When to use carapils?

[hollywoodbrew]

I think for such a high gravity beer, you won't need to worry about body or head retention. 5% crystal would certainly be sufficient, or none at all. Your FG probably won't drop below 1.013, so if that's cool with you, I would just skip the crystal. It's not necessary for the style. Have you seen the westy 12 clone the pious?

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I think for such a high gravity beer, you won't need to worry about body or head retention. 5% crystal would certainly be sufficient, or none at all. Your FG probably won't drop below 1.013, so if that's cool with you, I would just skip the crystal. It's not necessary for the style. Have you seen the westy 12 clone the pious?

Not that my anecdotal experience completely discounts what you are saying, my experience has probably unique. I did a Tripel recipe with only Pilsner and sugar and I definitely have issues with head retention. Next time I make it I'll throw either a touch of carapils or a handful of flaked/malted wheat to give that big rocky head.

 

[hollywoodbrew]

Not that my anecdotal experience completely discounts what you are saying, my experience has probably unique.

No, no this is a valid point to make. I was thinking more about body than head retention. 5% crystal would be a safe addition to make for a tripel. It definitely wouldn't hurt. What's your thoughts on crystal percentage?

 

[Denny]

Not that my anecdotal experience completely discounts what you are saying, my experience has probably unique. I did a Tripel recipe with only Pilsner and sugar and I definitely have issues with head retention. Next time I make it I'll throw either a touch of carapils or a handful of flaked/malted wheat to give that big rocky head.

Neither the Belgian brewers nor I have any trouble with foam in a pils and sugar beer. People don't realize how much fermentation plays into beer foam. Check this out...http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Neither the Belgian brewers nor I have any trouble with foam in a pils and sugar beer. People don't realize how much fermentation plays into beer foam. Check this out...http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

Oh definitely I know there must be something I missed. I think I should have done a short quick decoction and I may have ended up with better head retention. After I drink up whats left of this tripel (still delicious, just bad head retention), I'll just try again next time with a decoction, the color will probably be a bit better and all of my decoction beers have great head.

Though if that doesnt end up working I'll take the easy way out and add some flaked wheat/carapils to be 100% sure.

 

[Denny]

Oh definitely I know there must be something I missed. I think I should have done a short quick decoction and I may have ended up with better head retention. After I drink up whats left of this tripel (still delicious, just bad head retention), I'll just try again next time with a decoction, the color will probably be a bit better and all of my decoction beers have great head.

Though if that doesnt end up working I'll take the easy way out and add some flaked wheat/carapils to be 100% sure.

Decoction doesn't matter. In my tests, it's waste of time and effort. Did you read the article? It has tests to help you diagnose what the problem is.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Decoction doesn't matter. In my tests, it's waste of time and effort. Did you read the article? It has tests to help you diagnose what the problem is.

None of the issues mentioned in the article would apply to my tripel, other than high alcohol 9.5%. I don't personally detect a lot of fusels and I don't get particularly bad hangovers from it. I'm not calling into question the article or saying it's wrong. For me with my beers and my process the two main things different about the tripel and all my other beers that have good head retention, I didn't add any adjunct flaked late/wheat or malted wheat to the grist, and I did not do a decoction.

For myself I like the decoction process and it doesn't affect my brew day so I do it a lot. Recent completed a saison with 1# of malted wheat and a tiny bit of honey malt and flaked oats, with a short 10 minute decoction and it has a fantastic rocky head and at 7.6% abv it's not like it's hugely under powered compared to the tripel.

Calculated SRM on my tripel is approximately 3.5 so a short 10 minute decoction won't get me way over the top on color, I can utilize the drop in pH to adjust my mash pH a bit, and if anything will deepen the malty character. If I replace 16oz of Pilsner with 16oz of red wheat there should not be an appreciable impact to flavor, same thing for 2-3% carapils should give the slightly extra foam positives without a dramatic affect on the flavor/color/aroma.