Thin body issues

[nettekdl]

So I recently brewed my first AG batch, a vanilla cream stout, and I recently pulled a taster out of primary and it has 0 body and is very watery, where did I go wrong?

The recipe is as follows;
6lbs Munich malt
2lbs wheat malt
1lb c60
.75lbs roast barley
.5lbs chocolate malt
.75oz Simcoe @ 60min
1 whirlfloc @ 10 min
1lb lactose @ 10 min
4 gallons strike water at 168 for a 152 mash for 60 min. Batch sparge with about 4.5 gallons at 167. Pitched a 1200ml starter of 1318 at high krausen. Og 1.055

Also of note is this beer had the weirdest fermentation I've ever had, was going crazy within 2 hours with the airlock bubbling non stop for about 36 hours then the krausen Fell and all activity stopped with a sg of 1.024. Does anyone see a problem with my process?

 

[RM-MN]

What you are doing wrong with this beer is tasting it too soon. Body comes from three sources, the grains used (looks fine), carbonation (none there yet), and the biological/chemical reactions that happen after the beer is bottled. The last item takes time. I expect my stouts to become quite good at about 6 months from bottling, better yet at a year, and even better at 2 years. Did anyone mention it takes patience to make good beer?

As the color of the beer gets darker and the amount of alcohol goes up, so does the time for the beer to mature. While you are waiting on this one to get good, make a lighter color beer, be it a wheat, cream ale, blond ale, or pale ale. You'll have those kinds bottled and drunk before your stout hits its peak.

 

[Sarge]

Definitely try again after it has carbed. With the wheat and lactose you shouldn't have a thin body. Assuming this is a 5 gallon batch your final gravity without the lactose should be around 1.018. Definitely points to anything but thin. I think you'll be fine.

So I recently brewed my first AG batch, a vanilla cream stout, and I recently pulled a taster out of primary and it has 0 body and is very watery, where did I go wrong?

The recipe is as follows;
6lbs Munich malt
2lbs wheat malt
1lb c60
.75lbs roast barley
.5lbs chocolate malt
.75oz Simcoe @ 60min
1 whirlfloc @ 10 min
1lb lactose @ 10 min
4 gallons strike water at 168 for a 152 mash for 60 min. Batch sparge with about 4.5 gallons at 167. Pitched a 1200ml starter of 1318 at high krausen. Og 1.055

Also of note is this beer had the weirdest fermentation I've ever had, was going crazy within 2 hours with the airlock bubbling non stop for about 36 hours then the krausen Fell and all activity stopped with a sg of 1.024. Does anyone see a problem with my process?

 

[bobbrews]

I recently brewed this stout, mashed at 154 F, and it came out nice and chewy:

1.067/1.068 OG
1.017/1.018 FG

2-Row - 8.8 lbs
Munich Malt – 2.1 lbs
Crystal 80 – 0.70 lb
Roasted Barley - 0.70 lb
Chocolate Malt – 0.70 lb
Toasted Oatmeal – 1.00 lb

Overcarbonating with excess sugar can also give the perception of a thinner body, so be sure to carbonate to style.

 

[masonsjax]

Mash temp has an affect on fermentability of the wort. Perhaps you mashed very low, or lost a lot of heat quickly during the mash? Did you open the mash tun at all during mash? Is your thermometer calibrated?

I agree with the others though that you're probably just tasting too soon. Give it some time to develop and don't judge it until it's fully carbonated. I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[PhillyMike]

Let the beer keep going. 1.024 seems high.

Also, judging a beer's final flavor while it's in the primary is not going to ever go well. Relax, let the beer mellow and all will be good.

 

[brettg20]

I have to admit that the title alone made me click on this thread

 

[nettekdl]

I just got over zealous I suppose thank you all for the quick answers

 

[Sarge]

There is a chance it could be finished. Without the lactose (unfermentable) he's probably at 1.018 which is right in the middle of the style. But it would probably be better with some age on it.

Let the beer keep going. 1.024 seems high.

 

[RmikeVT]

What you are doing wrong with this beer is tasting it too soon. Body comes from three sources, the grains used (looks fine), carbonation (none there yet), and the biological/chemical reactions that happen after the beer is bottled.

Could you elaborate on the biological & chemical process that happens after the beer is bottled that contributes to body? It was my understanding that with age come thinning body. As oxygen binds to the proteins in solution they precipitate out of solution and sink to the bottom, creating thin body. But we are talking years, not months.

I am not aware of anything that happens biologically and chemically in the bottle that increases body, especially between lets say 3 weeks and 6 months of aging, aside from carbonation.

 

[VladOfTrub]

"Body comes from three sources, the grains used (looks fine), carbonation (none there yet), and the biological/chemical reactions that happen after the beer is bottled."

Body and mouthfeel in beer comes from A and B limit dextrin created during the mashing stage. A and B limit dextrin forms when the enzymes cannot reduce the starch chain or branches. There is a thing called amylopectin, thrown into the mix. Reducing and non-reducing ends of the starch chain, have a lot to do with it, as well.
Dextrin malt is used for increasing body and mouthfeel.

 

[RM-MN]

Could you elaborate on the biological & chemical process that happens after the beer is bottled that contributes to body? It was my understanding that with age come thinning body. As oxygen binds to the proteins in solution they precipitate out of solution and sink to the bottom, creating thin body. But we are talking years, not months.

I am not aware of anything that happens biologically and chemically in the bottle that increases body, especially between lets say 3 weeks and 6 months of aging, aside from carbonation.

I don't know what the process entails, I just noticed the effect. I brewed a robust porter expecting a big flavor and good mouthfeel but at 3 weeks in the bottles it was thin and had little of the porter flavor I expected and I was rather disappointed with it so I drank other beers and only had on once in a while. Then, at about 3 months, the porter changed to something with flavor and good mouthfeel. What made the change?

I was reminded of that too this Christmas when I was out of town and bought a 6 pack of Leinenkugel's vanilla porter. It too was watery and flavorless and had I not been so frugal, I would have dumped it out. I'm betting that had I brought it home and cellared it for a few months it would have improved a bunch too.

 

[RmikeVT]

I was reminded of that too this Christmas when I was out of town and bought a 6 pack of Leinenkugel's vanilla porter. It too was watery and flavorless and had I not been so frugal, I would have dumped it out. I'm betting that had I brought it home and cellared it for a few months it would have improved a bunch too.

I doubt the Leinenkugel would have improved....

 

[MerlinWerks]

I doubt the Leinenkugel would have improved....

QFT!

A couple years ago I was looking for something different to try and the guys at a local distributor were totally gaga over this stuff and even offered to buy it back if I didn't like it. I sold it back to them a couple of days/bottles later. I really was trying to give them the benefit of doubt because I believe they were seriously trying to move beyond the BMC vibe of a typical PA beer distributor. But this stuff was so cloying and sweet I think you could age it for ten years and it would still be the same, kinda like a Twinkie...

Apologies for the OT!

 

[OldWorld]

Yeah use a bit less priming sugar if you bottle...I think 1/4 cup table sugar. I did with a stout I made which only came out to be 3.0 ABV...but it was full bodied and not all too syrupy...Just slightly viscious with nice bubbles.

You are fine. Just let it carb up. Stouts and Porters take time to find the subjective sweetspot of body and roasted flavors.

 

[VladOfTrub]

"I don't know what the process entails, I just noticed the effect."

You don't know what the process entails, because there is none and the effect that you noticed was not caused by body nor mouthfeel, which suddenly, by some strange chemical process appeared in the bottle, three months down the line. What you accomplished was to finally brew a beer that could age out and improve. The only problem is, that you have absolutely no idea why it turned out.

 

[RM-MN]

"I don't know what the process entails, I just noticed the effect."

You don't know what the process entails, because there is none and the effect that you noticed was not caused by body nor mouthfeel, which suddenly, by some strange chemical process appeared in the bottle, three months down the line. What you accomplished was to finally brew a beer that could age out and improve. The only problem is, that you have absolutely no idea why it turned out.

So what happens to the beer that makes it age out? If there was no chemical change, why wouldn't it taste the same when fresh as when aged. Why was my robust porter thin and watery when first bottled but later became full flavored if there was no chemical change?