Improving Body in a Porter

[TeufelBrew]

I'm going to brew a porter that I really loved the flavor, but felt it needed more body. One of the great brewers in my HBC said add 1/2lb Carapils in the steep(Extract with grains brew) to increase the body and it won't affect the taste or abv too much. I tend to trust what he says, he's a very good brewer, just wondering what others thought/experiences are.

[john from dc]

a lot of stout kits contain malto dextrin, which is supposed to increase body without affecting abv or flavor. but i don't have enough experience with it to recommend it one way or the other.

for my money though, i'd rather throw in some more grain than add in chemicals.
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[corkybstewart]

A half pound of carapils will do the trick. I use it in a lot of my beers for body and head retention.

[fretlessman71]

Yeah, but a 1/2 lb. of carapils doesn't stand a CHANCE against a cop knocking on your car window... ;)

[TeufelBrew]

Stopped by the HBS and talked myself into half a pound of Melanoidin malt after tasting it. Does this make me a real brewer now that I'm modifying others recipes? ;) Thanks for the feedback and I'll post after it brews.

[Carl Spakler]

Couldn't you also add some wheat malt to boost the body? I thought I read on here someone adding ~1/2 wheat to most recipes for a bit more mouth feel? Would that only work with certain styles of beers?

[markaberrant]

a bit of wheat malt will not necessarily improve mouth feel, but it should improve head retention.

[Carl Spakler]

a bit of wheat malt will not necessarily improve mouth feel, but it should improve head retention.

Ahhh, that is what I was remembering. Thanks. :)

[barleyburps]

I don't know of you're brewing style, but if you are doing full grain and are capable of step mashing, you should be able to some degree improve the body /mouthfeel by increasing the temperature of your mash. That will leave more unfermentable sugars as the end result.

I use a 3 step mash program in conjunction with using 4-5% of crystal malt and/or 4-5% rausch malt along with my normal grain bill.

I mash in with the first rest ~144F for 35 min., ~153F for 20 min., then 162F for 40 min. Then raise to 172 for mash out.

Water hardness can also have an effect on this, but I'm not the person to advise about that.

[TeufelBrew]

I'm still pretty new to brewing, this will only be my 6th batch. I'm doing an extract with steeped grains. It's a kit from LHBS that came out extremely tasty on first brew, I just want a little more body. I also chose to add a little extra aroma hops at the end of my boil. At work now and don't have recipe with me. I'll be brewing this Sunday and I'll post back after brewing. Thanks to everyone for thoughts and suggestions. :D