Head retention and lacing

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Head retention comes from multiple things. types of grains (like caramel and wheat) and mash temp are the only ones I can think of now. Lacing in your glass comes from having decent head retention and most importantly a clean glass. Oils and dirt on the side of the glass can kill the head retention and destroy lacing
 
Head retention comes from multiple things. types of grains (like caramel and wheat) and mash temp are the only ones I can think of now. Lacing in your glass comes from having decent head retention and most importantly a clean glass. Oils and dirt on the side of the glass can kill the head retention and destroy lacing

^this. if you're an extract brewer you can add specialty grains like crystal or carapils, or specialty extracts like wheat to aid in head retention. for AG brewers it's a matter of mashing at the appropriate temp. the head can also be affected by carbonation levels.
 
Thanks guys! My glasses are clean (least I think so), but before I pour beer into them I always give them a quick rinse with tap water.

All of my brews to date have been extract (just finished my first all grain a few days ago) and the only two that had excellent lacing and head retention were my Paulaner Hefeweizen and my pumpkin ale.

What temperature in mashing seems to produce good head retention?
 
FWIW, things like jetdry in the dishwasher will kill the head of a beer too, even if the glass is clean.
it really depends on the recipe you're mashing. and what else you're trying to get out of your mash temps. generally, the warmer the mash, the more dextrines are in the wort. dextrines lend to head retention, thus the use of crystal(dextrine) malt to aide in head retention.
 
FWIW, things like jetdry in the dishwasher will kill the head of a beer too, even if the glass is clean.

This is so true. I discovered this by accident a couple of years ago when trying to suss out why I had the same stout producing a different head in similar glasses.
 
Unless your doing all grain the mash temp won't really come into play. Specialty grains used for partial mash already have their sugars converted so they only need steeped but if you steep some of the caramel or wheat malts that we mentioned it should help.

An easy way to check for dirty glasses is to pour a commercial beer into your glass and see if bubbles form on the sides. Dirt in glasses creates nucleation sites and bubbles will form there
 
Well I don't use jetdry in my dishwasher.

When I brew all grain, should I add something into my mash or will mashing itself using the specified grains listed in the recipe produce the same effect?
 
You can try a little wheat malt or carapils in your mash to boost head retention. More protien, more head. Like I say, hops also add head retention.

Will adding the extra grains/malt effect the flavor? Obviously, hops would.
 
If you use a little carapils you'll not get much flavour change. It would be an experiment to see if you would notice any difference or not, but I bet you wouldn't. Your all grain grist really should provide all the head you need anyway provided you mash right. Adding extras to boost the head is a bandaid approach, but it works.
 
I just brewed up my first all grain batch a couple days ago, so I'll have to wait a while to see how it compares to extract.
 
Clean all your beer glasses by hand, and do not rinse them out with tap before you pour your beer. I bought two new glasses and have been hand cleaning them, the head on my beer is amazing, lasts the whole way and a quick swirl really picks up the head.

But more along the lines of everyone else: carapils, maltodextrine, etc. Longer aging leads to a better head too IMO
 
Calichusetts said:
Longer aging leads to a better head too IMO

I agree. When bottle conditioning waiting that extra week or so has a huge impact on not only flavor but the over all quality of beer. That definately includes head retention
 
I stumbled upon this video and I found it works really well for cleaning out a beer glass.
 
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