best way(s) to add body and mouth feel

I ahve 2 brews under my belt...both from kits...planning my 3rd and wanted to make something that has a nice creamy, full bodied tecture of Guiness but not the roasty bit it has...what adjusncts can/should I add to a recipe to get that? any suggestions?

Guiness is actually characterized by it's lack of body as far as stouts go. It's a very dry Irish stout. I think you are more referring to the heavier flavor, which is characteristic of any stout.

The creaminess comes from it being served on Nitrogen instead of CO2. The "widget" in Guiness cans and bottles is full of Nitrogen to reproduce this nitrogen draught effect. You can't exactly reproduce this without a Nitrogen setup on a keg, but you can inprove the volume and retention of the head by adding a small amount of Carapils to your recipe.

The roastiness in Guiness comes from a small bit of roasted barley in the grain bill. You could make a Guiness clone and leave out the roasted barley to eliminate that flavor.

Would everyone think me an arsehole if I say that two of my pet peeves are :
Guiness, and
Guinnes



I kinda have an excuse, I used to to work for United Distillers back in the mid 90's.

HibsMax said:

Would everyone think me an arsehole if I say that two of my pet peeves are :
Guiness, and
Guinnes



I kinda have an excuse, I used to to work for United Distillers back in the mid 90's.

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Oh bastard! Guinnesss is only a pet peeve? That mix of charcoal and curdled milk vomit is my sworn enemy.

OATS.

Even in a light beer.....oats are underused.

thanks TopherM...didn't think of the Nitogen...anything that can be added to help get part of the way there?...

Please treat this suggestion with the (dis)respect it deserves - because it's not from personal experience. I read that bottling with DME rather than priming sugar can lead to a head with tighter bubbles. I can't confirm that, yet, as I have always used dextrose. I just bottled some Long Trail ale using DME and I will check that out in 4 weeks to see what's going on. Apparently DME takes longer to carb than dextrose too.

+1 on the oats suggestion. I've added some flaked oats to a number of recipes recently and have been very pleased with the results.

HibsMax said:

Please treat this suggestion with the (dis)respect it deserves - because it's not from personal experience. I read that bottling with DME rather than priming sugar can lead to a head with tighter bubbles. I can't confirm that, yet, as I have always used dextrose. I just bottled some Long Trail ale using DME and I will check that out in 4 weeks to see what's going on. Apparently DME takes longer to carb than dextrose too.

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I had a bubble head once.....

Take a look at partial mashing. You can mash at certain temperatures to get more or less body. Also, adjuncts give a lighter mouthfeel.

I experimented with oats in a light beer, that grey looking wort scared me, but what the hell..

Beer was clear as a bell and great mouthfeel.

+1 for oats. if you want a bit more head retention you could rock some carapils as well... im sure i will get blasted for that statement.

Flaked barley is what gives guiness it's mouthfeel (along with the nitrogen). I add flaked barley to a lot of my brews. You can also use carapils and wheat for the same purpose. Oats to some degree but they bring a nutty flavor with them.

Flaked barley, oats, and wheat all contribute to mouthfeel. The flaked barley and wheat also give the beer a good head. (I'm not sure about the oats because I've never used them).

The problem is, they all require mashing to get the best results. If you are doing all grain, or partial mash, you could use them without any problem. If you are doing extract, I wouldn't use any of them.

-a.