"Thin" Beer

[hinesj324]

I've made three batches at this point. The most recent is an Oatmeal Sweet Stout. In all three cases I feel the beers came out a little "thin" I guess you could say not much body, maybe.

Don't get me wrong, they were good. The alcohol was there, they were very tasty. Just a very little bit watery for a stout. And only a little bit.

I think it gets better with aging, but I might just be imagining that.

Any idea how to improve this?

 

[BrutalBrew]

If its a high gravity beer it will tend to be kinda thin/watery feel.

 

[Genjin]

It does get better with ageing. Until the carbonation is fully complete and even in solution it will be thinner than it should be.

 

[JDFlow]

I thought the same thing. Bottled an oatmeal stout a week ago, I know it's really young. I had to taste one and it's really thin. The weird thing is that it tasted really good prior to bottling. Is that normal?

 

[Stauffbier]

I've made three batches at this point. The most recent is an Oatmeal Sweet Stout. In all three cases I feel the beers came out a little "thin" I guess you could say not much body, maybe.

Don't get me wrong, they were good. The alcohol was there, they were very tasty. Just a very little bit watery for a stout. And only a little bit.

I think it gets better with aging, but I might just be imagining that.

Any idea how to improve this?

If you're making extract brews you can try adding a small amount of maltodextrin to get a little more body. If you're doing all grain then mash at higher temps on beers that you want more body in. As far as higher gravity beers being thinner (as mentioned above), I don't agree with that. There is no reason why you can't have a high gravity beer with more body if you take the correct steps. I do agree with aging, though. Although, that will only help a small amount with the mouth feel.

 

[jonmohno]

Usually high gravity beers have more body more malty and can be more sweet ,just depends,they could be thin and alchoholy also,depends. Ive recently learned that too much calcium can also cause this,so if you had hard water or spring that was kinda high that could be the case also.You may switch yeasts also alot of differnt yeast can get you a fuller bodied maltier taste.As far as stouts some flaked wheat or barley can help with fullness as well as carapils and maltodextrin(which ive never used yet).Could even be carbonation.Higher abv may help,but you can get full body without more abv.Stouts can take time so if its somewhat young,see what happens in a month or more. I would consider your water also,ive had the hardest time figuring water out but it is just part of what makes a difference in the end.

 

[Yooper]

It could be recipe related. Some fermentables, like sugar, will leave a drier and thinner feeling beer in the end.

But usually complete bottle conditioning and carbonation will fix the body in a beer that seems thin if the recipe is solid.

 

[Genjin]

I thought the same thing. Bottled an oatmeal stout a week ago, I know it's really young. I had to taste one and it's really thin. The weird thing is that it tasted really good prior to bottling. Is that normal?

I have noticed this too. It seems like the beer goes through a transition while bottle conditioning. I get a lot of weird flavors between bottling until about 2.5-4 weeks. After it is fully conditioned it starts tasting like the sample I pulled while bottling.

This has me dying to get into kegging, but I am having a hard time explaining to the wife why need to spend hundreds more on this hobby. Any tips on that front?

 

[jonmohno]

I have noticed this too. It seems like the beer goes through a transition while bottle conditioning. I get a lot of weird flavors between bottling until about 2.5-4 weeks. After it is fully conditioned it starts tasting like the sample I pulled while bottling.

This has me dying to get into kegging, but I am having a hard time explaining to the wife why need to spend hundreds more on this hobby. Any tips on that front?

A solid pipeline.I dont think you have to spend hundreds on kegging but you could end up doing so though.

 

[veritas524]

This has me dying to get into kegging, but I am having a hard time explaining to the wife why need to spend hundreds more on this hobby. Any tips on that front?

Tell her you won't need to keep hundreds of beer bottles in the garage anymore

 

[Genjin]

Tell her you won't need to keep hundreds of beer bottles in the garage anymore

Haha, she is definitely getting fed up with the bottles. Maybe I will work that angle!