halister

Recipes 

Holy sh$t my beer turned out really good..I threw 4 in the fridge a few days ago and I'm sad to say all 4 went to a better place. I'm hooked I'm brewing a Boston lager this weekend..
The only issue is a smaller head than I hoped for. Nice pop when opening the bottle just smaller head.

halister

Recipes 

What would cause low head?

halister

Recipes 

So I did some research and so basically if you do a partial boil your never going get good head retention?

rifraf

Recipes 

Just cracked open my first brew this week and did a partial boil, head was pretty foamy/creamy on most of them. Here's a pic:



Didn't do anything special, just followed instructions straight from the kit.

EDIT: From what I've read, give your beers more time in the bottle. You may get a good pop/hiss but if the CO2 isn't actually in solution it wont bubble up the beer and create head.

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Yooper

Recipes 

No, you should have fine head retention. One thing to do is to make sure your glasses are "bar clean", and anything like Jet Dry in the dishwasher can kill head retention. To check and see how your head retention really is, you can make a salt water "scrub" for your glass by moistening a glass and then scouring it inside and around the rim with table salt. Rinse well, dry, and then pour a beer. I think the biggest cause of lack of head retention is the glassware, not the beer.

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NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

nope, a partial boil shouldn't affect the head of the beer. not letting them condition at room temp or not having them in the fridge for long enough will, though.

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Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
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halister

Recipes 

I brought the bottles back in room temp for 2 weeks and it has everything I like. I will try the salt scrub being the easiest and see what that does.

unionrdr

Recipes 

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NordeastBrewer77

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yeah, i do too, man. i've only made a couple beers that were 'ready' in under a month, and those were IPAs with a lot of hops that cover up the green flavor. i also like to fridge the beers until the chill haze is gone before drinking, i find they're much nicer, although that could be aesthetic.

Halister, definitely try cleaning your bar glasses with hot hot water and maybe some salt, like you said. i find even a poorly rinsed glass washed in a light dish soap solution can kill beer foam. also, keep in mind that not all your beers will pour a great head, or have great retention. i make a pale ale that i use no caramel in (based on JZ's recipe in BCS), i have a batch in bottles and a batch kegged, both pour a <1 finger head which quickly dissipates to just some soft bubbles. usually, a beer i keg will show a large head that sticks for the entire drink, but some recipes (like one without any crystal type malts) will not have good head retention.

__________________
The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Triple B, Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

halister

Recipes 

That's what mine are doing foam so so the goes away in a 5 count. I have 2 mugs soaking right now.
Do you think freezer would help?