Beer Forum

It seems that all of my beers that I produce lack body, minus one, where the evaporation rate was too high and I was left with only 4 Gallons. That is no surprise as to why it has been my best beer. So, what do you brewers do to add more body to your beer, Maltodextrine additions aside?

Mash higher?
Malts?
etc.......

Thanks!

my 2 cents, try mashing at higher temp as this can add body, say 68 deg C rather than 64 deg C, as can malt choice, try adding some munich or vienna malts to the grist bill.

It would be helpful to see an example recipe along with your procedure, mash temp and fermentation temp, etc.

Generally mash temp and attenuation affect body along with your malt bill.

This is the last one I made in which all comments from the Local Home Brew Club said; "More Body"

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
1.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
0.25 lb Rye Malt (Crystal, Simpsons, UK) (75.0SRM) Grain 2.38 %
0.50 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 25.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 15.4 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 7.3 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.25 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast) (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

OG - 1.050, FG - 1.010

155.1F mash in for one hour, 1.2:1 water to grist ratio, single infusion, batch sparge.

I have been running eff calcs, and my system and techniques run around 65%. FYI

Thanks!

Rye will give a dryness to the beer IMO, someone else with more experience with can chime in. At what temp did you ferment?
Your FG is kinda low which will leave you less body, I add carapils when I want more body.

Have you tried using a less attenuating yeast or a another strain, personally I think some of the british strains might help.

Good stuff 'dminnery'.

90% of the beers I do uses good 'ole' Wyeast 1056 at 69F fermentation temps. I hear what you say about the use of rye, but I am seeing this in other recipes that are rye free as well. Attenutation might be another option, as you pointed out. Might experiment with some other strains, such as 1968-London ESB.

Thanks!

Rye does not give dryness -- in fact it is the exact opposite. Rye malt is THE CURE that you have been seeking! I swear to you. If you substitute 40-50% of your base malt with rye malt, you will see exactly what I mean. It is thick, syrupy, and oily, which will serve to counter any perception of dryness in your beers. Try it! Other experienced brewers will support me on this.

Brew one of your recipes exactly the same again, only mash 3F higher. Or brew one of them exactly the same, adding in a half pound of Carapils.

Also, make sure the thermometer you're using for your mash temps is calibrated. You may be mashing lower than you think.