factoring in carapils?

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ronjonacron

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So i want to give this stuff a try, but im not sure how to factor it into my recipes. A guy at the lhbs said he puts a pound of it in pretty much every 5 gallon batch ( i sampled two of his beers and both had amazing head rention, nice dense lingering foam). If i already have a solid recipe where would i sub in the carapils if i want that awesome head retention?

Would I just add it on top of my recipe, would I sub out a pound of base grain or would I sub it for some crystal malt? If i already have some crystal in the recipe can i get noticeably better head with maybe just adding a half pound of carapils?

Better head for all my beers!!
 
A pound in a five gallon recipe is probably overkill in most situations. Think percentages, not weight. It's a much more accurate way to figure amounts in a grist bill. For some additional foam stability and body 2-5% should do. You can use a lot more but using 10% or more would probably only be advised for a "Lite" type beer or something where you wanted a lot of fortification. For the small quantity, 1/4-1/2 lb, needed for a average recipe I'd just add it on to what you have.

CaraPils is a little bit crystal and a little bit base malt. Some brands, Weyermann's CaraFoam in particular, do still have starch content and some enzymes as well. While any crystal malt will help with the beer's head dextrin malts like CaraPils are designed to deliver a maximum percentage of unfermentable dextrins.
 
Just reread that a couple times. Im an all grain brewer. My understanding of what.you said, it will impact my og. Ill take that into considering.when adding it in.
 
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