Lets talk about head...

When I pour a beer, I pour it into a pint glass so I can examine it's color, clarity and if it's my own, I want to see what kind of head retention the beer has.

I have a buddy who worked in an Irish Pub (in Seattle) and he was saying if a bar tender poured a beer that had an inch of head the patron (customer) would send it back. my friend was saying (with his limited knowledge of beer) that no one wants a head in there beer..

I honestly think I've only started caring when I started brewing.

How about you, do you like a good head (in your glass). would you be offended if you ordered a pint and it was served w/ a decent head on it?

does the head tell you anything about the beer?

Sounds like the pub needs glasses like this:

If it doesn't come with one to two fingers of head (give or take a bit) I'm sending it back. If that seems like an A-hole move, I can deal with that. I just expect to recieve what I pay for, and what I'm paying for is a good beer served properly.

If I order a bottled beer, it needs to come with a glass. Not a frosted mug, but a glass. If it doesn't, I'll ask for one. If I get snide remarks from the server, I'll take it up with the manager. If he doesn't take it seriously, I won't return.

I've drank in many Irish and British pubs and all of the beers, except stouts, I can recall being served had a head on them. I was told that the stouts are supposed to have as little carbonation as possible. When the PIG LIVE was open in Houston, they used nitrogen to drive stouts out of the kegs. - Dwain

L lama - what is your reason for a beer being a 'good pour'? I need ammo to combat my friend.

is this one inch rule an American thing? I thought it might be because a business can sell 12 ounces (give or take) in a 16 ounce glass, saving some money, while still serving a 'full pint' of beer?

Naw! A little head releases some CO2 gas making the beer more lively to the pallet. Also a decent head really helps to enliven the aroma.

When I pour a beer at home, I usually pour a 12 oz bottle into a 22 oz tulip glass the foam should reach the top. By the time the foam settles, the beer has risen a few degrees and is also much tastier for it. But that is at home. The bar owner could use larger glasses so they are serving a pint of liquid, or the patron could be content with a properly served beer. Unfortunately the majority of beer drinkers, are in it for the utilitarian side of the deal, there is more alcohol in a pint with no foam, vs. a pint with proper head.

Depends what you are drinking. I brew only bitter at the moment. The Northern English bitter has a head of maybe an inch (Except Boddies, they do their own thing) The Southern pint has little to no head.......I'm finding the little to no head thing with the correct carbonation one hell of a job to get right with homebrew.

Gnome- I don't understand. if you want less head, can't you just pour closer to the class?

So far, a reason for a decent head is to increase the CO2 to increase livelyness of pallete and aroma. Anything else?

You need more evidence, on top of increasing flavor and aroma?

I have an Irish Red Ale on tap right now and am getting little to no head. I have 12 psi and 3/16 i.d. beverage line. This has always produced perfect head on other beers. Any thoughts?

Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?

We don't have no beer, only tequila.
What's tequila?
It's like beer.

I'm when it comes to head, sometimes I like it, sometimes not so much.

In most situations, I prefer it if done properly.

However, if I'm at a pub or the ballpark where I'm paying for it each time, I can skip it in favor of more of the good stuff.

Anything else?

Click to expand...

It just looks better.

I like a good head on most of my beers. So much so that I often drink out of weizen glasses with the etched bottom just so I'll have a little layer of head all the way down the glass. I even take a scribe and scratch up the bottom of some of my non-etched glasses...with varying results.

I think an inch might be too much for me. If it's head in lieu of beer, you're getting shafted (see the Honest Pint movement), but in general I like a finger or two that settles into a thin lacing on top as you drink.

The solution is, as people have said, to serve the beer in a glass that's bigger than the amount of liquid you plan to put in it.