How do you create a beer with good head

[trustyrusty]

Some of you mention dry malt extract.DME and some mention dry malt wheat extract - Is that the same thing?


I have also read this Use foam-building ingredients such as wheat or unmalted barley . And someone also responded with wheat. But I am not sure how much (If I was making 23 lt (Beer kit). How can I add wheat to a kit beer, are there extracts, or a similar product I can add to the wort or should it be raw.

Also I think adding raw sugar to the bottle for conditioning seems to make a better head, more foamy, than the drops - is that right?

My beer is not going flat - there are bubbles - and there is a good head when I pour just not staying there. I have cleaned the glasses in hot water and no soap. They were previously washed in a dish washer. I also used the pink glass detergent they use in the pubs for some washes, not sure if there was a difference - but I might have to dry two methods of washing as see what is best.

Thanks

 

[seamad]

Dry malt is 100 % barley, Dry wheat is usually a mix of wheat and barley (65:35 ) Liquid wheat ( coopers ) is 50:50.

Edit: As to quantities ( these are rough as I don't brew with kits)
1. 250g carapils steeped ( in @ 1L 70-80 C water )
2. If you're adding 1kg of extra fermentables try 250g of dry wheat malt in the mix
3. Some beer styles would suit adding a tin of the coopers wheat if you want to use liquid extract.

You can't easily use wheat/fllaked barley as they require mashing

 

[trustyrusty]

Thanks - BTW in some brews I have used Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 - which has the light dry malt - is that not enough (I am waiting for them to condition properly, they say 2 weeks to be drinkable but I am waiting at least a month). In some cases I only used sugar not brewing sugars. That could be an issue?

Thank you,

 

[manticle]

Malt will give a better head than dextrose or white sugar. Wheat, hops and or carapils will all help with better head formation and retention (on top of any benefit malt brings).

 

[Winny]

I just added 250grams of malt to this brew , I have zero retention however so caraphils sound like the go

 

[manticle]

Beer is generally mostly made from malted barley so see that as a base to build on rather than an additive.

 

[TehCrucible]

+1 for steeping CaraPils grain. Its so cheap and easy. The beer in my profile pic was a simple kits and bits with CaraPils and it kept that head, with nice lacing. I think I took that photo at just over two weeks in the bottle. 250g, crushed. Steep in ~ 70° water for half an hour, strain, boil and then add to fermenter.

 

[trustyrusty]

+1 for steeping CaraPils grain. Its so cheap and easy. The beer in my profile pic was a simple kits and bits with CaraPils and it kept that head, with nice lacing. I think I took that photo at just over two weeks in the bottle. 250g, crushed. Steep in ~ 70° water for half an hour, strain, boil and then add to fermenter.

Looks good Thanks - One thing I have noticed in my bubbles - they seem more like lemonade bubbles - size and speed up the glass, and sometimes I do find you can have a little taste of gas in the head. Would the carapills,malt etc help with that?

 

[manticle]

Yes. There's a few good articles around on what is responsible for foam formation and retention. Proteins and dextrins are the main culprits - carapils provides the dextrin part.

I'll try and hunt up some reading for you.

Start with the attached pdf.

View attachment 07 - Beer foam.pdf

 

[Adr_0]

Manticle mentioned it before, but make sure your glasses are clean and you're not eating pizza then putting those pizza lips on your glass.

I throw a few spoonfuls of sodium percarbonate into the dishwasher (glasses only) and put it on a glass cycle. They come up a treat, see below:

I might be cheating as this is an all grain beer: 60% Weyermann pils, 40% Weyermann vienna, 64°C for 45min and 70.5°C for 15min. Gently transferred into fermenter (no sloshing) and into a glass washed with sodium perc and drip dried. That was a photo after about 3min (took a while to sort out my camera).

Definitely agree with steeping some carapils (5%?) and some dried wheat extract if you can get your hands on it. And clean glasses. Did we mention clean glasses? As manticle also mentioned - it's like the guys knows his stuff... - hops actually helps head retention too. I thought it was mostly dry-hopping, but I'm sure that hops in the boil will help too. Anyway, nothing stopping you dry-hopping with extract: use a hop bag, soak in sodium perc, rinse, soak in Starsan, add your hops then chuck it in after a few days of fermenting.

Sodium percarbonate is readily available, cheap, and is unbeatable for cleaning fermenters and glassware. It's probably not the best for copper/brass as it's a solid oxidiser. It's an essential cleaner in any home brewery.

 

[elcarter]

What time are we aiming for this phenomenon that is head retention? I remember "sort of" at the Heineken brewery it was said you should have finished your beer in 120 seconds before the foam dissipated and your beer was spoiled. I though it was out of the tap but I digress.

If mine lasts for more than 60 sec great.

If not I've probably made a bad beer because it lasted 60 secs.

Just my personal opinion but if this is you final piece of your beer jigsaw puzzle and you have absolutely nailed everything else you could in that beer than your far wiser than most. Particularity me - not hard.

I just feel as though there are far more important facets of beer craft than how long the head foam molecules hang around while your too busy ogling your beer than drinking it.

Or maybe I haven't had enough head and just in a shitty mood?

All for bettering your beer craft but I think far to many get hung up on appearances than the substance. Feels as though this is throughout society as a whole these days.

 

[Adr_0]

Yeah, you're right... then again I was going to comment about yeast and temperature and all that, but this hobby/habit you pick up bits and pieces of information all over the place, and sometimes one or two things bug you and you can find some answers here. Who are we to say what's the most important thing about somebody else's homebrew?

 

[elcarter]

Internet keyboard warriors armed with conjecture and misinformation?

I certainly didn't want to discourage the pursuit of head. " pun intended " but I've seen big breweries put $ into grain crop modification for the the elusive head. I just wonder what for? advertising?

I don't care that my beer head on my first war font pour fills half the glass with foam or that my second pour looks perfect for 30 sec before it dissipates but you and others might.

My point is to just put a little perspective that some may want to look at water quality, recipe formulation or temp control before worrying what 100g of steep of carapils will add to a 90+% extract brew fermented at ambient 30 deg with bakers yeast.

 

[manticle]

Many other things to worry about but head adds to texture and aroma as well as appearance and anyone who thinks texture, aroma or visual appearance of a food or drink is irrelevant has their arse in their elbow.

 

[Goose]

I don't care that my beer head on my first war font pour fills half the glass with foam or that my second pour looks perfect for 30 sec before it dissipates but you and others might.

Maybe, but you should, I cannot persevere with a beer with no head and when they have been undesirably created they have not had the honour of human digestive processing...

If a beer has no head, I believe conventional wisdom means that it is incomplete.

 

[stewy]

500 grams Wheat DME works a treat. Excellent head retention & doesn't effect flavour at all. Either that or steep 250g Carapils

 

[superstock]

A quick squirt into the bottom of the glass with a sand blaster to create nucliated glass and just about every beer will have a head.

 

[dicko]

ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1426149975.271636.jpg I just added 250grams of malt to this brew , I have zero retention however so caraphils sound like the go

Mate, without being critical of your glass cleaning procedure....that glass is filthy.

The bubbles on the sides of the glass are nucleation points that are brought about by small particles of foreign matter causing the C02 to come out of solution.

There are a couple of great topics on this forum on the cleaning of beer glasses if you want to have a bit of a search.

Cheers

 

[Winny]

Mate, without being critical of your glass cleaning procedure....that glass is filthy.

The bubbles on the sides of the glass are nucleation points that are brought about by small particles of foreign matter causing the C02 to come out of solution.

There are a couple of great topics on this forum on the cleaning of beer glasses if you want to have a bit of a search.

Cheers

Matw your spot on there , that
Glass was filthy , that happens when the mrs cleans them and puts in the cupboard haha

 

[trustyrusty]

Yes. There's a few good articles around on what is responsible for foam formation and retention. Proteins and dextrins are the main culprits - carapils provides the dextrin part.

I'll try and hunt up some reading for you.

Start with the attached pdf.

thanks