IPA Foam: Persistent, Thick, Yogurty head?

So my first IPA turned out well, but one of the issues I'm seeing is that the head of the beer is just a bit too much. The grain portion of the beer looks like this (5gal):

1 lb Crystal 20 @ 155 for 30 min
6 lb DME (extra light)
7 oz Maltodextrin

The head of the beer, even pouring very slowly, builds up and doesn't go away. It's thick, pillowy, and almost like a yogurt. You can pick it up with your finger and it won't go anywhere.

Is this the maltodextrin? Did I steep the grains at too high a temp? It turned out a little less sweet than even I like, so I need to fix that as well. Thanks.

Ugh. I can't stand maltodextrin in beer. I'm not even much of a fan of CaraPils either. Plus they add empty calories. I'd say leave it out next time.

I used it to add body to the beer, but I'm not sure that's exactly what it did. The beer is good, but it seems slightly muted, if that makes sense.

Yeah a lot of people use it for body. My personal opinion is that it makes it taste thick and syrupy, you might have a different opinion. I prefer to increase body naturally with more grain, higher mash temps, etc.

Steeping temperature isn't too important when using crystal grains since they're pre-converted. I suspect you just used a bit more maltodextrin than you should have. Regardless it will be a fairly simple beer with just DME and maltodextrin and some steeped crystal, but if you have a good hop schedule it should be tasty.

rtb178 said:

I used it to add body to the beer, but I'm not sure that's exactly what it did. The beer is good, but it seems slightly muted, if that makes sense.

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You don't need maltodex for the appropriate body in something like an IPA. It will leave a thicker, and sweeter beer, which it sounds like you've gotten. The dense head could be from a number of things, maltodextrin being one of them, the higher FG and body from it could aide in head retention.