[fredthecat]

There are a couple of brown ales where I have had chronic problems, and when I have added 8 oz chit malt I have had great results.

i get great head consistently now on every beer, but i made a brown porter recently and it has the weakest head of any beer i can recall making.

why brown ales? is this a thing among them?

[RC]

Carapils is indeed useless. It does nothing. Flaked oats also do nothing, at least when they are whole. When I use flaked oats/wheat, I pulverize it to a grits-like consistency (not to flour). Then it does add some heft to the beer.

To each their own, but why flaked oats in a west coast IPA? It's out of place in this style.

Hmm.. I'll take note. I wasn't sure if I should run the oats through the mill with the rest of the grist, or if it would even matter. Might have an interesting result. They do seem to add a slicker mouthfeel to the beer, or is that the Maris malt? This is the only recipe I have which uses Maris.

As far as the style, I don't have much insight into the reasoning behind the recipe it's just one off the internet that I made once and really liked. I'm not too much into the nuances of each style. In the end if my beer doesn't come out crappy, I'm happy

You can run flaked anything through the mill but it won't do anything; they will just fall the rollers mostly untouched. You can certainly go with the approach where, if you like it, don't change it. Nothing wrong with that. But it's useful to try different things. Consider using just the base malts and see how it turns out. Adding 5-10% vienna or munich malt can also add a nice touch to a west coast IPA.

[denny]

Carapils is indeed useless. It does nothing. Flaked oats also do nothing, at least when they are whole. When I use flaked oats/wheat, I pulverize it to a grits-like consistency (not to flour). Then it does add some heft to the beer.

To each their own, but why flaked oats in a west coast IPA? It's out of place in this style.

Useless for what?

[denny]

I followed the herd and stopped using details for many years. Recently I thought I use it in some stuff to see what I thought these days.  I've kept using it in certain styles because I feel like it adds body and some flavor.

[RC]

Carapils is indeed useless. It does nothing. Flaked oats also do nothing, at least when they are whole. When I use flaked oats/wheat, I pulverize it to a grits-like consistency (not to flour). Then it does add some heft to the beer.

To each their own, but why flaked oats in a west coast IPA? It's out of place in this style.

Useless for what?

For adding body and head retention. I figured this didn't need to be said given that these are the purported benefits of carapils.

[Richard]

Most West Coast IPAs have enough hops to give them great foam and head retention without needing any boost from Carapils.

[RC]

I've kept using it in certain styles because I feel like it adds body and some flavor.

Could be expectation bias. Have you ever done a side by side with it?

[Megary]

I followed the herd and stopped using details for many years. Recently I thought I use it in some stuff to see what I thought these days.  I've kept using it in certain styles because I feel like it adds body and some flavor.

This interests me.

How much %-wise do you add to get that noticeable outcome?  Do you mash it or steep it?  I also find it interesting that Briess specifically states that CaraPils does not influence color of flavor.

https://www.brewingwithbriess.com/products/carapils-malts/

[denny]

Carapils is indeed useless. It does nothing. Flaked oats also do nothing, at least when they are whole. When I use flaked oats/wheat, I pulverize it to a grits-like consistency (not to flour). Then it does add some heft to the beer.

To each their own, but why flaked oats in a west coast IPA? It's out of place in this style.

Useless for what?

For adding body and head retention. I figured this didn't need to be said given that these are the purported benefits of carapils.

I find it adds body and flavor.

[denny]

I've kept using it in certain styles because I feel like it adds body and some flavor.

Could be expectation bias. Have you ever done a side by side with it?

Yes, I have.

[denny]

I followed the herd and stopped using details for many years. Recently I thought I use it in some stuff to see what I thought these days.  I've kept using it in certain styles because I feel like it adds body and some flavor.

This interests me.

How much %-wise do you add to get that noticeable outcome?  Do you mash it or steep it?  I also find it interesting that Briess specifically states that CaraPils does not influence color of flavor.

https://www.brewingwithbriess.com/products/carapils-malts/

I mashed it.  Have to check on %.  Brewed back to back WCIPA with and without. I found that the one with had "something" the other didn't.

ETA: checked on the 3 recipes where I've used it recently.  Looks like amount was about 3-4%.  Other than that there was only base malt in the recipes.

[Joe_Beer]

If you are looking for improved head retention, according to the horse's mouth, either should help.  I've had success with using both Torrified Wheat and Wheat Malt for this purpose.  At least I believe it has helped, having never tried a with wheat/without wheat experiment.

Good luck and keep us posted as to what you do and what the results are.  Cheers!

Will do. Lot's to think about now . Thank you for your insight!

[Joe_Beer]

I'm sober now.  I still have the same opinion. 
If you want better foam and/or body, you need to use RYE.  Chit malt would also work, but I prefer rye.

I did like Denny's Wry Smile, and the head retention was outstanding. Actually, the whole beer was outstanding. It was such a different brew than what I've been doing I'm not sure I can attribute any one thing to the head retention. The yeast smelled like grape candy for instance...

I'd suggest you brew the beer without it this time to see for yourself before adding in a new variable. 

That's an interesting idea too. I hadn't really considered leaving it out. I guess I'm not sure just how much of a difference some of the smaller adjunct additions actually make. Small amounts of crystal malt always seem to darken things up considerable but understandably, not all grain is the same as crystal.

[denny]

I'm sober now.  I still have the same opinion. 
If you want better foam and/or body, you need to use RYE.  Chit malt would also work, but I prefer rye.

I did like Denny's Wry Smile, and the head retention was outstanding. Actually, the whole beer was outstanding. It was such a different brew than what I've been doing I'm not sure I can attribute any one thing to the head retention. The yeast smelled like grape candy for instance...

I'd suggest you brew the beer without it this time to see for yourself before adding in a new variable. 

That's an interesting idea too. I hadn't really considered leaving it out. I guess I'm not sure just how much of a difference some of the smaller adjunct additions actually make. Small amounts of crystal malt always seem to darken things up considerable but understandably, not all grain is the same as crystal.

The foam retention in that beers, and indeed most IPAs, is from the hops.