making a beer sweeter?

I brwed an oatmeal stout a while back and it is an OK beer to me. I would like it a shade sweeter or more malty I guess.. Can't I mash at a bit lower temp ( I was at 153) to achieve that? If it was sweeter it would be great to me.

OATMEAL STOUT 2-19-10
9 LBS-2 ROW
8-OZ FLAKED OATS
8-OZ CHOCOLATE MALT
8-OZ DEXTRIN
6-OZ BLACK BARLEY
2 OZ FUGGLES @ 60 MINS
.5 OZ FUGGLES @15 MINS
.5 OZ FUGGLES @ 1 MIN

EXPECTED OG-1.053
IBU----37.1
5.5 GALLON BATCH
60 MINUTE BOIL
6.5 GALLON BOIL START
Mash at 153 for 60 mins

Mashing higher pulls out more unfermentable sugar leaving a sweeter beer. Or you can add lactose at bottling to get it sweetened to your liking. If you use Lactose, make sure you add the priming sugar after your get it where you want with the lactose.

boostsr20 said:

Mashing higher pulls out more unfermentable sugar leaving a sweeter beer.

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Those unfermentables seldom taste sweet. Eat a scoop of maltodextrin and you'll get what I mean. Mashing higher, IMO, results in a less-dry beer with more body but not more sweetness. Yeast attenuation is kinda the same way. Cal Ale will chomp up all kinds of dextrins that English Ale won't touch, but English doesn't make a sweet-tasting beer....

OP could add some light crystal malt to the recipe and get more maltiness and sweetness. A change of base malt would probably help too. I find domestic 2-row to be sorta dull and "milky." Try a "Pale Ale" malt or maybe Vienna.

944play said:

Those unfermentables seldom taste sweet. Eat a scoop of maltodextrin and you'll get what I mean. Mashing higher, IMO, results in a less-dry beer with more body but not more sweetness. Yeast attenuation is kinda the same way. Cal Ale will chomp up all kinds of dextrins that English Ale won't touch, but English doesn't make a sweet-tasting beer....

OP could add some light crystal malt to the recipe and get more maltiness and sweetness. A change of base malt would probably help too. I find domestic 2-row to be sorta dull and "milky." Try a "Pale Ale" malt or maybe Vienna.

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what about replacing 2-3 pounds of the 2 row with vienna and adding a half pound of crystal 10? is that what you mean?

I agree, you definitely need some caramel type malts in there if you want some sweetness. I would probably do a half pound of caramel 60, I like the mid-range crystal malts in my stouts.

Professor Frink said:

I agree, you definitely need some caramel type malts in there if you want some sweetness. I would probably do a half pound of caramel 60, I like the mid-range crystal malts in my stouts.

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as an addition or in place of what?

I would just do it as an addition.

thanks!!!!

"Cal Ale will chomp up all kinds of dextrins that English Ale won't touch, but English doesn't make a sweet-tasting beer...."

But English Ale yeast (e.g., WLP002) DOES leave "residual sweetness" (per the manufacturer's description) in the beer. This is mainly due to lower attenuation. English Ale yeasts clump together (flocculate) in a pretty extraordinary fashion; when they do this, they sink to the bottom rather than staying in suspension and gobbling up all the sugar in the beer. When they're high flocculators, there is definitely more sugar/sweetness left in the beer, as the yeast simply is not eating up nearly as much as with many other yeasts.

I'd suggest trying an English Ale yeast in your next batch. You'll certainly have a sweeter beer; it won't necessarily be cloying or anything, but absolutely sweeter, seeing as more sugar remains in the beer. Using lactose will also impart a higher sweetness level, as yeast cannot eat/ferment that type of sugar, so it stays in the beer and isn't gobbled up.

nigel31 said:

But English Ale yeast (e.g., WLP002) DOES leave "residual sweetness" (per the manufacturer's description) in the beer.

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I'm not saying the opposite. Read it again. You might not get what I'm saying if you've never tasted straight maltodextrin.

Dextrinous ≠ Sweet.

I just tasted some maltodextrin and I get sweetness from it with my taste buds.... and this is how the Wiki explains it.

Malto-Dextrine Boil 5 min Adds body Malt bases sugar that is less than 5% fermentable. Increases the body and mouth-feel of the beer and adds slight sweetness.

Listen to Brew Strong on mouthfeel, specifically starting around 56:10.

i once mashed a maibock that had 13% non-base grains at 157F, OG 1.071.

sweet as h*ll. sugar-brau.

And if you don't believe me or Jamil, hear it from Chris White, starting around 13:30. He says almost EXACTLY what I wrote, in fact that's probably how I have so much conviction on the issue.

OK here is what I hve came up with so far.. gonna brew later today or tomorrow so any feedback would be appreciated.. keep in mind I only have certain grains and the brew store is an hour away.My question is will this give me a similar beer as the original recipe I posted but a bit 'sweeter" or maltier.
6 lb 2 row
3 lb vienna
8 oz flaked oats
8 oz chocolate malt
8 oz dextrin
8 oz crystal 40
6 oz black patent malt

Mash at 153 degrees for 60 minutes
double batch sparge with 185 degree water
60 minute boil
2 oz fuggles at 60 mins
.5 oz fuggles at 15 mins
.5 oz fuggles at 1 minute
pitch washed and started s-04 yeast
ferment at 63+- ( putting the swamp cooler in the air conditioned bedroom is working like a charm. The water temp is staying in the low 60's with no ice added.