How to get good head?????

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MashStirBrew

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O.K, get your mind out of the gutter. I'm the step before a noob, meaning I still haven’t taken the plunge into brewing. Just research and drool so far. Although a few of my buddies are brewing. Anyway, I have noticed that some beer has a nice creamy, frothy head to it, while some have a more bubbly style head. Is it the type of yeast that is responsible for this, or is it the type of priming sugar, (DME, corn sugar, honey, etc)? Or is it just a matter of pouring technique? :rockin:
 
Many Many things including types of specialty grains, extracts, etc... Certain spec grains like Dextrin are used for head retention.
 
Glasses are important : Set aside a glass (or a pile of them!) just for beer. Never use soap on them. Just rinse with hotwater. never put milk in them. This will help the head.
 
Ok for real....

They sell "head powders" that supposedly help out...wheat also helps in head retention...

Study hard and you'll make good beer!
 
A sixer of homebrew oughta do just fine....Sorry Uhlee, I couldn't resist either.
Starts with the malts,then priming,finishes with co2 and serving temp--higher psi co2 and lower temps keep the carbonation in the liquid until it meets room temp. then the co2 is released thus resulting in the"head " that we HBr's all look for.just my 2c. Shane
 
Style with a lot of wheat or some oatmeal generally have good head retention. The very creamy head seen on some stouts is commonly due to the use to special gas blends and restrictive taps.

I've had good luck with stouts by using champagne yeast to finish them.
 
Soap was mentioned above, make sure the glasses are rinse off well, but they do need to be clean well because small oil residues will break down the head quickly. There are some adjuncts you can add to your brew that help get better head. Also, jewelry helps.
 
yeah, you definately want to use soap to wash your glasses. You put your lips on the glass and you lips contain oils and all sorts of bacteria. Just rinsing doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
I wash my glasses in hot soapy water, rinse in hot water then rinse again in cold.

Same here. My glasses, no soap.

House guests usually get the glasses washed with soap, rinsed very well.

If any of you guys came over you'd get a very very clean glass washed w/o soap and lots of hot water, rinsed with cold water.

:tank:
 
Ok, so basically cleaning and sanitizing my drinking hardware the same way I would clean my brewing hardware. I would have never thought of that. I did look through Midwest’s catalog and came across a few of the grains and adjuncts that you guys mentioned. Thank You Brew masters, if I would have posted this ten years ago I could have had swmbo giving me,…err…ahh, pouring me a beer with good head all this time. I will be sure to pass the info on. :mug:
 
There are some don'ts:

Don't use fat based adjuncts.
Don't use oil based adjuncts.
Don't use warm OR frozen glassware.
Don't sanitize poorly (goes without saying?).
Don't make her pay for dinner...sorry couldn't help it.
 
$20 and the right part of town. Rule of thumb....if the hooker is hot, its probably a cop. Oh, and make sure to add a little flaked wheat for your head.:mug:
 
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