[MattyAHA]

i have never used chit malt and from what i gather its a malt used to improve head formation and retention without adding color and also contributes to conversion, will it ferment down bone dry for a bgsa or leave too much sweetness?

[hopfenundmalz]

It is almost raw barley. It is only sprouted for a day, then it has the rootlet removed, and is kilned. Starch is converted in the mash. You do get good head forming proteins.

I have used flaked barley as a work around not having chit malt. Some don't like flaked barley's flavor.

[dmtaylor]

I'm probably supposed to know what a "bgsa" is...?

Oh...... after expending a brain cell (goodbye), I figured it out.

Meh..... if you're mashing chit malt, you're going to get it all fermentable anyway.

In ANY case, if you want head, you need RYE.

[Robert]

Chit malt is a cheat.  When Germans really want to use raw barley as an adjunct, but also want to label a beer as conforming to the Reinheitsgebot, they essentially pretend to malt the barley but really don't.  Steep, wait a bit, dry, as Hopfenundmalz outlined. (The "chit" is the first nub that emerges at the beginning of germination.  As soon as that shows, the process is halted.  No actual modification takes place. )  It's sort of like the joke about waving a bottle of Vermouth over the gin and calling it a dry Martini. 

Using flaked barley, there will be no difference at all.  And as Dave implies, it isn't used to add body or foam, quite the opposite.  It is simply an adjunct to lighten body and flavor, same as rice and corn.  I think homebrewers got the mythical idea that raw barley contributes to body and foam because they heard that Guiness started to include it in their recipe in the1980s -- to serve as a lightening adjunct!  That's what it does, Guinness gets its foam from the nitro.

[denny]

IMO, the key to beer foam is in yeast and fermentation health.  Look at Duvel....about the best beer foam around and nothing but pils malt and sugar.  It's a BGSA....no need for protein laden adjuncts. 

[narvin]

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=9406.0

This is interesting, Drew thinks it's the hops.  There are definitely Belgian beers that do not seem to exhibit the great head you get with Duvel, especially the darker (less hopped) ones.  I'll agree that my hoppy beers have fantastic foam.

[denny]

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=9406.0

This is interesting, Drew thinks it's the hops.  There are definitely Belgian beers that do not seem to exhibit the great head you get with Duvel, especially the darker (less hopped) ones.  I'll agree that my hoppy beers have fantastic foam.

For once, Drew is right!  😁  But that's not the whole story.  I've posted the foam link many times before, but I'll do it again once I'm at my computer.