Brewing Master

Question:

(Hobbes NT) writes: I just brewed a nice strong red bitter from extract (more or less following a recipe from Papazian).  On a bit of a whim, I tossed in 1/2 pound of CaraPils for extra body and head along with a very small amount of roasted barley (for color) — both of these steeped in the water as it came to a boil.  Most sources I’ve seen say that CaraPils must be mashed w/other grains, but my supplier’s catalog (St. Pat’s of Texas) implied that this isn’t necessary, and that steeping in water as with other specialty grains is sufficient.  So who’s correct?  Can I expect improved head from this method, or will I have to learn partial mashing and buy new equipment? Email or post…  Thanks!

I think that *real* Cara-pils would need to be mashed, but my local supply store got something called Cara-pils from a supplier that (in our opinion) turned out to be light crystal.  I’m anxious to see some informed postings on the subject (as opposed to *my* type of posting, that is).  Is there "fake" Cara-pils floating around out there?  How do you know when it’s the real thing?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hello to all out there.. I just brewed a nice strong red bitter from extract (more or less following a recipe from Papazian).  On a bit of a whim, I tossed in 1/2 pound of CaraPils for extra body and head along with a very small amount of roasted barley (for color) — both of these steeped in the water as it came to a boil.  Most sources I’ve seen say that CaraPils must be mashed w/other grains, but my supplier’s catalog (St. Pat’s of Texas) implied that this isn’t necessary, and that steeping in water as with other specialty grains is sufficient.  So who’s correct?  Can I expect improved head from this method, or will I have to learn partial mashing and buy new equipment? Email or post…  Thanks! -c/t

        When you use Cara-Pils for body, what you’re really after are the dextrins.  The dextrins are best extracted from Cara-Pils at temperatures of 150-160 F.  Therefore, whether you mash or steep the grain is really not as important as adding it at the right temperature– above 150 F, and giving it some time between 150-160 F.  I find 20 mins. to be generally sufficient to extract the wanted dextrins.                                         NAF.

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I think the best thing to do is break open a grain or two.  If it’s "glassy" inside, it doesn’t need to be mashed.  It is a "crystal" malt. I have never used a CaraPils (which is, FWIW, a trade name of The Breiss Malting Co.) that did _not_ have a glassy endosperm.  Of course the only two I’ve used are Breiss’s and dWC’s.  The DWC CaramelPils appears to be made from a different grain than the rest of their malts (which are two-row).  The stuff looks more like rice than barley to me. TTFN Russ Brodeur Regards.

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: Hobbes NT writes:

: : Hello to all out there.. : : I just brewed a nice strong red bitter from extract (more or less : following a recipe from Papazian).  On a bit of a whim, I tossed in : 1/2 pound of CaraPils for extra body and head along with a very small : amount of roasted barley (for color) — both of these steeped in the : water as it came to a boil.  Most sources I’ve seen say that CaraPils : must be mashed w/other grains, but my supplier’s catalog (St. Pat’s of : Texas) implied that this isn’t necessary, and that steeping in water : as with other specialty grains is sufficient.  So who’s correct?  Can : I expect improved head from this method, or will I have to learn : partial mashing and buy new equipment? : : Email or post…  Thanks! : : -c/t   Contrary to what Charlie says, cara-pils does not need to be mashed.   cara-pils is short for caramel pilsner malt, that is, it’s a light colored caramel malt that is meant to be used in making light colored beers (i.e., Pilsners).  Other caramel malts available are CaraVienne (Vienna colored beers), CaraMunich (Dark Munich Lagers), and Special B (dark and chewy beers such as Abbey doubles).  These malts are made be DeWolf-Cosyns in Belgium.  British and American maltsters make something they call cara-pils.  However, these malts are not cara-pils by definition because they are not made from Moravian 2-Row Barley (all real pilsner malts are made from this type of barley).  Moravian 2-Row Barley is the backbone of all Czech and German Pilsner brewing.  It has that classic sweet and malty flavor that we associate with Pilsner Urquell or Budvar. Mark

Response:

Hello to all out there.. I just brewed a nice strong red bitter from extract (more or less following a recipe from Papazian).  On a bit of a whim, I tossed in 1/2 pound of CaraPils for extra body and head along with a very small amount of roasted barley (for color) — both of these steeped in the water as it came to a boil.  Most sources I’ve seen say that CaraPils must be mashed w/other grains, but my supplier’s catalog (St. Pat’s of Texas) implied that this isn’t necessary, and that steeping in water as with other specialty grains is sufficient.  So who’s correct?  Can I expect improved head from this method, or will I have to learn partial mashing and buy new equipment? Email or post…  Thanks!

My understanding is that Cara-pils, or Dextrine Malt is a very light crystal malt, and therefore does not need mashing. There is a mash or not to mash crystal malt thread that may be applicable, but I’ve used both Crystal, and Cara-pils in many extract brews as an adjunct witout mashing it. Lately, I steep my adjunct grains by putting them in a separate pot of water, and slowly heating them up to 170F before sparging them in a sieve, so I guess that could be described as a poorly controlled mash. Bill Crick Brewius, Ergo Sum.

Response:

I may be wrong here but…cara pils in Britain means a light chrystal malt which can simply be steeped and used.  However, outside of Britain it is called dextrin malt and must be mashed to attain the body in beer.   If your homebrew store said it was light crystal (and it tasted sweet and chewable) thats what it is.  IF is was hard and difficult to chew and not very flavorful or sweet, I would say it was dextrin malt. post a reply and tell us what it was like… jw

Response:

: I may be wrong here but…cara pils in Britain means a light chrystal : malt which can simply be steeped and used.  However, outside of : Britain it is called dextrin malt and must be mashed to attain the : body in beer.   This is getting interesting.  All CaraPils so labeled I’ve gotten here in the states is very hard, but Randy Mosher’s book has this to say about the two malts (Carapils-dextine and light crystal)… Light Crystal.  Adds unfermentable dextrins. Has distinctive nutty flavor. Often added to extract beers.  Good for pale ales, amber lagers.  No need to mash.  Partially premashed at roasting.  Soaked whole malt is heated to mash temps, held, then raised to roasting temps. Cara-Pils (Dextrine Malt).  Used in pilsners and other light-colored beers to give additional body.  Contributes no color.  No need to mash.   Similar to crystal malt but p rocessed in a way that does not darken the malt.  Adds richness to beer without adding color. Well, this makes it sound like the difference between the two is one of slight color and not much else.  What I can contribute from experiments I’ve done is that the hard, crunchy CaraPils malt, when mashed, produces a wort that has about a 30-50% attenuation limit. —

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