Improve the brew post fermentation?

[IronCity]

I just finished my first brew, an ordinary English Bitter kit from Northern Brewer. Went through the process (chronicled in it's glory here...) as spelled out and here 5 weeks later for the first real taste. It was definitely drinkable but definitely lacks body. It also is Very bitter and has an ever so slight soapy aftertaste if you think about it. One thing I didn't do was carbonate using the corn sugar the kit gave me, I force carbonated with my keg system. Would recarbonating with the corn sugar help out with either body or taste? Any other suggestions of how to improve it now?

 

[Hercules Rockefeller]

There's nothing I can think of to imrove these things after fermentation. to get more body you can add some maltodextrine powder to the boil, or select a recipe with more malt in it. Any recipe with a starting gravity of 1.035 is bound to be fairly thin once it is done. as for the soapy flavor, this can come from leaving the beer in primary for too long, but per your link you only had it in primary for 11 days, which doesn't sound too long to me. maybe in the future try 7 days, that's always worked for me.

 

[Bobby_M]

Well, since it's in a keg, I don't see any reason you couldn't add an artificial sweetener or even some boiled lactose into the keg and shake it up. It should add a little sweetness in but honestly I'd wait another couple weeks before giving up on it.

 

[david_42]

You can boil 2-4 oz. of maltodextrin and add it to the keg for more body. Dry hopping with an earthy hop like Fuggle, Willamette, Golding or Tettnanger MIGHT help with the soapiness and balance the bitterness. I'd tap off a couple 1 liter bottles and make a few tests.

 

[Trappist Artist]

As for the soapyness...did you make sure there was no soap left in the fermenters?

 

[IronCity]

good thought, but my glass carboys were new so I just rinsed them out and let them sit with Iodophor in them for a while and then rinsed again (even though I guess you don't have to do that with Iodophor). So I'm guessing that's not where the "soapy" taste came from.