any way to "thicken" this recipe?

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wormraper

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ok, I brewed this recipe in the recipe section and I LOVE the flavor. excellent sweet stout. very creamy and tasty. ONLY thing I'm a little dissapointed is the mouth feel. Feels a little "thin" if you know what I mean. I usually like to eat my beers so to speak.

6 lb's of lme (or 4.8 of DME) wheat
.75 lbs of crystal 20l
.75 lbs of choc malt
.50 lb's of roasted bareley 300L
.50 lb's of crystal 40L
.25 lb's of crystal 120L

2 oz of u.s. goldings

S04 yeast

is there any specialty grains that increase the "thickness" of the mouthfeel?
 
Not sure about other specialty grains but have you thought about doing a partial mash?

Substitute 4# of 2row for 3# of the LME and mash it at 153/154 degrees for 60 minutes (simple mash is heat water to 157/158 and then add grains. If you have a cooler handy just pop everything in there and let. Sit for an hour.

Then proceed as normal (removing spent grains before adding specialty grains and boiling).
 
Sure, there are many of ways. Use dextrins(unfermentable sugars), lactose, steep some flaked oatmeal, or if you are doing a pertial mash use higher temps like skin pig laid out which will make your wort slightly less fermentable. .
 
hmmm, sound easy enough, how much oatmeal would be appropriate for the recipe without changing the flavor too much?
 
hmmm, sound easy enough, how much oatmeal would be appropriate for the recipe without changing the flavor too much?

You could start with a half pound, maybe a pound. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here but steeping oatmeal won't convert itself right? Therefore you'll get some extra body and mouthfeel but it won't add any sugars to the brew.
 
Maltodextrin

+1
If you want to add it to a keg or fermenter, boil a small amount of water and disolve the maltodextrin in it, then cool and add. Maltodextrin doesn't dissolve easily unless it is in hot water. For your next batch, you can just add a couple ounces to the boil. Better yet add some carapils to the grain bill for more body.
 
How long have you given this beer to mature? My stouts seem to gain thickness when they mature. This maturity seems to come in about 2 months in the bottle.
 
+ 1 to adding flaked oats & + 1 to adding flaked barley. I think you'll get exactly what you're looking for if you add 1/2 lb of each.
Regards, GF.
 
Not really a sweet stout without lactose, if you meant sweet stout as in a milk stout or cream stout.

Either way, you need some flaked barley and/or flaked oats.
 
You could start with a half pound, maybe a pound. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here but steeping oatmeal won't convert itself right? Therefore you'll get some extra body and mouthfeel but it won't add any sugars to the brew.

I like to use flaked oats - basically quick cook oats. They're steamed when they roll them out - meaning they're already partially pre-converted.

I use up to a pound of oats in my stouts - much more and they start getting really thick mouth feel. Maybe that's what you're after, dunno.

Anyway, you can basically make some thin oatmeal in your wort as you steep.
 
I like to use flaked oats - basically quick cook oats. They're steamed when they roll them out - meaning they're already partially pre-converted.

I use up to a pound of oats in my stouts - much more and they start getting really thick mouth feel. Maybe that's what you're after, dunno.

Anyway, you can basically make some thin oatmeal in your wort as you steep.

interesting. so you can just use the standard quick cook oats from the grocery store vs. from the brew shop??? (would rather pay $0.69 a lb from the farmers market for rolled oats then $2.25 a lb from the brew shop)
 
Not really a sweet stout without lactose, if you meant sweet stout as in a milk stout or cream stout.

Either way, you need some flaked barley and/or flaked oats.

I was just going by the title of the recipe "Sweet Wheat Stout" ... it's surprisingly sweet for a stout that isn't a milk stout though. probably from the 1.018 final gravity
 
interesting. so you can just use the standard quick cook oats from the grocery store vs. from the brew shop??? (would rather pay $0.69 a lb from the farmers market for rolled oats then $2.25 a lb from the brew shop)

yup - I buy oats in bulk at the co-op. I think they're under $0.50 a pound.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-2.html

I've also used a mix of really nice steel cut oats and quick cook. The steel cut have a nuttier flavor - it's a subtle difference but I was trying to dial in an oatmeal stout recipe and trying lots of combinations.
 
inhousebrew said:
You could start with a half pound, maybe a pound. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here but steeping oatmeal won't convert itself right? Therefore you'll get some extra body and mouthfeel but it won't add any sugars to the brew.

Been discussing the oats over in the gluten-free forum... What ive been getting is that on its own the flaked grains, oats, corn, rice, will not convert due to low or no enzymes, if you are adding to a reg wort you will get some conversion as the barley/wheat have the enzyme...
 
ok, one more stupid question. since I'm just going for body and mouthfeel I don't need to do a cereal mash for the oats right??? just steep at 160 degrees for an hour with the rest of my specialty grains? or should I at least cook the oats on the stovetop before adding them to the steeping bag
 
ok, one more stupid question. since I'm just going for body and mouthfeel I don't need to do a cereal mash for the oats right??? just steep at 160 degrees for an hour with the rest of my specialty grains? or should I at least cook the oats on the stovetop before adding them to the steeping bag

You can pre-cook the oats if you want to. The flaked should add some goodness with just the steep - but if you use steel cut or other less modified oats then the cooking would be helpful.
 
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