Mash thickness effect on head retention

**cubbies** · 03-11-2008, 03:10 PM

Does anyone know what, if any, effect mash thickness has on head retention? The reason I ask is a month or so ago I brewed up a beer and messed up my mash thickness. Everything else went fine on that particular brewday, and the beer is tasting mighty fine already, but there is 0 head retention. I mashed with 1.7 qts per pound (accidentally). I don't have the recipe in front of me, but I believe it was 6lb Vienna, 1lb Munich Dark, and 1lb Carapils. When you pour the beer, you get a pretty standard, .5"-1" head, but by the time you take your third drink, it is gone. And I mean gone gone, no remnants whatsoever. No Belgian lace, no head, not even a small ring of bubbles around the edge. I dont believe it is a carbonation issue. It has been in the keg for over a week, and you can see/feel/taste the carbonation; it is weird. The only thing I can think of that would have this effect would be the mash thickness.

malkore · 03-11-2008, 10:25 PM

I've never heard of water to grain ratio making any difference on the head retention.

I know that if you hold your mash at too low a temp, you'll denature the proteins that aid with head creation and retention.

If I recall correctly, that temp range is around 125-130F. It should only be done on under-modified grains that need some help.

Got Trub? · 03-12-2008, 03:27 AM

As Malkore said a protein rest will affect head and head retention. Mash thickness can have some minor affects on body but I'm not aware of it affecting head or head retention.

GT

**cubbies** · 03-12-2008, 01:09 PM

Yeah, that is basically what I thought. I mashed at 151, so there should be no denaturing of proteins at that level. I used a pound of CaraPils, so there should be at the very least some head. I am perplexed by this. The only thing that was any different from my normal brewdays is the mash thickness.

**TexLaw** · 03-12-2008, 02:07 PM

I've never really played with it, but I understand that thicker mashes tend to result in greater head retention due to higher dextrin production.

TL

**cubbies** · 03-12-2008, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexLaw

I've never really played with it, but I understand that thicker mashes tend to result in greater head retention due to higher dextrin production.

TL

So, using that logic, could we assume that a thin mash would result in less dextrins and therefore possibly very little, to almost non-existent head?

**TexLaw** · 03-12-2008, 03:25 PM

Yes, it will lead to fewer dextrines, but you cannot go so far as to say it will lead to an almost non-existant head. It just won't have as much head retention. If you depended on dextrines for your head retention before, then you would have little head.

TL

Blender · 03-12-2008, 03:31 PM

I have noticed the lacing and head retention gets considerably better after 2-3 weeks on the gas. At first the head is full of large bubbles and after another 2 weeks they are smaller, smoother and last much longer. I always mash at 1.25 per pound.

**Reverend JC** · 03-12-2008, 04:12 PM

Stupid question but:

Is your drinking glass clean?

**cubbies** · 03-12-2008, 05:58 PM

Yeah, my glass is clean. It has been washed in the dishwasher previously. I wash by hand mostly, but after 4-5 hand cleans I like to run it through the machine. However, I do that with all of my glasses, and I have gone through a handful of kegs at least, and this is the first time this has happened.