Body estimator

[CreekBrewery]

I did a quick HBT search and didn't find this already posted. Some of our homebrew brothers/sisters down under put together this interested body and final gravity calculator.

http://www.liquorcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPage=13235&idDetails=107

I'd be interested to hear from some of the more experienced folks regarding their body vs. final gravity table. Is this accurate or is there more to the body than can be put in a basic chart?

 

[a10t2]

FG doesn't necessarily correlate to the perception of body. Think of a Belgian Quad that has a rich, full, mouthfeel, and probably an FG under 1.010. But their ranges are wide enough that they're useful.

The FG estimator, though, like all other FG estimates, is going to be full of **** more often than not. Actually, this one seems to be even worse than most. It's assuming 70% ADF for all DMEs, 75% for all LMEs, 60% for all crystal malts, etc. Without taking the fermentability of each product into account, you can't even hope to come to an accurate target FG.

 

[pjj2ba]

Like the page said, it give you a ROUGH idea of the body. One problem with a calculator like this is that it only considers the sugar/dextrin component contributions to body, and ignores the contribution of proteins to the body of the beer. Like a10t2 mentioned there are plenty examples of low FG beers loaded with body out there. Including things like malted or unmalted wheat or other unmalted grains including barley, oatmeal etc. can add a bunch of extra proteins that can add a lot of body without increasing the FG. Just watch out for haze.