunday show. Does anyone know of about a source for this enzyme for home brewers? I am coming up empty.

try looking for generic amylase enzyme. You can find it at various LHBS's around the country. Midwest Supplies has it. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products ... rodID=4817

I found mine in Omaha at http://www.fermenterssupply.com/

Wayne

I have used the generic amylase before in my mash, but I got the impression that AG-300 was something special that can convert 100% of the maltose sugars to glucose which would make all of the sugars fermentable by any wine yeast.

I forgot to mention that according to Shea on the Podcast, AG-300 can be pitched with the yeast, so it operates at fermentation temp and has a denaturing temp of something like 103C.

I know a few pro brewers who use the glucoamylase enzyme (Convertase 300) you're speaking of. Since enzymes are freed up as soon as they catalyze a reaction, there isn't a "proper" dosing rate when it comes to brewing. A common dosing rate is 1L (single bottle) per 15-30bbls. They simply work until all pertinent reactions are catalyzed. In other words, once added, their is no way to stop them without acidic or heat-based (pasteurization) denaturing. They are typically reserved for super high gravity beers, such as those with theoretical OGs above 1.140.

Glucoamylase should not be confused with alpha amylase enzyme (which is often used in macro breweries for starch conversion in mashes).

Another common approach for homebrewers is to use galactoamylase enzyme (Beano) towards the end of fermentation in the primary. 1 crushed tablet per 5 gallons is usually adequate.

Technically, enzymes are only supposed to work in a "lock and key" fashion. Enzymes are usually very specific in which type(s) of sugars they'll break down into monosaccharides. For example, lactase breaks down lactose into galactose and glucose. Galactosidase seems to fit well enough with maltose and maltotriose to hyrdrolyse them into monosaccharides. Glucoamylase does a slightly better job of this with most wort di and trisaccharides.

Depending on the composition of the wort, either glucoamylase or galactoamylase will break down most or all of the sugars present into yeast-digestable monosaccharides. In the case of super high gravity of worts (1.140+), it's likely that dextrins and certain trisaccharides will still be present in high enough concentrations to leave a beer with some residual sweetness and mouthfeel.

i found what you may be looking for.

I wouldn't use it unless you are a biochemist and know how to work with enzymes. this product is a powder and you need to figure on how much of it you would need to convert.

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/ProductDetail.do?N4=10115|SIGMA&N5=SEARCH_CONCAT_PNO|BRAND_KEY&F=SPEC

There is a posting on ebay for Convertase AG 300 if anybody is interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Convertase-AG300-Glucoamylase-Enzyme_W0QQitemZ250384595665QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item250384595665&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

That Sunday Session was great. My LHBS doesn't normally carry AG-300 that I have noticed but I plan on asking them to order some.

I had a Belgian that sort of stalled at 1.030 and I tried multiple times pitching a fully involved starter (US05 and WLP005 on separate occasions). It seemed kick back off but after both tries the gravity only dropped about 3 points and I was aiming for about 1.010.

After listening to the episode, I racked 3 gallons of the 5 total to a 3 gallon carboy. Then, I added 2 beano tablets to the remaining 2 gallons with the intention of blending them together. I understand from my forum research that the beano can break down the long chain sugars so that the resulting beer will be super dry.

Anyhow, after a week it was at 1.020 and the airlock activity was slowish but constant. Things seem to be progressing fine. I think I will check again this weekend to see where it is at. I think that if I can get the 2 gallons down to 1.005, I will be in better shape. Of course, by my crude calculations, the resulting blend will be about 1.020. So I might play around to see if I can get it lower but it's moving in the right direction.


Has anyone obtained or used this AG-300 on a homebrew scale?