more body???

I just tasted my first all-grain brew, it was a Bitter(ESB clone). I kegged it. The taste was amazing, but the body was VERY thin, and it had a poor mouth-feel. I realize bitters tend to be session beers and are less robust than many other English brews, but I was disappointed in the results of this brew. I have to admitt that there is probabally a learning curve with all grain brewing, so I cant rule out recipie errors. Any thoughts?? Jeff

 

what temp did you mash at?

 

I mashed @ 156 degrees. I think i am in way over my head!!!

 

Let's see the recipe.

 

Here it is: 7 lbs 2-row pale ale malt
1 lb of crystal malt
1/2 lb of wheat malt
1 oz. black patent
1 oz kent goldings
1oz willamette
WLP 002(english ale)

1.3 quarts of water for every lb of grain
mash @ 156 for 60 min
sparge @ 180 until clear
Boil for 60 min with hops schedule
Pitch yeast @ 70 degrees
Primary 14 days @ 64 degrees
secondary 20 days @ 64 degrees
kegged/ forced carbinated

I have the brew log, do you need more info?
Thanks for the help!! Jeff

 

Have you tested your thermometer to make sure it's accurate? With 1lbs of crystal and 0.5lbs of wheat I'm surprised you didn't get much body and mouthfeel. What were your OG/FG?

 

my stating OG was 1.038
finished was 1.047

does kegging an all grain beer differ from kegging an extract brew??? I have brewed 45-50 extract kits, and most were very good. Thanks for the input.
Jeff

 

How long has the beer been in the keg and under carbonation?

I always find that freshly kegged beers are more "full" after a week or two on the gas.

Comparing the flavor of an all-grain to your extracts...you may be mistaking "clean" for "thin".

You maybe became accustomed to the extract bite, or "twang" and now that it's missing, you think it's a fault with your process/recipe.

 

Right on... I am going to brew another batch this weekend. I hope to get a better result. Would another style of beer be more "forgiving to an AG newbie?" Thanks Jeff

 

A Bitter is about as forgiving as they come.

Depending on your drinking preference, you could always do a Blonde, a Cream Ale or a simple APA.

 

sounds like you pitched a sack of sugar instead of your yeast packet.

 

CRAP... that's probably a nice way to say "I suck" . O.K. then, well i guess i'll get my head out, and try this again. Any additional tips are greatly appreciated . Thanks. jeff

 

Naw... it's just your gravity readings are odd... FG should be alot smaller than your OG... according to the numbers you typed, your gravity increased during the fermintation process... not decreased by the yeast.

Thats all... definately try again... the second time will be easier than the first, and so it goes.... you'll get it in no time!! The first time is always a little rocky.

 

My bad...I am so backwards. I just caught the error. Total tool move on my end. I am looking at my brew log now, and i have to ask, should I adjust my boil time or try to add more grain/different grain to the recipie. Jeff

 

are you sure your reading your gravity numbers correct? you need to take the readings at a specific temp of where your hydrometer is calibrated to. usually its 60 or 65 degrees. If its different you will get different numberd results. You will get it. I started all grain a short whiule ago and one you get it it is much better!

 

also how much sparge water did you use and how much did you end up with preboil volume wise?

 

hey man... I don't really know how much sparge water I used, I just thought that I needed to run it through until the wort was at a 5 gallon volume level. should I use more, less? I never even thought about this. JEff

 

Don't get discouraged...all grain can be as complex as you want it to be, but it can also be simple. Once you get a good handle on the basics, you'll really enjoy the amount of control it gives you. Hang in there!

 

lemon,

Thanks man...i feel like tool, but i love to brew.

 

I'd use 8.5 - 9 lbs Maris Otter as a base rather than 7 lbs generic 2 row. That should bump the OG into ESB territory and improve the mouth feel.
I'd also replace the 1/2 lb wheat with 1/2 lb Maris Otter (but if you like the wheat, don't do that).
I don't know what color crystal you were using, but I use 1/2 lb Muntons dark crystal (150L) which gives a good color without making it excessively sweet. With the 150L crystal, you won't need the black patent.
Of course, if you cut the crystal back by 1/2 lb, you want to add another 1/2 lb Maris Otter.
That should leave you with 9.5 - 10 lbs Maris Otter, and 1/2 lb crystal 150.
With the added grains, you may want to increase the hops a bit. I like 2 oz EKG at 60 minutes, 1 oz at 20 minutes, and 1 oz at flame out. You may not want quite as much.
If you are going to use Willamette and EKG, keep the EKG for the end of the boil.

-a.
edit
If you are making a 5g batch, you will need to collect about 6.5g from the sparge, which should allow you to collect 5g after the boil.

-a.