Anyway, my only bugbear is the head retention is non-existent, so what are the main causes of that? I know I could Google it but it's a while since I've been on here so I thought I'd ask
Head retention
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clarets7
- Piss Artist
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
- Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Head retention
OK, I'll admit it's been a hard last two years or so, and my brewing has left a lot to be desired - disorganised and random would about sum it up! I've brewed quite a few beers in that time and been disappointed with quite a few of them. It's meant I've ended up with a large selection of bottles of various brews, forgotten in the darkest corners of the house. However, every cloud has a silver lining, I had to resort to digging some out and trying them, and been pleasantly surprised! I was a bit dubious about them as I don't like strong beers, so most are in the 3.7% to 4.2% range so I wasn't sure they will have kept that well, but obviously my sanitation regime must at least have been ok...
Anyway, my only bugbear is the head retention is non-existent, so what are the main causes of that? I know I could Google it but it's a while since I've been on here so I thought I'd ask
Anyway, my only bugbear is the head retention is non-existent, so what are the main causes of that? I know I could Google it but it's a while since I've been on here so I thought I'd ask
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Head retention
Dirty glasses.
Beer is my drug of choice.
I don't need anger management classes, I need people to stop pissing me off.
No beer, no fun - know beer, know FUN!
Carrots may be good for your eyes but alcohol is better as it gives you double vision!
I don't need anger management classes, I need people to stop pissing me off.
No beer, no fun - know beer, know FUN!
Carrots may be good for your eyes but alcohol is better as it gives you double vision!
Re: Head retention
Clarets7...
The residue of washing up liquid will kill your beer head, always wash glasses up first and then rinse glasses in clean water after they have been washed. Never put glasses in a dishwasher unless it has been dedicated to glasses alone.
The residue of washing up liquid will kill your beer head, always wash glasses up first and then rinse glasses in clean water after they have been washed. Never put glasses in a dishwasher unless it has been dedicated to glasses alone.
Beer is my drug of choice.
I don't need anger management classes, I need people to stop pissing me off.
No beer, no fun - know beer, know FUN!
Carrots may be good for your eyes but alcohol is better as it gives you double vision!
I don't need anger management classes, I need people to stop pissing me off.
No beer, no fun - know beer, know FUN!
Carrots may be good for your eyes but alcohol is better as it gives you double vision!
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Eric
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2918
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:18 am
- Location: Sunderland.
Re: Head retention
A beer always looks better with a good head, at least those of us up North think so.
The brewing of beer is a relatively simple process when compared with the number and complexity of chemical and biological reactions necessary to make good beer. It is an almost enigmatic process, yet allows disciplined brewers to produce excellent brews without knowing every aspect of that process. This does however, lead to publication of conflicting and sometimes misleading information about the whys and wherefores of brewing good beers.
The major ingredient of beer is water, which needs to be compatible with the grains it will mash. If not, the resultant beer won't be perfect in all aspects. Well made beer will head naturally when served as it should, and might not when not.
The head is more usually supported first by gas, frequently CO2, but also including air and its major component Nitrogen. Very lightly carbonated (good) beer will head well when served through a beer engine, and almost flat (good) beer with a sparkler fitted.
Soluble proteins help the head to stay in place. Proteins are extracted from grains during the mash and the protein content of grains will largely depend upon the variety and the conditions in which it was grown. Wheat contains more protein than barley, so some brewers add wheat for a better head, but a good heading beer can be made without wheat and even with less protein with flaked maize addition, and/or with invert sugar with virtually none. Crystal malts are known to impact head keeping, but not so severely to warrant avoiding them.
I don't know, but do wonder, if the current trend to shortened mashes influences the amount of protein extracted, but surely is worth a consideration. Do we mash solely to convert all starch present to the very first kind of sugar it happens to be? A traditional duration mash will extract all the protein necessary to provide a fabulous lasting head. However, that isn't the end of the job as there are both soluble and insoluble proteins. Insoluble ones cause haze and don't help the head. Boiling can separate those two.
This is where the rolling boil plays a major part, when the insoluble protein particles collide and stick together to make hot break. Hot break is not that which floats to the top of the wort as it comes towards the boil. This can (which I do) be scooped off before the boil proper begins. Hot break is that like small pieces of scrambled egg, that floc together during a vigorous boil to afterwards drop out and be filtered by whole hops, or with pellets, be whirlpooled to keep in place. I cannot make a whirlpool work for me.
Some proteins are soluble at higher temperatures which, with the aid of copper finings, will combine and form cold break as the wort approaches fermentation temperature, so the boiled wort drops bright.
Don't rush the mash and keep the heat in your kettle for a decent boil is my advice.
The brewing of beer is a relatively simple process when compared with the number and complexity of chemical and biological reactions necessary to make good beer. It is an almost enigmatic process, yet allows disciplined brewers to produce excellent brews without knowing every aspect of that process. This does however, lead to publication of conflicting and sometimes misleading information about the whys and wherefores of brewing good beers.
The major ingredient of beer is water, which needs to be compatible with the grains it will mash. If not, the resultant beer won't be perfect in all aspects. Well made beer will head naturally when served as it should, and might not when not.
The head is more usually supported first by gas, frequently CO2, but also including air and its major component Nitrogen. Very lightly carbonated (good) beer will head well when served through a beer engine, and almost flat (good) beer with a sparkler fitted.
Soluble proteins help the head to stay in place. Proteins are extracted from grains during the mash and the protein content of grains will largely depend upon the variety and the conditions in which it was grown. Wheat contains more protein than barley, so some brewers add wheat for a better head, but a good heading beer can be made without wheat and even with less protein with flaked maize addition, and/or with invert sugar with virtually none. Crystal malts are known to impact head keeping, but not so severely to warrant avoiding them.
I don't know, but do wonder, if the current trend to shortened mashes influences the amount of protein extracted, but surely is worth a consideration. Do we mash solely to convert all starch present to the very first kind of sugar it happens to be? A traditional duration mash will extract all the protein necessary to provide a fabulous lasting head. However, that isn't the end of the job as there are both soluble and insoluble proteins. Insoluble ones cause haze and don't help the head. Boiling can separate those two.
This is where the rolling boil plays a major part, when the insoluble protein particles collide and stick together to make hot break. Hot break is not that which floats to the top of the wort as it comes towards the boil. This can (which I do) be scooped off before the boil proper begins. Hot break is that like small pieces of scrambled egg, that floc together during a vigorous boil to afterwards drop out and be filtered by whole hops, or with pellets, be whirlpooled to keep in place. I cannot make a whirlpool work for me.
Some proteins are soluble at higher temperatures which, with the aid of copper finings, will combine and form cold break as the wort approaches fermentation temperature, so the boiled wort drops bright.
Don't rush the mash and keep the heat in your kettle for a decent boil is my advice.
Without patience, life becomes difficult and the sooner it's finished, the better.
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clarets7
- Piss Artist
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:56 am
- Location: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Re: Head retention
Nitro Jim - believe me, dirty glasses are not the problem in this case
Eric, thanks for that always good to go back to basics sometimes. I'm considering going back to a small three vessel system, I just liked that more than the shiny all in one system I bought a few years ago. A two gallon setup will do me fine, I don't drink as much at home as I used to anyway. I've got enough brewing stuff lying around I'm sure I can knock up a suitable system without too much expenditure. The last brew I did was only 8L, and that was mashed at a grain to water ratio of 1kg/2.5L, and mashed for 90 minutes, should be ready to try in a week so I'll update then. From memory though I didn't do a particular vigorous boil
Eric, thanks for that always good to go back to basics sometimes. I'm considering going back to a small three vessel system, I just liked that more than the shiny all in one system I bought a few years ago. A two gallon setup will do me fine, I don't drink as much at home as I used to anyway. I've got enough brewing stuff lying around I'm sure I can knock up a suitable system without too much expenditure. The last brew I did was only 8L, and that was mashed at a grain to water ratio of 1kg/2.5L, and mashed for 90 minutes, should be ready to try in a week so I'll update then. From memory though I didn't do a particular vigorous boil
"The paradise of the rich is made out of the hell of the poor" - Victor Hugo
Re: Head retention
This will be no help whatever to you, but ages ago when I used to brew from kits I made a beer that had a decent head but didn't taste great. A few bottles got left for months without being touched until I ran out and had one in desperation lol. Weirdly, although very well carbonated, none of them produced the slightest trace of a head. It was like pouring coke from a bottle - loads of bubble rising, but no head.