Brew the way I brew!

[jeffpn]

There’s been some turnover at my LHBS. There was a new guy working there today. I told him my grain bill, and when I told him a half pound of Carapils, he told me that’s for extract brewers, that it doesn’t do anything in the mash. He told me I should use Carafoam instead. Now that’s my specific instance, and please, if you want to speak to that, do so. But my question is of a more general nature. Why do some people push their preferences on other brewers? After I crushed the grains and was paying for them, he said he’s trying to switch everyone to carafoam instead of carapils. I told him of a guy in a home brew forum that I follow who is trying to singlehandedly destroy the candi sugar industry.

 

[BOB357]

There’s been some turnover at my LHBS. There was a new guy working there today. I told him my grain bill, and when I told him a half pound of Carapils, he told me that’s for extract brewers, that it doesn’t do anything in the mash. He told me I should use Carafoam instead. Now that’s my specific instance, and please, if you want to speak to that, do so. But my question is of a more general nature. Why do some people push their preferences on other brewers? After I crushed the grains and was paying for them, he said he’s trying to switch everyone to carafoam instead of carapils. I told him of a guy in a home brew forum that I follow who is trying to singlehandedly destroy the candi sugar industry.

Probably listened to a recent Brulosophy podcast that mentioned one of their exbeerments where they used carapils.

 

[Nosybear]

There’s been some turnover at my LHBS. There was a new guy working there today. I told him my grain bill, and when I told him a half pound of Carapils, he told me that’s for extract brewers, that it doesn’t do anything in the mash. He told me I should use Carafoam instead. Now that’s my specific instance, and please, if you want to speak to that, do so. But my question is of a more general nature. Why do some people push their preferences on other brewers? After I crushed the grains and was paying for them, he said he’s trying to switch everyone to carafoam instead of carapils. I told him of a guy in a home brew forum that I follow who is trying to singlehandedly destroy the candi sugar industry.

I resemble that remark.... But I agree. I'll advise anyone not to use candi sugar because there's a cheaper alternative out there. But if the person wants to use it, it's their money and their beer! Same should be true if someone wants to use Carapils. If there's a real reason to use Carafoam over Carapils (and I don't know of one), then it would be a good service to tell you about it. If not, well, I strongly suspect an upsell.

Dark candi sugar I can see buying. The light stuff, by that I mean the clear crystals, it's nothing but sucrose. Pennies a pound at the grocery store!

 

[jeffpn]

I did get the carafoam this time. I didn’t ask him for a detailed explanation, and he didn’t offer one, either. We’ll see how it goes. I bet I don’t notice any difference either way. I don’t even know which is cheaper.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

there are some people who just are set in there ways and think everyone should follow, I completely disagree with this ideology, people should find out for themselves what they like and each persons tastes are different

 

[Medarius]

Know the feeling, was talked into putting Maris otter in a hefe by LHBS , did not turn out well. I learned after that batch to just trust my own recipes.
Best resource I found for difference in caramalts is Weyermann® great simple graph on what each should give for flavor/head recommended amounts for diff brews etc

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

basically carapils is flavorless and colorless and thats why I like it, I do not use it for the sugar level just the body and head in a beer

from NB website
CaraFoam Malt Contributes the same to your beer as CaraPils does - body, etc - but with a slightly sweet flavor. A few breweries are switching to this malt in place of CaraPils. Definitely lends a more interesting flavor.

 

[jeffpn]

It was another employee a while back at the same LHBS who said he puts 1/2 lb of carapils in every recipe, for head retention.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

that's what I do, 1/2 pound per 5 gallons

 

[BOB357]

The one I remember from some time ago was a recommendation not to use Caramel/Crystal malts in IPAs. After some experimenting I find that I prefer using Munich or Vienna and a bit of malted wheat for head retention. I still use some Caramel/Crystal in Pale Ales, but always 40L or lighter. Most advice I take with a grain of salt, but willing to try things that make sense.

 

[J A]

I won't wade into the C-pils debate, but I think it's definitely presumptuous of a new guy to tell a regular how to brew. Maybe start a conversation about it, sure, but shouldn't automatically offer unsolicited critique to everyone who comes in the store.

 

[GFHomebrew]

same product but from different maltster. Gladfield sells theirs under a great malt name "Gladiator Dextrin Malt" who wouldnt want some of that in their beer eh.

yep i 4th that above statement "dont be swayed from your brew course from mere brew store talk theres a reason youve come to your conclusion so stick to ya guns my man!"

i also like wheat for head retention and body and employ dextrin rest on every mash.

 

[J A]

i also like wheat for head retention and body and employ dextrin rest on every mash.

That's my preferred MO, as well. Don't use much C-Pils at all, but I've had beers that could definitely use a little more body to them and wouldn't have suffered from a little addition.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

well I wish I could but I'm allergic to wheat so I have to use the carapils

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Sounds like he made a mistake when ordering and is trying to push it through his shop.
I find that pushing or making a strong recommendation on a product can be problematic.
Everyone's tastes and ideas are different, so when you do that and the end user isn't pleased with the results, it's the shop keeps fault. It may have nothing to do with the product and usually doesn't.
Most Maltsters have a variation of the same thing and Brewer's may find favor with 1 in particular, but from a freshness standpoint, it may not make sense for a LHBS to carry multiples of the "same" thing.
For example; I prefer Gold Medal all purpose flour for my Pizza Crust. Would Pillsbury work and be acceptable?
Cheers,
Brian

 

[Hawkbox]

I don't use Carapils at all these days, haven't seen any value in it. I might suggest people consider not using it at all to save some pennies but I certainly wouldn't push someone to go a different way if they wanted to do something.

I would probably present them some options to think about. I also am considerably more knowledgeable at this point than my closest LHBS but they focus more on wine and I just go buy grains and yeast from them. They don't pretend to be experts though either and tend to push the kits more than the grain, but they know me now and just laugh when they see me grabbing 50kg of grain to load in my truck.

 

[soccerdad]

As Yogi would say, "Nobody goes to that brew shop anymore. It's too crowded."

 

[KC]

Carapils is a registered trademark of Briess. Nobody else can use that term.

 

[Beer_Pirate]

Carapils is a registered trademark of Briess. Nobody else can use that term.

Not debating that they have trademaked it (quick google search says you're right and that nothing can legally be labeled or marketed in the US as Carapils or Cara-Pils except Breiss products), but that Weyermann link above says that Weyermann has it trademarked too. It's in all caps (CARAPILS) but I don't see how that isn't infringement.

Edit: Just realized that in the US Weyermann's product is called carafoam. Disregard all of the above ranting.

 

[KC]

Clarification: Nobody else can use that term in the US.

I do wish LHBS reps (and us as forum posters) can acknowledge there's more than one way. Eminence-based authority is way too prevalent in this hobby. The most helpful advice is to present enough useful information for someone to decide for themselves.