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I enjoy IPA's and I think I've made the best one to my taste so far. The only thing that concerns me is the amount of grain that I used in this recipe, as it was only 1/2 lb of Belgian Aromatic Malt. It has 6.6 lbs of light LME, half at the beginning of the boil and then the rest at 30 minutes, no DME and uses Warrior hops for bittering up front during the boil and then Cascade 45 minutes into the boil and then Citra with 5 mintues remaining. The body is just a bit light, would more grain help this a bit? This is so good for an easy recipe, just wondering if tinkering would help? Thanks. Quentin

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  • Are you talking about using more grain in a partial mash (i.e. adding base malt) or are you talking about just more non mashed grain in an extract plus grain method. Just trying to be clear because, steeping some aromatic malt or crystal malt in the wort/water isn't partial mashing. Its just steeping.
    – brewchez
    Commented Mar 18, 2014 at 15:15
  • Oh, my error, steeping, just looking to increase mouth feel a bit, maybe add another 1/2 lb of Belgium Aromatic Malt? Like I said it's good, wondering if that little tweak could help in that regard.
    – Quentin
    Commented Mar 18, 2014 at 21:26

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That depends on how you define "body."

This BYO article offers a pretty solid definition on body:

"Body is the sensation of palate fullness, the viscosity and feel of beer in the mouth. It is a characteristic of beer that reflects its ending density and refers to the mouth-filling and thickness properties that a given sample contains."

The BYO article above goes into greater detail about proteins, starches, and enzymes -- for the sake of simplicity a higher final density, or final gravity, can easily be achieved using the following methods:

  1. Utilizing a yeast strain with lower attenuation properties
  2. Adding un-fermentable sugars (like lactose) or "body builders" like (like flaked oats, or cara-pils malt) to your brew.

Based on my experience, I would recommend adding cara-pils (maybe 0.5 lb.) to your steeping grains, and use a lower attenuating yeast. Check with your local HBS to see what yeast they have in stock for lower attenuation that meets style.

Best of luck!

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It could, but keep in mind that it could also have other effects like reducing fermentability. But adding 1/2 lb. of C40 or C60 or carapils could help the body. Yeast choice also has an influence. Something like WY1450 will leave more mouthfeel in your beer while still giving you good attenuation. A yeast like US-05 will leave you with a thin body.

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    hehe, I've brewed plenty with US-05, and I wouldn't say they were thin and I'm adverse to a thin body! But definitely peachy was my last blond ale without TC, and the other half with TC was nice, fairly dry, but not thin.
    – mdma
    Commented Mar 16, 2014 at 22:26
  • I meant it more in a comparative sense, and I guess I didn't make that clear.
    – Denny Conn
    Commented Mar 17, 2014 at 15:28

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