Head Retention

[Daveee]

Well most of my beers lack good head retention. When I pour them I get a great head, although it is not that "thick". And it fairly quickly dies down.
But I do get bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass.

How can I increase head retention?

 

[nicko]

detergent kills head.

so clean your glasses with really hot water, should help immensly

 

[Batz]

what are you brewing Daveee , kits ?

 

[Daveee]

Yerp, just using kits, with malt/good sugars, and some hops.

Good idea nick!

 

[Jazman]

it also makes a difference when you pour the beer correctly

 

[jayse]

steeping some light crystal grain will had to foam stabilty etc.
a part mash will do wonders.
bubbles rising from the glass??this shouldn't really happen that much with a good ale.visiable bubbles belong in v.b.
are your bubbles like big lemonade bubbles?same with the head huge bubbles?

back years ago i used to do everything to get a good head like clean cold glasses and pour well etc.now with real craft brew i can treat it as nasty as you like and it'll still give me a nice head.
it all comes down to mostly ingredients.

 

[RegBadgery]

Malted grain does wonders for head - malted wheat is also a winner. If you're brewing from extract, I wonder if adding some wheat malt extract may help?

cheers
reg

 

[Batz]

I agree with the others Daveee , but for an easy fix try some corn syrup , it's powered , and at all homebrew shops , just add 250 gm and try that.
Too easy
Grain steeping will come later

 

[johnno]

The best head I got on a homebrew was a Coopers Real ale made up with the CSR brewing sugar.
This was for me the best tasting beer so far as well.
Maybe i'm in the same category as the "now listen here, old timer" thread.
I do have other brews in the bottle and nearly ready for bottling where I have used "brew boosters" But I will have to wait to see how they come out.

 

[RobW]

Partial mash or steeped grains really improves the head. It's also interesting to watch the bubbles & head quality change as a brew ages. Initially the bubbles can be quite big but as the head gets creamier & tighter with age the bubbles get smaller. Related to vicosity changes maybe?

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Add 250 gms of Wheat Malt Extract to your kits for good head

TDA

 

[Trough Lolly]

I have my own set of glasses that are exclusively used for my brews (Dad's beer glasses!). I rarely ever put them in the dishwasher or the detergent in the sink - I just give them a good rinse at the end of the drinking session under really hot water, ie, flash scald them.

Not only detergent, but kids using the same glassware to make Milo and other milk based drinks can really kill the glass when it tries to release bubbles from the microscopic imperfections in the glass - but lets not get too techo here :lol:

I find that using Dextrose in the priming (either bottle or bulk) helps make a finer creamier head than normal white sugar, plus you tend not to get the cidery aspects to the white sugar.

Perhaps you need to make the kits a bit more robust - one can and a kilo of sweetener won't necessarily make you a brew you can stand a fork up in!! Once I got a bit more generous with my recipes, including the use of wheat malt, things really improved. I'm speaking from bitter experience here!

Cheers,

TL

 

[Jazman]

i use wheat malt in my mashes to help with retention and a bit more body and i tell you what i notice that i have has some old k+k and the difference between my extract kits and mashes is big i rather extract and mashes and to think i thought k+k was good

 

[Chatty]

Ok, maybe this is stretching the topic of this thread a little too far but - is it possible for dextrose to go 'off'?

I have been priming (individual bottles - what a pain in the arse) up till now and haven't ever really developed any carbonation in the 5 brews that i've bottled so far (apart from the first two which were bottle bombs!). I am using dextrose that came with the fermenter when I bought it and have added up to a full teaspoon to each stubbie (375 ml). even after a full 2 months some of them aren't carbonated.

Any thoughts?

Chatty

 

[PostModern]

Ok, maybe this is stretching the topic of this thread a little too far but - is it possible for dextrose to go 'off'?

I have been priming (individual bottles - what a pain in the arse) up till now and haven't ever really developed any carbonation in the 5 brews that i've bottled so far (apart from the first two which were bottle bombs!). I am using dextrose that came with the fermenter when I bought it and have added up to a full teaspoon to each stubbie (375 ml). even after a full 2 months some of them aren't carbonated.

Any thoughts?

Chatty

Possible causes:

• Bottles stored too cold (so yeast goes dormant)
• Dead yeast (boiled or killed by high alc volumes)
• Faulty seals or badly capped bottles

afaik, dextrose is a simple compound and doesn't denature over time if kept dry.

 

[johnno]

Has anyone ever used those beer froth drops or whatever they are called?
If so is ther any taste or are they ok.
Not that I would use them but I am curious to now.