Making a good head that maintains to the end

[trustyrusty]

Hi there,

Home brew kits … how do you make a beer where head is like a commercial beer. Glass has rings on it, and lasts till the end. I have used grain pack with carapilis in before , I think that helped.. I generally use BE 2,
Any ideas — or is it all grain the only way….? I have beer with Nottingham yeast - seems better - do yeasts make a difference? Does light dry malt help?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Hi there,

Home brew kits … how do you make a beer where head is like a commercial beer. Glass has rings on it, and lasts till the end. I have used grain pack with carapilis in before , I think that helped.. I generally use BE 2,
Any ideas — or is it all grain the only way….? I have beer with Nottingham yeast - seems better - do yeasts make a difference? Does light dry malt help?

Have a look at this video.

 

[MHB]

Foam on beer (FOB) is a very complex set of interactions. Anything by Charlie Bamforth is worth paying attention to.
Here is another good bit of info.
One of my favourite sayings is that “Everything ends up in the glass”. You need to pay attention to everything from your ingredients including your water, look at your processes, cleaning...
Mark

 

[trustyrusty]

From what I read - in summary

More malt, ie light dry malt, instead of BE2? As in proteins
More hops, steeped in
And maybe cold crash before kegging

Just need something simple to do for home kit brewer.

As I wrote this op post I was drinking beer with light dry malt which was better

Thanks

 

[AzzA68]

Mangrove Jack's Big Head Powder, works well with highly attenuated beers I find. It's technically a cheat but it does work quite well. Doesn't alter taste and maybe adds a little mouth feel, to very thin diet beers but that's very subjective.

 

[Paleman]

Ive found using Gladfield Gladiator Malt in my all grains has helped quite a bit. You can use it in your extract brews as you would Carapils.

Ive found the Gladiator Malt to be much more effective than Carapils, not sure why, but it is.

 

[dmtaylor]

Rye, and wheat. But mostly rye.

Carapils is worthless.

 

[trustyrusty]

Rye, and wheat. But mostly rye.

Carapils is worthless.

So how do you add, do you steep the grains and then add to kit wort?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

So how do you add, do you steep the grains and then add to kit wort?

Steep overnight in cold steeping, or steeping in 76C or thereabouts for 20 minutes. But remember to take into account the steeping liquor when working out your volume.

 

[dmtaylor]

So how do you add, do you steep the grains and then add to kit wort?

I'm not in Australia, but I know here in the USA, we can purchase rye or wheat extracts. Look for that. Otherwise, if all you can get is the malt or the flaked... skip the flaked, use malt, and you MUST do a mini-mash by crushing and steeping at around 67C for at least 30 minutes, keep only the liquid, add your extract, and brew as normal. I know you are a kit brewer, and possibly afraid of mashing, but truly the mash is just a glorified steep with slightly more specific parameters, nothing too rocket science about it. (67C is not a typo. 76C would be a little too hot for a proper mash, that's the very edge of where you can go and still "mash".)

 

[trustyrusty]

we can purchase rye or wheat extracts

I actually thought I got a good result from using light dry malt instead of Brew enhancer like coopers BE2 - ? Im not sure of the ingredients in a light dry malt?

"Light dry malt extract is an extract of malted barley. Malt extract adds more body, flavour, malt character, head retention and mouthfeel to extract beer kits. Also known as DME or LDME. Light dry malt extract contains approximately 3% water by weight while liquid malt extract contains approximately 30% by weight."

malted barley?


We can buy wheat extracts - have not seen rye.

 

[bradmcm]

I actually thought I got a good result from using light dry malt instead of Brew enhancer like coopers BE2 - ? Im not sure of the ingredients in a light dry malt?

Yes, generally speaking the higher percentage of malt you use the better the head retention will be. The more sugar you have in your brew, the less residual protein, and the head won't last as long.
From memory, BE2 is 50% malt, 25% matodextrin and 25% dextrose. I'm sure someone can correct me.

And yes, dry and liquid malt is a 100% barley mash unless otherwise noted.
Use more DME, maltodextrin or dry wheat malt in your kits.
Hops also help, so if you like, you can make a hop tea and add the liquid to the fermenter.
Like Bamforth notes, make sure your glassware has no detergent residue (I clean with washing soda) and your beer has good carbonation level.

 

[terminal2k]

From memory, BE2 is 50% malt, 25% matodextrin and 25% dextrose. I'm sure someone can correct me.

BE2 is 50% dex, 25 malt, 25 malto.

BE3 is 50% malt, 30 dex, 20 malto

 

[bradmcm]

Thanks Terminal. It's been a while since I've used the "brew enhancers".

 

[trustyrusty]

Hi

Update using just malt as adjunct - coopers 500 gram - seems to have a better head.
that with a cup of sugar to make up the drop in sugar content.


Has any tried the MR BEER

Mr Beer Unhopped Malt Extract - Golden (250g)​

Only a couple of bucks from coopers

Designed to maximize the quality of your beer by improving mouthfeel, flavor and head retention.




It might help??

Thanks

 

[dmtaylor]

I get excellent head from some extracts. I think it's worth a shot. Good call, @trustyrusty.

 

[Vini2ton]

Try a tin of Coopers Wheat malt extract or even better, do a mini-mash of wheat malt.

 

[trustyrusty]

Do you think yeast helps, a mate uses Nottingham yeast and seems to be good in any brew but also uses Coopers BE3 - so could that too?

 

[AzzA68]

Do you think yeast helps, a mate uses Nottingham yeast and seems to be good in any brew but also uses Coopers BE3 - so could that too?

Yeast may help, to some degree:

Nottingham yeast attenuation is 78-84%, that basically says it leaves behind 16-22% of the sugars that are in your wort. More sugars left behind means a thicker FG and usually more head (protein also plays a role, but we'll ignore that here).

So, if you used a higher attenuating yeast, say 90%, you end up with a thinner beer with an FG closer to water @ 1.000... so there's less potential for any dissolved sugars to make good foam.

If you added alpha amylase enzyme to your wort, to make a diet beer, you get an FG under 1.000... 0.998 or so... that means it's basically coloured water with a tiny bit of protein and no sugars left, and the alcohol being lighter than water averages the FG to be thinner than water. Tastes good, is less fattening, but won't hold a head for more than a few seconds.