Lace

Lace on the sides of a glass-- what is the significance of it?

A sign of good head retention. Generally a sign of a well-made beer.

Is it the quantity or duration of lace that is the measure of quality? And for the chemists out there, what causes lace?

Proteins in the beer are what contribute to head retention and what stick to the side of the glass.

The lace is also the sign of a clean glass. A dirty glass or one that has dish soap residue will not retain a head.

By "Lace", do you mean the kind-of diamond pattern of foam that sticks to the inside of the glass as the beer level drops?

Cpt_Kirks said:

By "Lace", do you mean the kind-of diamond pattern of foam that sticks to the inside of the glass as the beer level drops?

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Yes. Or sometimes web-like or spotty or rings, or...

It's not going to happen in all styles, but if you suddenly start getting lace on a beer that did not have it before, then you know you are doing something right.

"Schaumhaftvermoegen"

MBAA TechQuarterly ... 97ab09.htm
Improvement of foam lacing of beer

I found this most interesting:

"The average lacing area, in sq cm, of three identical samples constitutes the "SHV value" (stated to be derived from "Schaumhaftvermoegen", the German word for foam cling, although all the authors are Japanese). Beers with normal foam quality should have SHV values between 90 and 140 sq cm; a value below 90 indicates poor foam quality, while one above 140 is better than average."

It goes one with some fun brewing technospeak:
"Experiments showing the effects of variations in the brewing process on factors influencing foam quality, as indicated by the SHV value, are described, including the foam negative effects of lower mashing in temperatures and mash pH (which can produce more amino acids in the wort than are required by the yeast, due to excessive proteolytic activity during mashing, so that residual amino acids persist in the beer) and of delaying the cropping of the yeast until after the green beer is cooled instead of cropping as soon as primary fermentation is complete (because the delay can lead to the death of yeast cells in the beer and the release of protease from the dead cells) as well as the positive effect of a 20 minute rest at 71 degrees C during mashing (which increases the foaming protein content of the wort and therefore of the beer)."

...if anyone has read the full paper, I would like to hear more.

Here is some nice lacing for ya.



No, it is not one of mine. It was a Sierra Nevada Celebration ale.

It's purdy....I love me some lacings on my beer glasses....especially when they come from my beers.

I love those ridiculous german words. Instead of explaining it in a sentence or phrase, they just make a word with some umpteen syllables.

Shadenmacherdeisenfreudunheurer = to stir clockwise

Zymurgrafi said:

Here is some nice lacing for ya.

No, it is not one of mine. It was a Sierra Nevada Celebration ale.

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that poor beer never had a chance

Talloak said:

I love those ridiculous german words. Instead of explaining it in a sentence or phrase, they just make a word with some umpteen syllables.

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I wonder what the German word for just making up a word with umpteen syllables is?

Danek said:

I wonder what the German word for just making up a word with umpteen syllables is?

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vielsilbenwortausdenken

This is the best lacing I have seen on a Pilsner in Germany:



And I didn't even hurry. The beer itself "Allgaeuer Brauhaus Teutsch Pilsner" was the best Pils I had over there.

In addition to proteins, iso-alpha acids also have a significant impact on head retention. That's why Pilsners usually have better head retention that Helles or Bock biers.

The 71C rest that was mentioned works well with the German mash schedule (63->70->76). I heard about extending this rest to up to 60 for good mouthfeel and head retention. But I haven't done a side by side yet to see the difference.

Kai