The Happy Two Can

[theMISSIONARY]

Well after reading about peoples toucan brews i had to do one

Black rock "dry lager" + cascade "golden harvest lager"

with BE2 + 200g of LDM

but i only used the one yeast satchel that came with the Black rock.......maybe i should have used both

any way i left it for two weeks(at 17-20 degree's) to get the SG down from 1055 to 1020 when i bottled

it tastes fine to me after a month and a half in the bottles strong taste not to bitter.......but not much head(and no one like no head) some fizz but no head aaaahhhh

i am using PET bottles 740ml im thinking Glass would be the go so i can leave it for more that six months still its tasty

any advise for better head retention would be appreciated

Cheers Steve

PS i should get some reports back from my work mates(guinea pigs) one said it was nice but the taste was too strong

 

[buttersd70]

theres an article here

Although, with the ingredients you have in here, you should have good head retention. Its got lots of malt, high fg, would have a fairly high amount of alphas.....
Many of the boxes are ticked. I'd be looking at 2 things. Carbonation and glassware.
Glassware, obviously is a factor. detergent kills head, as does residual grease
carbonation...too much fizz can break the head up quickly as a result of surface tension. Too little carbonation, and the head will not form in the first place, or will form with course bubbles that break down easily.

Try doing a straight pour into the glass, about 2cm worth. Swirl the glass to form head on it, let it stabalise and then pour normally. If it holds its head when you do that, it is undercarbonated, and is not releasing enough co2 from solution to replace the co2 breaking free from the head itself.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

thanks mate

i did notice that when i swirled the last 200 odd ml in the bottle and poured that it headed up well in the glass but went away with in a minute but was still fizzy that seems to be the problem

i primed the bottles with Dex the heaped tea spoon.....

hmm i will have to do another batch at some point and do better next time

 

[theMISSIONARY]

so (im a noob be nice) you can ditch the DEX and just use a liquid malt to do the job of the DEX??

 

[Brewtus]

If the beer fizzes when poured but the head disperses quickly but the beer still bubbles then it maybe a/the glass needs a good clean or b/there is some sort of fat or detergent in the beer. This maybe for cleaning the pots, fermenter, bottles or other equipment the beer was made in or something in the ingredients.

My fizzy but flat beers usually are fixed by cleaning the glass in hot water with proper brewing detergent from the LHBS.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

ah the joy of cleaning just the right way

i will keep that in mind for the next one thanks

 

[buttersd70]

so (im a noob be nice) you can ditch the DEX and just use a liquid malt to do the job of the DEX??

The short answer is yes. Beer is made from malt, dextrose is made from corn.
It's not quite as simple as just swapping one out for the other. have a read in the new to brewing and kits and extract sections here

steve, my immediate gut feeling is glassware, same as brewtus. If its still fizzy after swirling, it's not undercarbed. But if the bubbles in the glass are excessively active, if it's really working, and throwing up lots of bubbles, like a freshly opened can of coke, then it could be that it's overcarbonated, and that will cause the head to disapear quickly too. Or it could be a combination of both.

First step is to clean the glass in hot water pref with brewing detergents. If you dont have any handy, wet a paper towell with white vinegar or lemon juice, and give the glass a vigorous wipe out, then rinse well with hot water, and allow it to drip dry.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

Thanks all i think its the glass also its not as fizzy as a coke so its more cleaning

 

[buttersd70]

No worries. You can tell if the glass is 'beer ready'. If you rinse it, then turn it upside down, the water should run out and leave no beads of water at all.