Finishing Gravity

[Toot]

From anyones experience how does finishing gravity effect final beer? Can you tell the difference if a beer finishes at 1.018 or 1.019?

I understand that a high gravity finish means bigger mouthfeel, more body etc.

Also how much does mash temperature effect the final gravity, will a couple of degrees have a significant impact?

Anyone got any good links or sources for documentation on the subject?

[vdog]

From my (limited) knowledge you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference a single gravity point makes. The higher it is, as you say, the bigger mouthfeel, body etc - and the sweeter the finish will be.

Mash temperature does make a difference, because it affects how the sugars are made up and how much of it is fermentable. Less fermentables = higher residual sugar (gravity). Take a look at the Library section, there'll be something there to help.