Lack of head

[sticksy]

so ive been brewing for a little while now, kit n Bits, and I keep having the same issue. I have stuff all head retention on my beers, what affects foam and retention the most, malt?

 

[stanko]

Lack of head
MMM Me to

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

If you are after head retention like a comercial tap beer then you are not going to get it.

There are many factors that affect the type of head you get from a beer.

Head retention is not an indication of beer quality.

 

[Gelding]

Head retention is not an indication of beer quality.

hmm, I beg to differ here. It is to me, big time.

 

[dicko]

Because you are using kits the mash work in brewing has already been done for you so if I were you I would be looking toward your glassware.
There are many topics on here on cleaning glassware but to cut to the chase, avoid dishwashing detergents.
What I have found successful is wash your glasses in a hot mix of unscented napisan and rinse with clean water then mix into approximately 3 litres of clean water, 2 teaspoons of Bi carb Soda and rinse your glasses in that and then into about 3 litres of clean water add 2 teaspoons of Citric Acid and rinse them in that solution, invert and let dry naturally in a clean environment.
My clean water is rainwater. Brisbane tap water is probably good.

Dont allow your beer glasses to be used for anything but your beer, milk and fruit juices can "kill" a beer glass.

I have used the dishwasher for cleaning glasses but I have run one of those cleaning capsules through the machine first. This removes any fats that may be present in the machine, then clean in the normal cycle. The capsules cost about $8 from memory and imo too expensive
My water is high in calcium salts here where I live and the result from the dishwasher is not as good as the above method.

Beer glasses that are stored near cooking operations, particularly frying of foods can be a problem, I store mine inside a cupboard away from the kitchen.

I might add here that the above method was given to me by Batz and everytime I pour a beer I mentally thank him for the info

 

[TimT]

Head and head retention in beer is not one I know much about.... though I'd like to. Nothing like supping a beer through a creamy foam*.

However, I find that the heads on my beer generally take time to develop - while a beer can be ready to drink in 10 days to two weeks, it's often about three weeks before a head really starts to develop. Head development seems to be a sign of an active yeast (so, some of my older beers have developed too much head).

I don't find the glasses have much to do with it.

My go-to brewing book (Strachan's 'Complete Guide to Beer and Brewing') also advises that the 'standard' Aussie way of pouring a beer - letting the beer fall onto the side of the glass and then slide diagonally down to the bottom - is wrong, and that the correct way is to let a little bit of the beer fall onto the bottom of the glass and then angle the glass diagonally so the beer falls onto the sides and slides down - to encourage a little, but not too much, head development. I think it works!

(Speculation: could head development occasionally occur because I use stubbies and not long-necks to bottle my beer - maybe higher pressure in stubbies?)

*You really can't escape the double entendres when talking about it, can you.

 

[Bribie G]

Sodium Percarbonate (half a cup chucked into the dishwasher and run it empty on heavy cycle) plus a normal tablet is a brilliant dishwasher cleaner outer.


I find glasses are very important indeed.

If you like a rocky head, try steeping 300g of Carapils, boil the runnings up for 15 minutes and add to brew. I find that my AG brews are usually extremely heady, in fact I often wouldn't mind less.

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

If you are after head retention like a comercial tap beer then you are not going to get it.

There are many factors that affect the type of head you get from a beer.

Head retention is not an indication of beer quality.

If your not up to steeping grains and your glass cleanliness is up to scratch, try adding 500g of maltodextrin to your next brew. This was effective for me when i brewed K'N'K.

 

[QldKev]

There are a few ways to help improve it. I also enjoy a great head on my beers.

Steep some Crystal or carafoam. -- This is not hard. Wack some in a swiss voile bag and throw it in warm water for 15mins will get you a long way there.
Decreasing sugar and swapping in dried malt extract -- you need more DME than sugar as DME will not fully ferment out, hence less sugar for alcohol, but more residual for body/head retention)
Maltodextrin that comes in Coopers BE2 etc is great as it does not ferment out
Addition of hops can actually aid in head retention
Glass cleaning practices. -- I put this last as I've found it can help, but to me is the least important factor. For the record all my glasses get washed in the dishwasher with no special rinsing.

 

[Gelding]

I also had issues when I started with K&K and bottled but were resolved when I went AG and kegged.

In addition to dextrines, I am led to believe that head foam and its retention are primarily to do with the amount of complex protein in the beer. They are residues that are part and parcel of the grain mashing process that do not find their way into K&K or extracts in the bulk manufacturing process. We could get into another large can of debate when it comes to head retention vs extent of malt modification, protein rests and the like. But not a good idea on this thread.

Therefore fully agree Kev's advice above, to get foam on K&K steeping or even a partial mash is the way. And it gets you one further step on the path toward AG as well.

 

[AndrewQLD]

All great advice above , a lot depends on the kit you are using as well, a mangrove jacks classic blonde dry has very little head unless pimped up with a some powdered corn syrup/maltodextrine, this kit is designed as a dry beer and the dextrines have been deliberately reduced to give the dryness which also reduces the head. Conversley a Muntons Brown Ale has a lot more dextrines left in during production and has a much better head.

In the end when brewing kits it pays to steer clear of the kilo of sugar or dextrose and look at using brew enhancers or brew boosters to give better body/mouthfeel and head retension, these contain dextrose, powdered corn syrup and dry malt in varying amounts and as pointed out above steeping crystal malts or doing a mini mash will help a lot.

 

[TimT]

Oh, and to get head the addition of a small amount of wheat to the mash sometimes gets mentioned... can't say this has always worked for me, though the last beer of mine I drank was an extremely frothy wheat beer that only settled down to ordinary head after five minutes. Not the most important part of a beer, definitely - but still nice to have. So I may follow a few of the tricks mentioned on this thread later.

 

[eungaibitter1]

I had the same problem for a bit mate and Qldkev's advice is spot on. Started steeping some crystal and using kilo ldme and the difference has been incomparable. Also tastier.

 

[BottloBill]

Tried just about everything from rolled oats in dark ales and stouts to carapils, wheat, crystal and the good old pour from height and slowly bring it back down to the glass to save some of the carbonation, all seem to have an effect to different degrees. I found that with the right combination of the above they go hand in hand.

 

[bradsbrew]

Big difference to achieving a foamy head and retaining that foam to lace the glass to the finish.
When talking K and K or bits you are best of using the enhancers as stated above and make sure your glass is clean, as above. When talking full mash you need to look at malts and mashing schedule to try and break the complex protein chains down.
If you want to learn more on the full mash side of head retention just type "Thirstyboy head retention" into the search engine at the top, choose google and you will find enough info/reading to fill your day.

Cheers

 

[sticksy]

wow lots of info. im actually going to be doing my first grain steep in my next brew. is it good to boil my hops in the water from the steeped grain?

ill be doing all malt with the kit too.

I dont think my pouring style is an issue (im a bar manager after all, haha) but glass care is an issue.

its all food for thought though!

 

[sticksy]

oh, I have a coopers pale ale kit for my next brew. any advice on the best hops and grains to pimp it? aiming for a hoppy pale with a decent malty backbone rather than a full on IPA.

 

[sticksy]

gelding and others who mentioned it: how hard is a mini mash and what sort of extra kit will I need?

any threads/websites I could get a beginners rundown on it?

 

[bradsbrew]

gelding and others who mentioned it: how hard is a mini mash and what sort of extra kit will I need?

any threads/websites I could get a beginners rundown on it?

Hey Sticksy, I live close, have some gear you could have(read free) to do a mini mash and show you how simple it is. Could even give you a kilo or two of fresh milled grain if it helps. If your up for a brewday you are more than welcome to come over and help with a brew. If you want to chip in for ingredients, about 15 bucks depending on brew, you can take a cube away.

Some good info here http://aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/43-partial-mash-brewing/


Cheers Brad

 

[manticle]

Have a look at brew in a bag tutorials, buy a small grain bag from craftbrewer or somesuch. It's not difficult to do but it does help troubleshoot if you understand what is actually happening with the grain.

Basically you will soak some cracked malted barley inside a small bag at a certain temperature for a certain time to activate enzymes that will convert the starch in the grain to sugar. You will then have the same substance you get when you add malt extract to water but fresher and homemade.

To this you add hops for bitterness and flavour and you will then have the same substance you get when you add a kit tin to water only fresher and homemade.

 

[manticle]

Or just go to brad's and watch how it's done.

 

[Gelding]

I think to witness an expert like brad in action is the best advice you could get.

May be worthwhile reading up mr Palmer on this, there is a difference between steeping and mashing that understanding may help you.

"Steeping differs from mashing in that there is no enzyme activity taking place to convert grain or adjunct starches to sugars. Steeping specialty grains is entirely a leaching and dissolution process of sugars into the wort. If grain with enzyme diastatic potential is steeped, that is mashing."


Mashing means not much more than soaking your grains in water of a known and controlled temperature so that enzymes can convert starches to fermentable sugars that works using enzymes as the catalyst. Steeping, is just a soaking process that pulls out solubles that add flavour and or body but does not involve enzyme activity.


Good luck.

 

[bradsbrew]

I think to witness an expert like brad in action is the best advice you could get.

Ha ha, very far from expert, but happy to show the basics of AG or even a partial compared to steeping.

Cheers

 

[sticksy]

Hey Sticksy, I live close, have some gear you could have(read free) to do a mini mash and show you how simple it is.

Could even give you a kilo or two of fresh milled grain if it helps. If your up for a brewday you are more than welcome to come over and help with a brew. If you want to chip in for ingredients, about 15 bucks depending on brew, you can take a cube away.

that sounds great! have to sort a free day to do it.
id definitely chip in the dosh for a cube of goodness too!

is an electric (glass top) cook top able to be used for this?

also, whats the smallest amount you can boil with?

thanks for all the info everyone too!!

 

[yum beer]

hmm, I beg to differ here. It is to me, big time.

You gotta be kidding, right.

Urquell, the juice of angels has practically no head to speak of.....

 

[Gelding]

I'm sorry, I could never describe a beer as yum or yummy ............ever.

And the Urquell pils that I have had in my travels have always had some head and lacing on the way down, less than an ale yes, but never nothing.

Thankyou, and goodnight.

 

[hellbent]

Hey Sticksy, I live close, have some gear you could have(read free) to do a mini mash and show you how simple it is. Could even give you a kilo or two of fresh milled grain if it helps. If your up for a brewday you are more than welcome to come over and help with a brew. If you want to chip in for ingredients, about 15 bucks depending on brew, you can take a cube away.

Some good info here http://aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/43-partial-mash-brewing/


Cheers Brad

What an offer!!!

 

[Donske]

that sounds great! have to sort a free day to do it.
id definitely chip in the dosh for a cube of goodness too!

is an electric (glass top) cook top able to be used for this?

also, whats the smallest amount you can boil with?

thanks for all the info everyone too!!

I used to use a boil volume of about 8 litres, an electric stove should be able to boil that easily enough, although I found a Primus camping stove done a much better job as far as time taken to get to boil went.

And definitely take Brad up on his offer, seeing how simple an all grain brew day is first hand had me taking the leap within a couple of days.

 

[lastdrinks]

I find flowers, a few nice words and doing some chores around the house helps a lot.

 

[pcmfisher]

Head retention? Lacing?

Never been able to get it much with kits, but have no problems with unhopped extract.

Hop oils maybe?



Also I keg my beer, which for me, improves both.