Englander help needed for recipe formulation

[Whorst]

I'm looking for ways to get more mouth feel from lower gravity beers. The last beer I made was good, but a tad thin. I used 7lbs. of maris otter, 1/2 lbs of 45L crystal, 1/2 lbs. of special roast. In my next beer, I'm thinking about using 7lbs. of base malt and 2lbs. of crystal with a mash temp of around 155-156F. I'm hoping the higher mash temp combined with more crystal will give me a more rounded malt profile, that will blend well with west coast hopping. Ideas, thoughts, etc.

Cheers,

Whorst

[Garth]

What about adding 100g or so of Cara-Pils malt, it dosen't alter the colour either as it's so light (about 4EBC)

[Whorst]

Yes, that is a good idea. I could use 1lbs. of cara pils and 1lb. of crystal. I want a little sweetness, because I tend to hop on the heavy side. On another note, what yeasts do you lot like over there? I think Safale 04 is a fabulous yeast. I recently used White Labs WLP-005 which is very nice. I believe it's the Ringwood strain?

[mysterio]

I've never found the need for Carapils except when using a highly attenuative yeast like US-05. For me, mashing at 67/68C works fine to get a good mouthfeel, maybe even higher if it's a very low gravity beer like a 60/- or mild. How long are you mashing for, and are you sure your thermometer is calibrated correctly?

I tend to use Safale SO4 & WLP002 most commonly and stand up to lots of hops.

[Whorst]

I usually mash for 60 min. Maybe I should go 90? As far as I know, my thermometer is calibrated correctly. 68C=154.4F. That's about where I want to mash. I think I was closer to 150F, which is 65.555C. This could be why I'm not getting enough mouth feel.

[iowalad]

I suppose you could always try some aromatic, vienna or munich malt.

Try Wyeast 1968 or White labs 02 for lower attenuation.

How tied to your hop program are you? Too much hop additions and I find my best bitters become one dimensional pretty easily but then I am no hop head and it sounds like that is part of your recipe you don't want to tinker with.

[Whorst]

I'm not totally tied to my hop program. I like a certain amount of hop character. I don't use Safale 05, or WLP001 because I find this strain too neutral for my tastes. Although the hops really come out with this strain. My house yeast is CL-110-British Microbrewery. I really enjoy the flavor profile of this yeast. I think I'll mellow out on the hops. I'll be brewing next weekend, so I should how things go in a couple of weeks.

[Aleman]

Careful with the crystal additions, as I find in 'lighter' beers the taste can become cloyingly sweet, its OK in something Like Sara Hughes Dark Ruby Mild (25% Dark Crystal) as that is a really big beer (1.058).

Using some of the lighter caramel malts eg carapils, carafoam as a replacement for 'some' of the crystal will contribute to the residual sweetness without becoming cloying.

Certainly mashing hotter at 68C will also help with sweetness. I normally find that I get a surprising difference in fermentability between mashing at 66 and 68.

One other factor that you might want to consider is using a thicker mash than normal say dropping to 1.75-2L / Kilo, although I have only really found this giving a pronounced effect with big Beers (1.075+)