no head on first grain brew

[Krispy Krouton]

Hi. Made my first grain beer and its turned out really good, I'm so pleased with it its gonna be difficult to not get carried away with it all! It was a basic pale ale with only maris otter and I think because of this it is very thin so lacks head. So I read that carapils helps with head and retention and I plan on using some but added to the same recipe as I'm not confident enough to stray too far from what I know at the moment. I read that when first using speciality malts its best to use it sparingly and err on the side of caution. 10% of the base malt it says. So just a couple of questions to get me on my 2nd grain brew:

When it says 10% of the base malt do i need to deduct 10% of the base malt, to keep the total amount of grain the same, or is the speciality grains added as well?

Also what shade of carapils would be best for adding body to a pale ale? Or is there only one grade/shade (whatever is called) of carapils?

Cheers and happy new year

[pantsmachine]

Welcome to the world of AG, yes 10% is indeed a remainder 90% in weight of MO in your recipe. You can also raise your mash temperature which will increase body but will also certainly help with head and head retention. I am guessing your went for a mid 60's rest temperature? I rest at 70/72 degrees and have good results with body and head retention to the bottom of the glass. Best of luck. P.S it is very tempting to jump right in and get into the world of specialty grains (been there done that) but there is actually more benefit in nailing your own personal technique on simpler recipes (I.E single grain, couple of hops) and what works well for you. You can also take some of your MO and bake it in the oven to darken/sweeten if you want. This gives you further variables off of a simple palette of ingredients. Took me years to realise that less is often more!

[Krispy Krouton]

Thanks for the reply. By roasting some of the MO then it would save me having to buy a load of carapils I suppose. I'm having to buy crushed grain so can these still be roasted? If so how long and how hot? Yeah I mashed at 66°C within a degree or 2 on my thermometer. Cheers.

[alexlark]

I mashed higher than anticipated for my last APA, approx. 68 - 69c when I was aiming for 66c. Incidentally it's finished up with a cracking head, all the way down the glass!

[pantsmachine]

Ah, good question! Its all open as you could be cooking on anything at all, fan assisted or not, gas, leccy. Many variables. I do a baking tray of grain about 5mm deep and i think i left it for 20 minutes at 200. I could see the colour difference when i strewed the grain across the unbaked MO in the mash tun but not a massive difference. So i would say anything up to an hour and you'd be fine. Got to stack up costs as well i suppose but its fun doing it your own way! The smart move for you would be to try with a single grain and up the mash temp a few degrees to see the effects of that on body and head?

[Rick_UK]

I've always found the method of dispensing to have the biggest effect on head formation and retention. Pressure kegs always do a good job if they have sufficient pressure in my experience. Bottles much less so - though the beer is fizzier.

I do always add a couple of hundred grams of wheat malt to my grists as I've always understood that this helps head retention without Effecting the overall flavour profile of the beer.

Rick

[Krispy Krouton]

The smart move for you would be to try with a single grain and up the mash temp a few degrees to see the effects of that on body and head?

Yeah that's an idea. i might go for that option. So what temp would you suggest, is 70 - 72 too high?

[Krispy Krouton]

I've always found the method of dispensing to have the biggest effect on head formation and retention. Pressure kegs always do a good job if they have sufficient pressure in my experience. Bottles much less so - though the beer is fizzier.

I do always add a couple of hundred grams of wheat malt to my grists as I've always understood that this helps head retention without Effecting the overall flavour profile of the beer.

Rick

As it happens I've spent the last couple of days cleaning out two filthy 2nd hand pressure barrels. Been a bit tricky, can't get my hand in but I think they're clean now. As far as wheat goes does that keep well? I'm basically using everything as it gets delivered because I'm a bit unsure on storage. Cheers

[Rick_UK]

I've always found the method of dispensing to have the biggest effect on head formation and retention. Pressure kegs always do a good job if they have sufficient pressure in my experience. Bottles much less so - though the beer is fizzier.

I do always add a couple of hundred grams of wheat malt to my grists as I've always understood that this helps head retention without Effecting the overall flavour profile of the beer.

Rick

As it happens I've spent the last couple of days cleaning out two filthy 2nd hand pressure barrels. Been a bit tricky, can't get my hand in but I think they're clean now. As far as wheat goes does that keep well? I'm basically using everything as it gets delivered because I'm a bit unsure on storage. Cheers

It keeps as well as malt in my experience. I usually order all my grains in bulk once a year and have not had any issues with shelf life. I keep them in a dry wooden crate in the garage.

Rick

[pantsmachine]

The smart move for you would be to try with a single grain and up the mash temp a few degrees to see the effects of that on body and head?

Yeah that's an idea. i might go for that option. So what temp would you suggest, is 70 - 72 too high?

I heavy hop my beers so look for more body in them than standard beers, maybe 68 degrees would get you a little more body and certainly better head retention. I also prime to achieve 1.5 to 2.0 carb volumes.

[Capped]

Chuck some flaked barley in the mash - stay below 400g for five gal and there'll be no haze whatsoever. I've taken to including it as a matter of routine 'cos I've grown to seriously dislike any beer containing wheat in any form.

[Jim]

Torrefied wheat is the classic addition to aid head retention. Up to 5% is fine, though it will affect the flavour (but in a good way).