Using maltodextrin or steeping Carapils in extract brew

1 year ago | sam87 (Member)

Hi Guys

Drinking My way to amarillo brew at the moment nice and clear and nicely carbonated but I have no head whatsoever,

So been looking into head retention and what i can do to improve my future brews,

I used coopers beer enhancer 1 instead of sugar to prime my beer which contains maltodextrin correct?

From what Ive read this helps body and head retention but not in my case.

My first bottle did have a head but then I had put remaining brew in the shed and did not anticipate how cold the beer would get in the lovely Glasgow winter, thus the next time i tried my brew it was completely flat and no head since bringing it indoors at 23oC for a further 5 days the beer is carbonated again but no head at all.

I'm thinking the issues could be the following and any advice and suggestion on how to improve would be greatly appreciated:

1. the head was ruined as I chilled beer too early.

2. not enough beer enhancer used to carbonate thus leaving no retaining head (80g used)

3. maybe the use of carapils steeped would be more efficient than the maltodextrin found in beer enhancer alone (also assisting in the next step to all grain )

am i thinking along the right lines here guys ?

also with the subject of steeping with carapils there seems to be mixed reviews on the net regarding this matter some say it needs to be mashed and other say its fine to steep or it need to be mixed with a base malt to held convert some of the starches to avoid unnecessary haze.

Thanks

Sam

Read responses...

Responses

Hamish:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

Carapils doesn't need to be mashed and can be steeped for half an hour in a few litres of water at 65C - 70C, the Germans call it Carafoam because its specifically for head retention, I used it in extract brews.

Planning: Wheat beer fermented with Schneider Weisse yeast, a Stout, lots of hoppy pale ales
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff

sam87:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

Hamish, how many grams of carapils are we talking for a 5gallon batch.

would you also recommend using the beer enhancer for priming on top of steeping carapils or just stick with cane sugar?

Greg:

Posted 1 year ago by Admin

I wouldn't have thought it mattered what priming sugar you used as this won't have any effect on head retention.

Any cara or crystal malts can be steeped or mashed as they have gone through a special heating process after malting which converts the sugars.

The other thing you could try was using a small amount of wheat spraymalt as this would probably help with head retention.

sam87:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

The reason I thought I may have needed a lil more priming sugar is because the beer enhancer has got the Maltodextin in it aswell.

I may try adding some wheat spray malt before branching out in trying to steep grains just yet.

Thanks guys

Sam

simonb_13:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

I use Carapils in most of my brews. Unless there's wheat in the recipe which does the head retention job. I used Carapils in my extract brews with great effect. It doesn't need mashing but can be used in the mash tun for convenience in AG brewing.

I usually use about 200g in a 3kg extract brew. You can either heat the water to 70 degrees and steep for 30 mins or put it in cold water, heat up to 70 degrees and remove from water. Has the same effect as far as I can tell.

So, basically, what the others said! :-)

Planning: Something with Styrians, Discovery Clone
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone

Hamish:

Posted 1 year ago by Moderator

In the extract brews I used between 175g and 200g, I never seem to do the same brew twice.

sam87:

Posted 1 year ago by Member

thats brilliant guys thanks for the advise.

Just ordered some carapils will give it a go with a brew near the end of the week. will post results

Sam

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