
No Head
- pas8280
- Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
- Posts: 735
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:05 pm
- Location: Hindley Green near Wigan but far enough away for it to count :)
No Head
I bottled my brupacs brewers choice old ale 18 days ago using 50g sugar disolved in water added to bottling bucket. I wanted to wait longer but i have just cracked the first bottle there was i little woosh but not much and no head ? (admittedly it has sat in the fridge for a day) It tastes ok will it get better as it ages as in more head or have i not used enough sugar or even worse messed up somewhere else ? 

The Hollyhop Brewery 100 litre stainless
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Re: No Head
Did you add sugar along with the kit when you were making it?
- pas8280
- Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
- Posts: 735
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:05 pm
- Location: Hindley Green near Wigan but far enough away for it to count :)
Re: No Head
Yes 1k of spray malt in addition to that in the kit, just finished that pint very drinkable just lacking tiny bit of fiz with the taste ?
The Hollyhop Brewery 100 litre stainless
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
- floydmeddler
- Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
- Posts: 4160
- Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
- Location: Irish man living in Brighton
Re: No Head
The spraymalt should help produce a decent head. However, 50g of priming sugar isn't a lot so I'm guessing that's where the problem lays.
Presuming you bottled 23L, 50g of sugar will only give you around 1.4-1.5 volumes of carbonation. I usually shoot for around 1.8 volumes for ale.
Use this calculator to help you: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipa ... 697156#tag
When pouring, let it dribble (from a height) into the bottom of the glass for the first 5-8 seconds then pour as per normal. This may create a head that will hopefully last. Works with my stouts which are lowly carbonated.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Presuming you bottled 23L, 50g of sugar will only give you around 1.4-1.5 volumes of carbonation. I usually shoot for around 1.8 volumes for ale.
Use this calculator to help you: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipa ... 697156#tag
When pouring, let it dribble (from a height) into the bottom of the glass for the first 5-8 seconds then pour as per normal. This may create a head that will hopefully last. Works with my stouts which are lowly carbonated.

Hope this helps somewhat.
- pas8280
- Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
- Posts: 735
- Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:05 pm
- Location: Hindley Green near Wigan but far enough away for it to count :)
Re: No Head
Cheers Floydmeddler will try your tip on my next bottle going to try and leave it another week though and thanks for the calculator i had a little nagging feeling there might not be enough sugar but i suppose better that than exploding bottles though !!
The Hollyhop Brewery 100 litre stainless
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her - W.C. Fields
Reality is an illusion caused by lack of alcohol - anon
Re: No Head
Always worth rinsing your glassware off thoroughly so no trace of detergent is preventing head formation. FWIW I regularly use 200g of priming sugars/malt to bottle 23 litres of beer (not for English ales but usually for Belgian beers) and never had a bottle bomb. Touches wood. That's using Cobra bottles too which aren't the sturdiest by a long chalk (about 2mm thick compared to Grolsch at 5mm) though I leave a fair head space in there and still take the precaution of having them in wooden boxes during secondary fermentation.