Author: Jake Huolihan

In addition to good flavor and aroma, a truly great beer will also possess quality foam when poured and a good body, both of which contribute to the overall character of beer in their own ways. In addition to making a beer look gorgeous, a good head serves as a sort of olfactory delivery system, each burst of a tiny bubble carrying with it desirable aromatics. A beer’s body, which is generally determined by the style, not only influences the way a drinker experiences the beer in their mouth, but also impacts the extent to which the flavor lingers on the palate. The discerning brewer looking to craft world class beer has various options available including certain process variables, such as mash temperature adjustment, as well as ingredients marketed specifically for this purpose.

Weyermann describes CaraFoam as a 2-row Caramel malt roasted to about 2 °L that improves a beer’s foam quality, head retention, and body. While it’s recommended CaraFoam make up 5-10% of the grist to achieve the intended effect, it can apparently be used at up to 40% without causing detriment to the beer. As a proprietary product of Weyermann, little else is known about what goes into producing CaraFoam. While many believe it to be interchangeable with Briess’ Carapils malt, others have claimed that in addition to its benefits on foam and body, CaraFoam also imparts a desirable flavor to beer. My curiosity piqued by the results of our recent Carapils xBmt, I designed a new xBmt to learn more about the impact CaraFoam has on beer.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a beer made with CaraFoam and an otherwise similar beer made without CaraFoam.

| METHODS |

I went with a delicate German lager for this xBmt in order to allow any differences in flavor or aroma caused by the CaraFoam to shine through.

Spume

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 36.7 IBUs 3.6 SRM 1.052 1.015 4.9 % Actuals 1.052 1.014 5.0 % Fermentables Name Amount % Weyermann Pilsner Malt 9.75 lbs 81.25 Carafoam 1.25 lbs 10.42 Acid Malt 1 lbs 8.33 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Saaz 45 g 60 min Boil Pellet 1.4 Hallertau Magnum 15 g 60 min Boil Pellet 14 Saaz 35 g 20 min Boil Pellet 1.4 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Super Special (Ü) Bootleg Biology 72% 46°F - 70°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 54 | Mg 2 | Na 46 | SO4 45 | Cl 55 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

A day before brewing, I made large starter of a super secret mystery yeast from Bootleg Biology that would be split between the batches.

With the starter on a stir plate, I collected my grains for a morning brew the following day and paid closer attention than usual to the way the un-milled CaraFoam looked. Not much different than Pilsner malt, to my eyes.

I woke up early the next day and filtered the entire volume of water for both batches, adjusting each to the same profile. While the water was heating, I weighed out and milled the grains.

I mashed in on the CaraFoam batch 20 minutes after starting the batch without CaraFoam and was pleased to see both hit the same target temperature.

I let the mashes rest for 60 minutes, giving each a stir every 15 minutes before removing the grains.

The worts were then boiled for 60 minutes with hops added at the times stated in the recipe.

At the completion of each boil, I quickly chilled the wort to 64°F/18°C, a little warmer than my groundwater at the time.

Hydrometer measurements confirmed both batches were at the same target OG.

Each wort was racked to a sanitized Brew Bucket and placed in my fermentation chamber to finish chilling to my desired pitching temperature of 48°F/9°C.

Once the worts were stabilized at the same temperature the following day, I evenly split the starter between the batches then hit both with 90 seconds of pure O2. Fermentation kicked off within hours. I let the beers ride for a week before bumping the temperature up to 54°F/12°C to encourage clean-up of any potential off-flavors. Hydrometer measurements taken another week later indicated both had reach their expected FG, the CaraFoam predictably a little higher.

At this point, I transferred the beers to kegs without cold crashing or fining with gelatin.

The filled kegs were placed in my cool keezer where I let them lager for 3 weeks on gas, at which point they were clear, carbonated, and ready to serve.

| RESULTS |

A total of 23 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 2 samples of the beer that did not include CaraFoam and 1 sample of the beer made with CaraFoam in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the sample that was unique. While 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, only 9 (p=0.35) were capable of doing so, indicating participants in this xBmt were not able to reliably distinguish a beer made without the use of CaraFoam from one where it was included at the recommended rate.

Since CaraFoam is marketed as a product intended to positively impact foam quality and retention, which are things we don’t ask participants to evaluate, I filmed a timelapse of each beer after being poured in a way to produce equal amounts of foam.

Beer Made Without CaraFoam

Beer Made With CaraFoam

My Impressions: Over multiple semi-blind triangle test attempts, I simply could not consistently select the unique sample and ultimately resorted to guessing every time. To me, the beers were identical not only in flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel, but appearance as well– I couldn’t even tell them apart when served to me in clear glasses, the foam looked exactly the same on both.

| DISCUSSION |

Being that CaraFoam is a product specifically marketed to brewers as an ingredient to improve foam quality and head retention, the fact tasters couldn’t reliably distinguish a beer made with this malt from where it was left out while it also had no noticeable impact on foam surprising and, at least for me, somewhat disconcerting. Considering the non-significant findings from our previous xBmt on CaraPils, it would seem these popularly used dextrine malts aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

What gives? Why haven’t we been able to produce the effect these malts are supposed to produce? Giving the maltsters the benefit of the doubt, I dug into some brewing science and came up with a couple possible explanations. Brewers of today have available to them highly modified malts that allow for high mash efficiency without the use of a step mash, a method that’s known to degrade proteins, proteins that contribute to a beer’s foam. It seems plausible that using a small percentage of dextrine malt such as CaraFoam when step mashing might serve to counteract this protein degradation and thereby improve foam quality.

Another thought I had has to do with the use of dextrine malts by brewers relying on malt extracts. Again, it seems plausible that the process used to make extract in some way strips the malt of its foam producing potential, which a dose of CaraFoam or Carapils replaces.

Additionally, like most brewing ingredients, dextrine malts are marketed primarily to large scale breweries who often rely on adjuncts such as rice and corn, which possess lower amounts of foam positive proteins. Perhaps using a relatively small amount of dextrine malt contributes the necessary proteins make up for the adjuncts shortcomings.

As for me and my brewing, these findings along with those from the previous Carapils xBmt have influenced my decision to stop using dextrine malts. I’ve brewed many batches without the use of dextrine malt that have had fantastic foam, and I know plenty of others in the same boat, so it seems pointless to me to spend more on a specialty grain that doesn’t produce the intended effect. To each their own.

If you have thoughts about this xBmt, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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