I asked my local maltster about what he might have that’s an equivalent to CaraPils. I told him it’s for head retention and is also called Dextrine malt. He sent me two data sheets, and I’m not sure either will be applicable:
Caramel Wheat Malt, 90-110 EBC, Product obtained by custom malting, saccharification and roasting of specially selected wheat, to develop the aroma and colour required.
Strongly accentuates aroma, thus giving beer a typical taste.
Reinforces the colour of the beer.
Enhances foam stability.
Increases extract and thus brewing yields.
Colour : 90 to 110 EBC (equiv. 34 to 42 degrees Lovibond).
Moisture : 7% maximum.
Extract : minimum 78% on dry matter.
OR
Pilsen Caramel
Product obtained by custom malting, saccharification and roasting of specially selected barley, to develop the aroma and colour required.
Gives beer mild flavours and a pleasant, subtle taste.
Improves the smoothness and stability of beer.
Slightly reinforces the colour of beer.
Colour : 20 to 30 EBC (equiv. 8 to 12 degrees Lovibond).
Moisture : 7.5% maximum.
Extract : minimum 75% (dry matter).
… But neither of these seem like exactly what I’m going for. I suppose I could go the caramel wheat route, which sounds interesting on its own, but that 30-45 L coloration makes me wonder about what contribution it would have (8 oz per 5 gal)
+1. Lots of folks use plain ole wheat malt for head retention instead of carapils.
The other thing you might want to think about is just why are you using anything special for head retention. If all your processes are in line then your head retention and stability should be just fine without needing to add anything.
FWIW - Carapils & Carafoam do contribute some flavor to the beer - the main difference between my pils and dortmunder grists are 8% Carafoam - and I can definitely taste a difference in the malt character and mouthfeel.
I know the OP was looking to use it as head retention aid, but just wanted to clarify that it isn’t entirely flavourless.
If you make the beer properly, you don’t need either wheat or carapils for head retention. Look at Duvel…most of us can only dream of getting foam like that, and it’s only pils malt and sugar.
Carapils needs to die. I just gave all of mine away. I shall never use it again because it is worthless compared to every other malt choice on the market.
Have to say I kinda agree with Dave. I have not used it in years (I think the last time I used it was 7 years ago in a Pliny the Elder Clone, where I felt it was kind of a pointless addition even back then). I have no plans to ever use it in anything.
Ah, re my reason for using it, it’s in the recipe! Specifically Bell’s THA clone. So, I don’t really care too much about head retention, I haven’t had much of a problem in that area (that’s what she said?) but I’m not sure why it’s in their recipe to begin with. Sounds like there’s no reason to use it then? I don’t mind ditching it.
who’s recipe? Sean Terrill’s recipe is pretty close and he doesn’t use Carapils. IIRC, nor does Bell’s in THA for that matter. Probably won’t be missed.
for all the naysayers to Carapils, there are a lot of pros (Sierra Nevada comes to mind) that use it, so I doubt your recommendation that it die will be heeded since the maltsters aren’t really reliant on the 0.0000000001% of their production that we buy ;D
In experimenting with Beersmith 2.0 for Mac, when a recipe is converted from all-grain to extract, Carafoam is added in. I took it out (since I don’t have any on hand anyway) but thought that was interesting–an assumption that extract brews would need Carafoam.
Then I took a copy of the extract recipe, added 8 oz of Carafoam (it’s a 3.5-gal recipe), and converted the recipe to all-grain, and the Carafoam was eliminated (still there, but at 0.0 ounces).
The thing about CaraPils in extract is that you can’t control the mash in extract, so adding it in will give you more mouthfeel. The reason I feel carapils isn’t really necessary is because you can mash higher with all grain and pretty much give you the same effect as if you mashed lower and added carapils.
That said, I do agree that carapils does give some flavor enhancement, so I take it back that it is completely worthless. I just don’t ever really have a need for it in my brewery.
All points here make sense (that it might be useful for extract brewing but isn’t useful for you personally). I am experimenting with extract brewing and plan to do the same batch successively (a recipe I have done in AG several times with great results). Maybe I’ll do it without Carapils to start with and then try it next time with Carapils. Other variations include with and without a mini-mash.
I wonder if extract manufacturers add an anti-foam agent to speed up their process. Back when I was brewing extract beers, I used to add lots of steeped carapils to enhance head retention (without much success). When I switched to all-grain, I could eat the beer head with a spoon.
;D