Wheat to add head retention

[VTMongoose]

That's a very nice looking beer, but I assume you don't mean that you poured it two nights ago and took the photo this afternoon. So not to be overly nitpicky or anything, but to judge head retention we do kinda need to know how long it was between pouring and snapping the pic.

It was taken approximately 2-3 minutes after pouring. I poured it, went to the bathroom, came back, and took the picture because I thought it looked nice and I was impressed that the head was still sitting on top just like the real Duvel. It also leaves lacing on the glass which I didn't take a picture of. I think there is something about their yeast strain that promotes the huge head, head retention, and lacing, because that keg is only on about 20 psi @ 45°F and real Duvel is carbonated to around 4.0 volumes of CO2. I have lots of other beers on tap with far less impressive head retention brewed with the same low oxygen brewing practices: Pre-boiling water prior to mashing, hot side antioxidant ascorbic acid added just prior to mashing, closed transfer after fermentation, keg refermentation. Nothing fancy or revolutionary.

 

[Yesfan]

In real life these don't actually improve head retention at all. They do not function as advertised.

https://scottjanish.com/dextrins-and-mouthfeel/

I read that article and came back thinking using carapils is just wasting mash tun space. I use carapils all the time thinking it's improving head retention. Am I wrong to think it's a useless grain now?

 

[mac_1103]

It was taken approximately 2-3 minutes after pouring. I poured it, went to the bathroom, came back, and took the picture because I thought it looked nice and I was impressed that the head was still sitting on top just like the real Duvel. It also leaves lacing on the glass which I didn't take a picture of.

I've never managed to get very good head retention, but lots of my beers do leave impressive lacing.

 

[brechbräu]

I’ve always used about 1/4 lb of white wheat malt in recipes for head retention but I honestly don’t know if it is doing the job or something else is…

 

[day_trippr]

Surprised chit malt hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet

Cheers!

 

[Broothru]

Surprised chit malt hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet

Cheers!

O.K. Let's revive this semi-stale thread and revisit (or divert) into chit malt.

Does it work? Is it superior to CaraPils/CaraFoam? Will the finished beer have a permanent haze? What's the ultimate effect on the desired clarity on my Unicorn Kolsch? Am I being counter-productive to add chit malt to the grist for foam stability and head retention, and then later attempt to clarify with Biofine?

It seems like there are mutually exclusive goals at play. All I want to do is have a thick white foamy head on a crystal clear stange of Kolsch.

 

[mac_1103]

Does it work? Is it superior to CaraPils/CaraFoam? Will the finished beer have a permanent haze?

I use it in almost all of my brews because it's available to me locally. I haven't had problems with haze (usually <5% but sometimes up to 6 or 7). Have not done any direct comparisons with and without so can't really say how much it helps. Most of my beers have decent initial head and good lacing, but not particularly impressive retention. I do not use finings.

 

[Miraculix]

O.K. Let's revive this semi-stale thread and revisit (or divert) into chit malt.

Does it work? Is it superior to CaraPils/CaraFoam? Will the finished beer have a permanent haze? What's the ultimate effect on the desired clarity on my Unicorn Kolsch? Am I being counter-productive to add chit malt to the grist for foam stability and head retention, and then later attempt to clarify with Biofine?

It seems like there are mutually exclusive goals at play. All I want to do is have a thick white foamy head on a crystal clear stange of Kolsch.

Chit, carapils and also wheat to a certain extent, seem to depend on a proper mash schedule that includes a rest in the upper end of the range. Without that, they don't do much in my experience. Having a rest at 72c for half an hour does increase head. If chit or carapils is in the grist, this gets boosted.

 

[Broothru]

Chit, carapils and also wheat to a certain extent, seem to depend on a proper mash schedule that includes a rest in the upper end of the range. Without that, they don't do much in my experience. Having a rest at 72c for half an hour does increase head. If chit or carapils is in the grist, this gets boosted.

Thanks for that. My usual dextrin rest is around 68C for 30-45 minutes, followed by mash out @78C for 15 minutes, so I guess I'm bracketing 72C/1 hour .

For the most part I'm content with the body and mouthfeel my beers have, which varies a bit with the particular style I happen to be brewing, so that variable is pretty well dialed in. What I'm seeking is the frothy, foamy yet ephemeral white head which lasts for only as long as it takes to polish off a stange (which admittedly isn't very long) while leaving behind a delicate but persistent lacing on the inside of the glass.

The two objectives of robust beer head and remarkable clarity seem at odds and in tension with each other. Somehow the brewers of Koln are able to overcome the dichotomy, but it confounds me as to how. My search for the 'perfect' Helles was my "White Whale," which I finally achieved last summer (41 pts. and Best of Show). This year it is the 'perfect' Kolsch which is looking like my "Rainbow Unicorn." But I'm giving it my best effort.