What makes a beer "filling"?

[Teufelhunde]

I have just started to brew my own extract recipes instead of pre-packed kits, and one thing I have noticed is that some of the beers I have done are "filling" when I drink them, but others seem to have a consistency of water. I brew 90% Pale ales and IPAs.

Is it the type of malts and steeping grains used? If so, which ones are best for a "filling" beer (I should have paid more attention, and will be doing so in the future)

TIA for any and all input

Lon

 

[Kickass]

Perceived as filling: high FG and strong dominant flavors.

Actually filling: drinking multiple to the point of expanding your stomach or drinking on a full/fuller/fullish stomach.

 

[Jag75]

Wasn't this a commercial at one time?

Great taste !. Less filling !

 

[hottpeper13]

Jag, I thought that was the debate between Hilary and Monica.

 

[hotbeer]

So if you'd tell us which beer, beer style, or recipes taste less filling compared to the ones that taste more filling, maybe we'd have more to zero in on what that is for you.

I'm not sure I've ever drank a less filling beer. But maybe that's because I don't drink unleaded beers. (lite beer). Though I have started brewing some lower ABV beers. Maybe I'll find them less filling.

 

[renstyle]

I've always taken "less filling" to be more or less equivalent to "thin, lacking body" that you get with an American Pale Lager recipe. Not necessarily a bad thing if that is what you were shooting for in the first place.

I notice the difference the most when making a session IPA. The lack of alcohol and the general lower FG due to the light mash bill needs to be balanced with the hops being used.

Side-by-side, a full-on IPA just has a "thicker" mouthfeel compared to the session. Sub 4.5ABV beers have fewer calories in them when made this way as a matter of course, which feeds right into the "less filling" moniker.

 

[Jag75]

I can drink pale ales, Mexican lagers, ipas all day . Stouts not so much because they definitely fill you up more . Thicker heavier body beer will do that .

 

[Teufelhunde]

I've always taken "less filling" to be more or less equivalent to "thin, lacking body" that you get with an American Pale Lager recipe. Not necessarily a bad thing if that is what you were shooting for in the first place.

I notice the difference the most when making a session IPA. The lack of alcohol and the general lower FG due to the light mash bill needs to be balanced with the hops being used.

Side-by-side, a full-on IPA just has a "thicker" mouthfeel compared to the session. Sub 4.5ABV beers have fewer calories in them when made this way as a matter of course, which feeds right into the "less filling" moniker.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I think the thicker, maybe more syrupy mouthfeel is what I am looking for, not the thin, lacking body which seems like drinking Coors light. My choice of words was wrong, methinks....

What is it that gives the thicker mouthfeel, is it the malts and grains used, the ABV, or the FG being a bit higher (more unfermented sugars left in the beer)?

 

[renstyle]

What is it that gives the thicker mouthfeel, is it the malts and grains used, the ABV, or the FG being a bit higher (more unfermented sugars left in the beer)?

Yes!

 

[OleBrewing]

I think there also is a bit of mind over matter on this one. A rich beer may feel like one is full but doesn't weigh much more than a glass of water.

 

[renstyle]

srsly tho, it is all of those things...

If you have a higher ABV, it will make the brew seem "sweeter" due to that fact alone. This higher level of sweetness is counteracted in the recipe by the choice of malts and hops differently than in a recipe that is in the session range.

The malts used will create different levels of dextrins. The mash temp will also affect this (higher mash temp = more body, thicker), which generally leads to a higher FG as well.

This is why American Pale Lagers are recommended to mash at 64C/148F, to make the resulting wort more fermentable, making it dryer (lower FG). The result is a brew that is both watery (if you're not a fan) and refreshing (for the fans).

I mash English milds, browns, porters and the like in the 68C/154F range, which will leave more unfermentable sugars in the wort. These sugars will add to the increased body and "thickness" along with other things mentioned.

 

[Homebrew Harry]

Wasn't this a commercial at one time?

Great taste !. Less filling !

There were several. This is my fav:

 

[TkmLinus]

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I think the thicker, maybe more syrupy mouthfeel is what I am looking for, not the thin, lacking body which seems like drinking Coors light. My choice of words was wrong, methinks....

What is it that gives the thicker mouthfeel, is it the malts and grains used, the ABV, or the FG being a bit higher (more unfermented sugars left in the beer)?

Maybe this is anecdotal, but I feel that beers I brew with flaked oats/wheat tend to have that thicker mouthfeel than beer brewed without.

 

[renstyle]

Maybe this is anecdotal, but I feel that beers I brew with flaked oats/wheat tend to have that thicker mouthfeel than beer brewed without.

The feeling is real

 

[beren]

The feeling is real

Just try and say a bowl of oatmeal or cream of wheat isn’t think

 

[bracconiere]

i'd say AVG calorie intake, and your psyche trying to balance? (don't let them push you off the beam though!)

 

[Rish]

Stuff that Miller Lite doesn't have?

 

[bracconiere]

Stuff that Miller Lite doesn't have?

yeah, they want people to get less full....

if the OP is doing partial mashes and wants 'more filling' beer?