Carbonating Bottles / Head Retention

[PhilA]

G'day all
I use BeerSmith recipes and AHB recipes but so far head retention has been a little weak and carbonation a bit low I rack after a week them bulk prime for 23ltrs 130gms is that to low I was thinking to increase to 180gms any thoughts ?

 

[staggalee]

G'day all
I use BeerSmith recipes and AHB recipes but so far head retention has been a little weak and carbonation a bit low I rack after a week them bulk prime for 23ltrs 130gms is that to low I was thinking to increase to 180gms any thoughts ?

you could try adding a couple of hundred grams of dry wheat malt to boost the head, or I`d be boosting the primer to 150g.
Or you could buy headmaster glasses for an instant cure but sadly that`s an old wives tale.

stagga.

 

[Frank]

G'day all
I use BeerSmith recipes and AHB recipes but so far head retention has been a little weak and carbonation a bit low I rack after a week them bulk prime for 23ltrs 130gms is that to low I was thinking to increase to 180gms any thoughts ?

If:
Phil Brew a Lager - Bulk prime 8g/L
Phil Brew a Stout - Bulk prime 6g/L

That's my priming regime and seems to work well. Also try adding a small amount of wheat, like Stagga suggested.

 

[PhilA]

Thank's I will try that ,what about wheat grain instead of wheat powder ?
would't make any difference yer?
cheers Phil

 

[Frank]

Thank's I will try that ,what about wheat grain instead of wheat powder ?
would't make any difference yer?
cheers Phil

Any wheat should do. Just don't get too carried away with too much in lagers and lighter styles. It's not hard for wheat to start to overpower and give fairy floss and lolly flavours. 100 to 200g in a 25L batch is where you should start. You could also have a go with using wheat as a bulk prime, from memory it should be plus 20% to the numbers I said for priming (with sugar) above.

 

[Stuster]

I'd say with head retention that it's not just down to carbonation. Coke has plenty of carbonation but no head, cask ales can have great head retention but no carbonation at all to speak of. What yeast are you using and what temp are you fermenting at?

 

[buttersd70]

agree fully with stuster, the style of beer, the yeast used, the adjunct used to prime, and the fermentation temperature all have a bearing on the head retention, and how much carbonation should be present.

The quality of the head will degrade if the carbonation is wrong, and its not just if it is undercarbed...overcarbonation will cause the head to die quickly as well (as is often seen in kegs...a large head that fades away, with no bubbles in the glass, cos all the carbonation gets knocked out on the pour).

In the case of temperature....a beer brewed at 24C will require 13g more dextrose (for 23L) to prime to the same rate as one brewed at 18C...thats a 10% difference.

I agree that using higher protien adjuncts will help with head retention in most instances, but I think it would be good to try to find the specific causes, and address them directly.

Can we have an example of a recipe, the yeast used, and the fermentation temps? And were you priming with dextrose or sucrose?

Edit...and what temperature the beer is when served.

 

[matti]

Most have been said already.
I find that carbonating with dextrose give fine head retention.
Have you tried a short protein rest or given the yeast some nutrition?
I Don't want to go to far away from the topic but a thicker mash and a proper mash out could help too.

How long do you leave your bottles?
They are better after 8 weeks and greater at 3 months.
I try to leave bottles at yeast temp for 2-3 weeks then in cool and dark space for another 6 weeks.

A little wheat or Carapils help too.

 

[PhilA]

Here's an example of a recipe (don't know how to send attactments ) I made and found a bit low on carb & head
6.00kg pils weyermann
.450gms Caramunich
.100gms Carapils
mash in 17.08ltr water @ 73.0c hold mash at 65.6c for 75mins
mash out add 10.93ltrs of water at 93.9c
hold mash at 75.6c for 10mins
drain mash tun
batch sparge 10.48 ltr at 75.6c
60 min 55gms saaz
40mins 55gms saaz
20mins 55gms saaz
saflager yeast
ferment 1 week
rack for 1 week
bulk prime 130gms dextrose
age a few weeks and sample
I age bottles at ambient temp same with fermenting and I havn't used a yeast nutrient .

 

[wambesi]

That sounds like a quick fermentation for a lager yeast unless you were doing at ale temps. What temp was fermentation at?

 

[buttersd70]

Oh, ok, we're in lager territory...certainly not something I know a hell of a lot about. But looking at the timeframes, from the few lagers I've done, it sounds like too short a period grain to brain...
last time I used a saflager yeast, I had sfa carbonation after 2, weeks, it was just getting there at 4 weeks. Also, if it was brewed at lager temps throughout, the amount of prime would be about right -ish, but if it came up for a diaceltyl rest, or if it was brewed at ale temps, there wouldn't be enough prime for a proper carbonation for a lager, due to the release of suspended co2 imho.

 

[Tao]

Bottle Priming Widget - A good link to have a look at.

 

[PhilA]

Maybe racking to soon but I wait till hydrometer reads around the 1012 mark , I ferment at my bar the temperture is a average 18 c most of the time if not colder that's Albany for you , so I may start using 200gms of Wheat in my next brew to improve head , and if I do 8gms per litre of dextrose in bulk prime that's about the same as I am already doing ,I might up it a bit
I'll give it a go
Cheers Phil :beer: