Great Head Retention

[RabMaxwell]

Head formation & retention my the last few brews i have done have had great head formation & retention lacing the glass all the way down. I often add PGA powder to help but haven't been using recently. The beers have had Pale Crystal Roast Barley & some times Flaked Maize. I haven't been using grains like wheat & carapils ect that are best for head retention. The only differences i have been using lately is using Isinglass & Dry hopping. The head retention is almost as good as my nitro beers. Any idear what it is . Cheers

[maxashton]

I'm not an AG expert, so i may be off the mark, but i think flaked maize helps head retention, doesn't it?

I think i read that on byo.com

[mysterio]

Hops are supposed to contain compounds which aid head retention. I'm not sure if these are extracted by dry hopping but I don't know.

[maxashton]

then of course there's PGA, which does nothing else.

[shiny beast]

One of the best heads you'll ever see is on a glass of Duvel. It only contains Pils malt and candi sugar

[mysterio]

It's also usually served in an etched glass and carbonated to 4 or 5 volumes of CO2

[louthepoo]

I was going to put a new thread on this subject but while its going i'll ask here.

How do you get a good head and retain it? my heads last approx 1 minute then dissapears! the beers taste nice but just look crap!

[moorsd]

I believe good head retention is due to a number of factors, the main one being the viscous nature of dextrins which enclose the Co2 bubbles and therefore stop the foam from collapsing.

Most of the products that are formed to aid head retention are formed at the end of the mash, so short mash times and high PH can result in poor head retention. Using fresh High AA% hops can apparently help?

I've found that my beers gradually improve head retention over time as they mature (it's one indication I use to see if it's still "Green")

One other factor is poor rinsing of glasses leaving a residue of detergent, this will destroy the head on a beer in no time!

Other factors can be the amount of dissolved Co2, which can also change depending on the temp the beer is served at!

[SteveD]

Any grease will also kill head retention, so if you drink beer while eating chips, don't complain if the head disappears. Grease on chips > your mouth > your glass > bye bye head.

Be careful when vaselineing your barrel cap seals.

Hops. Complicated things. They contain substances which aid head retention and also oils which simultaneously hinder it.

Glutinous grains like flaked barley help. Guinness, for example.

[Frothy]

You get no head in plastic glasses certainly.
Good head is a mixture of Protein & Dextrins. I read that flaked Barley adds a great deal of protein to a stout recipe which gives it good head retention.
Mixed gas gives a better head as the nitrogen bubbles are much smaller than co2, I was asking Rab about how to use mixed gas earlier

Frothy