Suggestions to help with a "thin" beer (stout)

[SFGiantsFan925]

Hey everyone,

So, I brewed a RIS. It came from an almost 23lb. grain bill for a 5.5 gallon batch. The beer was brewed on 9/25/14. The RIS came out great, and fermented with WLP090 from 1.100 to 1.020 and is tasting just like I wanted.

Well, I tried my first partigyle brew from the grain from the RIS. I actually had sparged a bit extra, and had about 1.5 gal. from the RIS sparge. I know, its a lot, but still learning my system, and its by far the biggest grain bill I have worked with.

Long story short, the partigyle came to 1.054. I added a full packet of S-O4. Fermented at around 66, along with the RIS. It dropped all the way to 1.014. After tasting a sample from the brew, it is tasting very "thin". It does not have the mouth feel, or any real body that a stout should have. Does not really taste at all like a stout should taste. I get it. Its my first time ever trying this. I am just looking for any suggestions to add any sort of body to the beer. And this is POST fermentation. Here are my ideas, in no particular order.

1. Add some cold brew coffee. Maybe this would help add roasted body to the beer
2. Add vanilla beans. I have a couple beans that I can soak in vodka, and add to the brew.
3. Add Cocoa nibs to fermenter. Let sit for 7-10 days, rack to keg.
4. Do both 1 and 2.
5. Do 1, 2 and 3.
6. Open to any suggestions at all.

I would appreciate any help at all that can be offered. Thanks in advance!

 

[RM-MN]

Hey everyone,

So, I brewed a RIS. It came from an almost 23lb. grain bill for a 5.5 gallon batch. The beer was brewed on 9/25/14. The RIS came out great, and fermented with WLP090 from 1.100 to 1.020 and is tasting just like I wanted.

Well, I tried my first partigyle brew from the grain from the RIS. I actually had sparged a bit extra, and had about 1.5 gal. from the RIS sparge. I know, its a lot, but still learning my system, and its by far the biggest grain bill I have worked with.

Long story short, the partigyle came to 1.054. I added a full packet of S-O4. Fermented at around 66, along with the RIS. It dropped all the way to 1.014. After tasting a sample from the brew, it is tasting very "thin". It does not have the mouth feel, or any real body that a stout should have. Does not really taste at all like a stout should taste. I get it. Its my first time ever trying this. I am just looking for any suggestions to add any sort of body to the beer. And this is POST fermentation. Here are my ideas, in no particular order.

1. Add some cold brew coffee. Maybe this would help add roasted body to the beer
2. Add vanilla beans. I have a couple beans that I can soak in vodka, and add to the brew.
3. Add Cocoa nibs to fermenter. Let sit for 7-10 days, rack to keg.
4. Do both 1 and 2.
5. Do 1, 2 and 3.
6. Open to any suggestions at all.

I would appreciate any help at all that can be offered. Thanks in advance!

The one idea you are missing and the easiest to do is to add time. Your partigyle beer should be just fine but it needs to carbonate and mature. Bottle it up, give it 3 MONTHS in the bottle and it will be way different than the sample you have now. Only sample one bottle then though because it is going to get better. The stout I made and kept sampling kept getting better for 2 years when I finally drank the last of it. I wish I had waited longer to start sampling.

 

[Brulosopher]

Are you tasting the beer flat? If so, that's likely the issue, carbonation does wonders for mouthfeel. A 1.014 beer should come out well

 

[wardens355]

I have heard that you can add maltodextrin or lactose to a finished beer to help improve the mouthfeel. Something like 4 -12 ounces per 5 gallons. I have never done this.

 

[campbellmike]

If you are kegging you can wait until it's carbed to see how much improvement you see. If you bottle then you're done, what you get is what you get. We had a similar problem with a porter and by the numbers it should have not been so thin but it was. Ours was in a keg so we were able to add 8 oz maltodextrin which made a significant difference in head retention and mouth feel. We boiled 8 oz of water and mixed then added to the keg and gently stirred. I highly recommend the maltodextrin to "fix" a thin beer. It kept us from dumping a batch of beer "water".

 

[campbellmike]

The coffee will thin it further. Ask me how I know?

 

[JonM]

Just add time, time, time. As mentioned above, carbonation and a couple months of conditioning will very likely work wonders for the mouthfeel, flavor, etc. I wouldn't go monkeying around and adding stuff.

 

[SFGiantsFan925]

I am kegging the beer. I will be bottling the RIS, but the whole reason I made the partigyle was so i had something else to put on tap. It is not carbed yet. I was thinking of "adjusting" it prior to kegging, but it sounds like I can still play with it after it carbs up.

Ill go ahead and get it kegged and start the carbing process. I do always seem to like the beer better after it carbs. Hope it works! Im still drinking it though, thats for sure!