Proper Use of Carapils?

From all the descriptions I've read, it seems Carapils would be universally beneficial in all beers. Should I (or, can I) start incorporating it into all my brews at the recommended 1-5%?

In my extract recipes I like to use about 1/2# (usually 5-7%), it does wonders for body and head retention.

Take a look at some of BierMuncher's recipes- it's damn near a universal ingredient in his beers.

I use it in all my IPAs and Pale Ales.

I try to use some in all my brews.

It's not strictly necessary, nor is it "universally beneficial". But if it makes you feel better, use it.

In the first place, you only get about 25% of the benefit by steeping vs. what you get mashing.

In the second, Briess's two lightest extracts already contain a proportion of it, so if you use Briess Gold or Pilsner LME, adding more is kind of overkill.

In the third, if you already mash and need more body and/or foam retention, have a look at your technique before adding ingredients. I have so seldom used CaraPils in my all-grain beers, I can't remember the last time I used it, and I never have had a problem getting better body or foam retention in my beers as desired.

Cheers,

Bob

I use Carapils so that I have a moderate amount of unfermentable sugar in my IPAs and Pale Ales. This allows me to add more hops.

I've already bit the bullet and included 8 oz of it in all my specialty grain bills for the next several months (just ordered from AHS). I'm using this in partial mashes that verge on all-grain (ie: only 1-2 pounds DME per batch; 8-9.5 pounds MO plus specialties). I figure worst case it does nothing, and best case it does something.