Full Bodied Feel.

Anybody have any tips on to how I can make my beer a bit more full in body? Im still extract brewing while partial mashing. I understand that the longer I boil my extract the thicker it will come out.(or maby I have that backwards) but anyway I am looking to brew a brown ale, similiar to Lost Coast's Downtown Brown. And I really would like to achieve that real full bodied feel along with that much desired fresh frothy head. So if anyone has got some tips for me it would be greatly appreciated. -Cheers

You can add some carapils

"You can add some carapils" I have never heard of that. What might that be?

http://***********/mrwizard/776.html

Carapils is a specialty grain you can add during the steeping/mashing portion of your brew day.

Are you steeping your grains or are you mashing with base malt? Either way, I would recommend adding some Crystal malt to increase body and mouthfeel. It is also perfectly suited to a Brown Ale. Post your full recipe and we can tell you what to add exactly and how much.

Not sure that boiling your extract for longer will achieve anything other than a darker color. If you were mashing there are some variables that might affect body, such as mash temperature and mash schedule (there are some good articles on the subject in the wiki written by people much more knowledgeable than I).

Excuse me... I am steeping my grains not doing a mash. So another quick question. When i got to my brew shop they sell crystal malt and in parenthesis is says (20L) (40L) and so on up to like 120.. What is this measuring?

Lovibonds the tint in which it give the brew.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Crystal_and_caramel_malt

bs22619 said:

Excuse me... I am steeping my grains not doing a mash. So another quick question. When i got to my brew shop they sell crystal malt and in parenthesis is says (20L) (40L) and so on up to like 120.. What is this measuring?

Click to expand...

The higher the number L(ovibond), the darker it will make your beer. For a Brown I would recommend finding a crystal in the 55-60L range and using some chocolate malt to give you a darker color. Do you already have a recipe in mind? If so post it so we can provide better advice on how to adjust it.

carapils will give you more of a head and a thicker mouthfeel, but so will wheat malt. Go in and taste the wheat malts you have available to you. I just added a bunch of white wheat to a porter and I think it is really going to improve the feel of the beer.

I steeped about 8 oz of carapils in a 5 gallon extract batch back when I was extract brewing. It added a considerable amount of mouthfeel. I think I steeped it at 155 degrees for about a 1/2 hour

cool, all that info is very helpful. Once i get some extra cash to buy ingredients im going to post my recipe and get it going.

Malto Dextrine will add mouthfeel...