it is a balancing act, and those outcomes (bombs or no carb) concern me tooHow was the body/mouthfeel/carbing?
I'm about to do a loose interpretation of FW Woookey Jack ad would be interested in the no priming sugar bottle method, but I'd be so scared of either bottle bombs or no carb. How did you know the right gravity to bottle at?
i bottled 2-3 gravity points above final gravity. after six days, the carb level is perfect for a bitter but very low for any other style. after another week or two, i would expect the carb level to double at least. 2-3 gravity points is similar to the gravity contribution of four ounces of sugar in a 5 gallon batch, which gives 'normal carb' in the 2.5vols range.
if you're going to try bottling w/out priming sugar, you have to draw off a sample of the wort (i put it in a beer bottle) while it is fermenting and then put it somewhere very warm and/or on a stirplate. then wait about 48 hours and read the gravity when you are convinced it is done fermenting. that gives you the expected final gravity. then you bottle your main batch 1-3 points above that.
this 1-3 points above final gravity zone is very difficult to catch in 'normal' fermentations. but if you follow the 64-68-64 strategy in this thread, you'll notice that activity slows down dramatically after you lower the temp back to 64. you should be able to catch the beer 1-3 points above FG.
regarding body/mouthfeel, this is the first english beer i've made with the malty smooth feel that i really want.