Adding body to a basic Ale Brew

SO my first brew i wanted to follow the KISS method and in that sense i think i was accomplished. I made a beer that actually tasted like beer and most of my friends enjoyed it saying how it was like somthing from the store. Unfortunatly i think they were stroking the ego because the beer i tasted was ok but it lacked body or at least thats what i think it was. I guess itr goes somthing like this: beautiful beer goldness raised to my mouth and i taste the sweet necture of beer, beer, beer, water. That is probably the best way to discribe it, every sip taste first off like beer followed by a drowned watery taste. I'm thinking it could be from two sources. First it might have been how much water i used. Yes i know pretty lame but it was supposed to be a 5 gallon batch and so i started with 6 gallons of water. Granted i did boil all six gallons on an electric stove (3 gallons at a time and yes it took an eternity) but i assumed a majority of a gallon would be boiled off. Secondly the recipee, it was nothing more than:

2lbs Amber DME
4lbs Pale LME
Hops of your choice and walla

As far as yeast i used Safale S-04

Pretty basic and now i wonder what i should do next? I have read about only using crystal DME and getting color from steeping grains or partial mashing which in addition could add more body. Anyways this is just a little bit of info i have picked up and it could just as easliy be wrong but leave any ideas that you may have.

Cheers to a better beer

That's a small beer and it's no surprise that it's light in body and somewhat watery. Brewing with specialty grains and using a little more extract (6 lbs. of dry or 7 lbs. of liquid) will help. 1/2 lb. of malto-dextrin can improve body and mouthfeel also, but not really necessary if you have a good recipe. Also, not giving a brew enough time to carb can make it seem watery.

I've been able to improve the body of my beers in a couple of ways.

First and foremost, I've been partial mashing the last 7 or 8 batches. I didn't have to buy more equipment, and can do it on a stove top. This gives you more flexibility with flavors and body. It's really not much more work, and my beers have improved pretty dramatically.

Also, I've added 1/4# of maltodextrin to a couple of batches, and it has helped add some body, making the beer seem a little smoother. Forrest at Austin Homebrew Supply is a big proponent of maltodextrin, and I like the results I've gotten. AHS also sells mini-mash kits that are a great way to get going with partial mashing; the instructions that come with them are as good as any I've seen for the process.

Brewing with specialty grains and using a little more extract (6 lbs. of dry or 7 lbs. of liquid) will help.

Is that including the amount already being used or is that including the 2lbs of DME And 4lbs of LME?

Pi Kapp Beer Guy said:

Brewing with specialty grains and using a little more extract (6 lbs. of dry or 7 lbs. of liquid) will help.

Is that including the amount already being used or is that including the 2lbs of DME And 4lbs of LME?

Click to expand...

That's total. For example, here's a hypothetical recipe:

1 lb. Crystal malt 20L (steep @155 for 30 min.)
1 lb. extra-light DME (boil for 60 min.)
5 lbs. extra-light DME (boil for 15 min.)
1.5 oz. Cascade (60 min.)
.5 oz. Cascade (15 min.)
.5 oz. Cascade (1 min.)
American ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar (bottle priming)

This would give you a 5 gallon batch of a basic pale ale with around 5% ABV and good body and mouthfeel. Like I said, this is just a hypothetical recipe that I just pulled out of the air right now, but it gives you an idea of what a basic, but effective, extract recipe looks like.

Here's a link to a free recipe calculator that may be helpful for you:
http://tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html

Thanks for the advice and i will be sure to try a few of these ideas for my next Beer