MissionBrewer
Active Member
I was drinking my first home brew beer over the weekend, and I've realized, there's no head! It seems to be carbonated but...no head. Is head related to carbonation? What's the problem? Thanks!
No head?
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I brewed 3 full batches that had no head with normal pouring yet they tasted like beer and were carbonated. If I poured aggressively they would form a head but it would be gone in 30 seconds. With lots of questions and some hard thinking I traced it to my method of washing bottles. I had washed them with Oxiclean in one sink and rinsed them in the other before sanitizing and filling. I needed to rinse them more as that little bit of Oxiclean left after a single rinse was killing the head.
If any of your process has soap residue, there will be no head. Wash your glass and rinse it twice or more. Glassware is the single most common reason for poor head/head retention. If you wash your beer glass in the dishwasher and it has something like Jetdry or a spotless drying agent, that will kill head too. Hand washing with good rinsing is your only recourse in that case.
If any of your process has soap residue, there will be no head. Wash your glass and rinse it twice or more. Glassware is the single most common reason for poor head/head retention. If you wash your beer glass in the dishwasher and it has something like Jetdry or a spotless drying agent, that will kill head too. Hand washing with good rinsing is your only recourse in that case.
OP
OP
MissionBrewer
Active Member
Ahhh. Yes. I used the cheap sanitizer that came with the kit. The guy at the home brewery place told me not to do that but I'm kinda broke. I tried to rinse well, but I plan to go with the no-rinse sanitizer next time.
Schumed
Well-Known Member
Depends on the type of brew too..what recipe did you use?
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MissionBrewer
Active Member
Umm...it's a stout. came in a box from the beer wine and cheese store near my house--do you need to know the whole recipe? I don't have it here with me.
Bubbles2
Well-Known Member
Stouts are not big on head like being married for a long time Badoom tshhh.. LOL anyhow as mentioned YES oxi left over will indeed not allow good head....Gotta rinse good....
However usually if there was soap the bottles (are you bottling?) would have not carbed well either...
Now if that was NOT it, the recipe as mentioned there is recipes that will use wheat to get better head retention and other ingredients as well as mash rests....I know you have a kit, so your DME or LME is your Mash sorta, then you prob had a sock and two pounds of crushed grain too? That will give the opportunity to add flavor to the Base but if you watch your heat temps before getting to 170 you can hold it and get a better amylase rest G' it.
Lastly, it also could be short cool down time, where you are getting to your beer too soon 1-2 weeks conditioning, and then only waiting till they are cool not good penetrated co2 as in 24hrs in the fridge.
So if you expound on your posts, kinda hard when you are new and not knowing what is pertinent or not, we can help better and more narrowed down.
However usually if there was soap the bottles (are you bottling?) would have not carbed well either...
Now if that was NOT it, the recipe as mentioned there is recipes that will use wheat to get better head retention and other ingredients as well as mash rests....I know you have a kit, so your DME or LME is your Mash sorta, then you prob had a sock and two pounds of crushed grain too? That will give the opportunity to add flavor to the Base but if you watch your heat temps before getting to 170 you can hold it and get a better amylase rest G' it.
Lastly, it also could be short cool down time, where you are getting to your beer too soon 1-2 weeks conditioning, and then only waiting till they are cool not good penetrated co2 as in 24hrs in the fridge.
So if you expound on your posts, kinda hard when you are new and not knowing what is pertinent or not, we can help better and more narrowed down.
Lefou
Danged rascally furt
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Properly carbonated, higher gravity beer will sometimes show a different personality when it's consumed at room temperature.
Using a nice clean glass, pour a sample of your warm stout and watch to see if it gives any indication of bubbles and a persistent head. Oils from the hops will be more likely to form bubbles with the protein compounds in your beer when it's warm - and you never know, you may even like a room temperature, heavier dark ale to drink when the seasons change.
I do.
Then again, I'm one of those weirdos who drops a slice of lemon in a mug and pours a light lager over ice cubes on occasion. Some commercial shandy/Radler beers can be too sweet for me (cough cough "Porch Rocker"). Poured over ice you will notice even the lightest of beers can give a ridiculous amount of foam, but it's usually temporary as the CO2 bubbles away, leaving a lighter, less alcoholic drink behind.
Adding ice and a citrus wedge increases surface area and gives more nucleation points, so you get a quick, temporary foam.
Using a nice clean glass, pour a sample of your warm stout and watch to see if it gives any indication of bubbles and a persistent head. Oils from the hops will be more likely to form bubbles with the protein compounds in your beer when it's warm - and you never know, you may even like a room temperature, heavier dark ale to drink when the seasons change.
I do.
Then again, I'm one of those weirdos who drops a slice of lemon in a mug and pours a light lager over ice cubes on occasion. Some commercial shandy/Radler beers can be too sweet for me (cough cough "Porch Rocker"). Poured over ice you will notice even the lightest of beers can give a ridiculous amount of foam, but it's usually temporary as the CO2 bubbles away, leaving a lighter, less alcoholic drink behind.
Adding ice and a citrus wedge increases surface area and gives more nucleation points, so you get a quick, temporary foam.
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+1 for the washing techniques. I had the same problem until i switched from cleaning with dish soap to soak/ rinse with pbw.
Also, you can add flaked oats/ flaked barley/ carapils to increase head without affecting flavor (much)
Also, you can add flaked oats/ flaked barley/ carapils to increase head without affecting flavor (much)
WiSilverBrewer
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Soap has never touched my beer glasses and they have never had anything but beer in them. Finish drinking, rinse with hot water, let dry, ready for the next one.
Holy 7 year old thread!!
WiSilverBrewer
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Im not only talking about drinking glasses. Anything that touches beer (boil kettle, mash tun, fermenters, siphons, kegs, bottles, buckets, etc.) That had been washed with dish soap would be a problem.
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I'm with you. I drink em, hot rinse, let dry, then use PBW in the dishwasher, sanitize then bottle rack before filling.
I usually do have some head on my brews but some fizzle out faster than others. If it taste good, drink it.
