From BYO Vol. 22, No 1 , page 32
As the beer was designed to be drinkable in quantity, the body shouldn’t be too full.
Besides higher FG, what other factors influence body in a beer?
Also from the same page:
Rich malt without an even amount of bitterness will seem malty in the finish, but be more drinkable than if the finishing gravity was higher.
??
Types of malt - lots of Munich or crystal malts give beer a full body, for example.
Yeast strain- some accentuate malty fullness more than others. WY 1728, 1450 and 1968 are a few.
Water chemistry - beers with higher levels of chloride accentuate malt character.
EDIT - Restrained hopping, underhopped beers make maltiness seem more prevalent.
Carbonation effects body. Don’t ask me how.
Malty sweet or just malty? There can be maltiness without sweetness. A beer with very littered hop bittering can still finish bone dry if it’s mashed to do so and you use a really attenuative yeast.
My translation:
Rich malt without an even amount of bitterness will seem malty in the finish, but be more drinkable than if the finishing gravity was higher.
Beer A: 50% munich, 50% pils. OG 1.050, FG 1.012, 20 IBUs
will be more drinkable than
Beer B: 50% munich, 50% pils. OG 1.050, FG 1.018, 30 IBUs
Interesting…and good analogy to describe it.