Carbonation and Head Retention

This seems like a topic that must have already been covered in great detail. However, I can't find it.
I'm still fairly new to brewing I've done about 9 batches and I'm still doing partial mashes. I've begun to pay closer and closer attention to the carbonation and head I get on each beer. Almost all my beers have carbonated fine (except for one messy exception) but the head seems to be made of too large of bubbles that pop very quickly and after only a couple of minutes my beer has no head at all.
One thought is that it has to do with how I'm carbonating. I generally add corn sugar into the secondary, allow it to sit for about 45min or so, to allow it to mix in evenly, then I bottle.
I'm wondering if maybe carbonation with malt would help. Or if it's something completely different. What are the factors that control the density of a beers head?

thanks in advance for any help

how do you clean your bottles? PBW is supposed to be good for keeping head on a beer.

I generally run them through the dishwasher and then sanitize them by baking them in the oven at 200 or so. I let them cool and bottle.

Running your bottles through the dishwasher is enough to sanitize them on its own. In addition to clean bottles, pouring into a clean pint glass that is free of dirt, scale, grease, and detergent/soap is key. As far as recipe formulation goes, a lot of partial mashers and all grainers use a little bit (like 1/2lb per 5 gallon batch) of wheat malt, flaked barley, or dextrin malt to help with head retention.

Yeah, a lot of factors play into head retention. The amount and types of malts used, the fermentability of the wort, the type of priming sugar used or your method of force carbing. The cleanliness of the glass you pour in. I am sure there are otheres too.

brewjack said:

I generally add corn sugar into the secondary, allow it to sit for about 45min or so, to allow it to mix in evenly, then I bottle.

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Give this a read. How to Brew - By John Palmer - Bottling Day

Also, if your dishwasher has an antibacterial cycle, you don't need to bake them. If not, putting them in the dishwasher is pretty useless. It won't clean the inside of the bottle. Even if you're using the dishwasher to sanitize, they have to be clean before they go in.

Better yet, clean them with OxiClean and a bottle brush. Rinse them with StarSan before bottling.





Edit:

frolickingmonkey said:

Running your bottles through the dishwasher is enough to sanitize them on its own.

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This is not true if your dishwasher doesn't have the proper cycle for sanitizing.

So, I've used a few different techniques when it comes to sanitizing my bottles. I generally run them through the dish washer just to clean them right after I drink a beer. Then, I'll store them and get to them later on a bottling day. On bottling day, I will normally just bake the bottles, to sanitize them. Or, alternatively, I'll run all my bottles through the dishwasher with the heated dry setting on and bottle from there (I use this technique when I don't have enough prewashed bottles around).
I may be wrong, but I don't think this is a problem with my sanitation technique for the bottles. Because I AM getting enough carbonation. The problem is that the bubbles are making a very loose head on my beer.
Is it possible that the Whitflock tablet I'm using to clear my beer during the brewing process is a problem? I'm wondering because I saw someone mention protein in a related thread.

I have used whilflock and still managed to have sizable head. You may think about your recipes. Are you adding carapils or wheat or any other grains to help with head retention?

Btw, I also use the dishwasher for my bottles and have had no troubles. Just make sure you're running it without any detergent.

I've only done three batches, and the third one isn't carbonated yet, but for what it's worth, I don't think the problem is due to using corn sugar to carbonate. My first batch was a Munton's Bock kit - no added grains or hops, and did not use Whirlfloc or foam control drops - had no head retention at all, even though it was well carbonated. The second batch was a Sierra Nevada clone mini-mash from AHS, with 2.5 lbs of 2-row and 10 oz. of Crystal 60 and hops. I used Whirlfloc and six drops of foam control on this one and have great head retention. This one was dry-hopped, the first one wasn't. Both were primed with corn sugar. All other factors were the same - bottles washed in Oxyclean, rinsed thoroughly, allowed to dry overnight, then baked at 350 F to sanitize.

thanks guys, the link to the brew wiki was especially helpful. I'll try and keep all of this in mind for my next beers.