Stout is thin even with high FG?

[McUbermensch]

My stout is sitting at 1.021, the target FG, but it's thin. I added brown sugar to the boil to increase the ABV but I thought since the target FG was 1.021 it would still be viscous. Here's the recipe:


All Grain (5 gallon)
Target OG: 1.091
Target FG: 1.021
Target ABV: 9.31%

Actual OG: 1.092
Actual FG: 1.021
Actual ABV: 9.4%

13.5# 2 Row
1# chocolate malt
1# oats, flaked
8oz black (patent) malt
4oz roasted barley
4oz crystal 120

12oz brown sugar added 10 minutes left in boil.

What could have caused the beer to be thin? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

My stout is sitting at 1.021, the target FG, but it's thin. I added brown sugar to the boil to increase the ABV but I thought since the target FG was 1.021 it would still be viscous. Here's the recipe:


All Grain (5 gallon)
Target OG: 1.091
Target FG: 1.021
Target ABV: 9.31%

Actual OG: 1.092
Actual FG: 1.021
Actual ABV: 9.4%

13.5# 2 Row
1# chocolate malt
1# oats, flaked
8oz black (patent) malt
4oz roasted barley
4oz crystal 120

12oz brown sugar added 10 minutes left in boil.

What could have caused the beer to be thin? Any help is greatly appreciated.

You don't have any 'body builders' in the recipe. It will be much better when fully carbed, as carbonation provides some mouthfeel, but in your recipe, you have a little crystal malt and more would provide much more body and viscosity. Oats are "slick" and "oily" and to me do not provide more body although others say they may.

If you add a pound of flaked barley to that recipe, you'd have body and foam retention like crazy. Otherwise, some carapils or more crystal malt would work as well.

 

[McUbermensch]

You don't have any 'body builders' in the recipe. It will be much better when fully carbed, as carbonation provides some mouthfeel, but in your recipe, you have a little crystal malt and more would provide much more body and viscosity. Oats are "slick" and "oily" and to me do not provide more body although others say they may.



If you add a pound of flaked barley to that recipe, you'd have body and foam retention like crazy. Otherwise, some carapils or more crystal malt would work as well.

Thanks Yooper! I guess I thought high FG = full body.


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[falkaveli]

High FG means more unfermented sugar...be in due to high dextrins (unfermentable sugar...as added by highly caramelized malts like C120..though you have a small amount) or low attenuation of fermentable sugars (low attenuating yeast or stuck fermentation). However, proteins (as in flaked barley as Yooper mentioned) are a large contributor to body.

JP breaks it down well in How To Brew... http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter20-1.html

Other factors, like yeast stress, play a role in head retention and other things, but the aforementioned is your most likely culprit.

As someone who likes viscous stouts...here's my Imperial Stout recipe that I swear by and it is wicked viscous (FG of 1.028)...

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.75 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.60 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
OG: 1.093 SG
Estimated Color: 63.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 54.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 64.00 %
Mash Efficiency: 84.8 % (60min @ 153degF)
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 67.5 %
2 lbs Chocolate Malt (Simpsons) (430.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.6 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.6 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 %
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.4 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (550.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.4 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.4 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8 2.4 %
1.80 oz Magnum [12.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 47.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 Hop 10 4.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop 11 2.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124. Yeast 12 -

 

[McUbermensch]

High FG means more unfermented sugar...be in due to high dextrins (unfermentable sugar...as added by highly caramelized malts like C120..though you have a small amount) or low attenuation of fermentable sugars (low attenuating yeast or stuck fermentation). However, proteins (as in flaked barley as Yooper mentioned) are a large contributor to body.

JP breaks it down well in How To Brew... http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter20-1.html

Other factors, like yeast stress, play a roll in head retention and other things, but the aforementioned is your most likely culprit.

As someone who likes viscous stouts...here's my Imperial Stout recipe that I swear by and it is wicked viscous (FG of 1.028)...

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.75 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.60 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
OG: 1.093 SG
Estimated Color: 63.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 54.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 64.00 %
Mash Efficiency: 84.8 % (60min @ 153degF)
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 67.5 %
2 lbs Chocolate Malt (Simpsons) (430.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.6 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.6 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 %
8.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.4 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (550.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.4 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.4 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 8 2.4 %
1.80 oz Magnum [12.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 47.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 Hop 10 4.9 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.50 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop 11 2.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) [124. Yeast 12 -

Thanks for the recipe! I'll be using that in the future. I built my original recipe to have some residual sweetness without using lactose and (I thought) for body. At this point the yeast has done exactly what I wanted it to and The sample taken for gravity testing tasted exactly like I wanted it was just thin.

 

[BobBailey]

At least a pound of flaked barley(usually 2) and a pound of roasted barley is a must IMHO. I know I'll get some flack on this, but I love a couple of ounces of Peated malt too.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

Thanks for the recipe! I'll be using that in the future. I built my original recipe to have some residual sweetness without using lactose and (I thought) for body. At this point the yeast has done exactly what I wanted it to and The sample taken for gravity testing tasted exactly like I wanted it was just thin.

Wait to make your final judgement until after carbonation - I have tasted several of my beers at bottling time and they seemed thin and watery. Once carbonated, it greatly improves the mouthfeel. If you can, wait to brew this batch again until you taste the final, carbonated product - you may find that if you try to tweak the recipe before that point you may end up over-correcting and end up with too much body

 

[McUbermensch]

Wait to make your final judgement until after carbonation - I have tasted several of my beers at bottling time and they seemed thin and watery. Once carbonated, it greatly improves the mouthfeel. If you can, wait to brew this batch again until you taste the final, carbonated product - you may find that if you try to tweak the recipe before that point you may end up over-correcting and end up with too much body

I'm not giving up this batch just yet and I plan on riding this out through bottle conditioning to see what the final product is like. I'm hopeful because the taste is roasty balanced with sweetness. I'll update this once the bottles are ready.


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