Thick bodied Stout help

Mashing-in at 156-158 will definitely help. I like using lactose as well. That gives it the nice creamy thick consistency you like.

 

I doesn't hurt to add some flaked or rolled oats to the malt bill. Lactose is non-fermentable sugar that will add sweetness as well. The higher mash temperature will help by increasing the amount of long starch chains that yeast are unable to metabolize.

 

Lactose is barely sweet at all for a simple sugar and I don't think it really adds perceptible sweetness to a beer. But lactose does add a ton of body and is the easiest way to get a milkshake-like thickness in a stout.

 

If you're doing AG, then don't be afraid to mash in the mid 150s. If extract, just make sure you start with a fairly high OG. Pick a moderately attenuating yeast (English styles) that tend to leave a little more FG. I find that lots of chocolate malt makes an RIS seem like a chocolate milkshake. Really good stuff! If it's too thick, you can always add bourbon or oak cubes to thin it out a little.

 

Heres one to consider
18 lb marris otter
1 lb munich 10l
1 lb dark munich
1 lb simposons dark chocolate
1 lb roasted barley
1 lb black patent
1 lb flaked barley
1 lb L60
3 oz fugglings at 60 minutes that is my mix of home grown golding and fuggles. Use ekg and or fuggles.

Mash around 154

boil 90 minutes

split beer into 2 fermenters to avoid blow off tubes

prepare 2 yeast starters of Nottingham 3 or 4 days before brew day

after 2 weeks in primary at 65F transfer to secondary adding 1 oz light toast oak that has been boiled for 5 minutes
dump water place oak in secondary and leave for 3 weeks. bottle and wait at least 7 weeks before sampleing.

should be thick and happy

Add cold pressed high test coffee to secondary if desired. I use around 4 heaping tablespoons.

good luck

 

I brewed my imperial stout a few weeks ago, the end result was a very thick, rich mouthfeel. OG was 1.082. It only finished at 7% ABV because it finished at 1.028 (used a large pitch of Nottingham yeast).

I mashed @ 155-156F, had a pound of oats in the mash (for 5-gal), 1/2 lb of Cara-Pils and quite a hefty amount of roasted malt...

You would think overly sweet, but I had about 70 IBU or so worth of bittering hop with it, it's VERY balanced. The mouthfeel though, is incredible. Bottled it 2-1/2 weeks ago, it has fully carbonated already... Letting it condition at least until the end of November to let the flavors develop a bit more.

 

This a serious question, so put the flame throwers away! What about widely available, non-traditional ingredients like Xantham gum? You could dial in any kind of body you like, all the way up to a motor oil consistency, if you're so inclined. I'm not saying it's a legitimate technique, just wondering if it's been tried at the homebrew level, and, if so, what were the results?

 

Never used gum, just grain, but, if you have I,d be interested in how.

 

Maltodextrin would work as well

 

Probably some useful tips in this thread...
http://www.beeradvocate.com/communi...-stout-stuck-at-1-055-dark-lord-clone.126962/