Head Retention in GF beers

I am typically an all grain brewer but some family and friends convinced me to brew a GF beer. I brewed a Honey Pale Ale and it turned out great except that there is no head retention. It is properly carbed and forms a great head when poured but just dissipates really fast. I used 6 oz of maltodextrin for a 5 gallon batch. Anything else I can use to get better head retention? I am thinking maybe some GF oats?

Phunhog said:

I am typically an all grain brewer but some family and friends convinced me to brew a GF beer. I brewed a Honey Pale Ale and it turned out great except that there is no head retention. It is properly carbed and forms a great head when poured but just dissipates really fast. I used 6 oz of maltodextrin for a 5 gallon batch. Anything else I can use to get better head retention? I am thinking maybe some GF oats?

Click to expand...

By the sounds of it you need to increase your protein content in order to get the foam stability your looking for. Silly question, do you clean your beer glasses with soap? Oats will work and also upping the hop content as well as they contain oils and proteins that help with foam stability.

brausawyer said:

By the sounds of it you need to increase your protein content in order to get the foam stability your looking for. Silly question, do you clean your beer glasses with soap? Oats will work and also upping the hop content as well as they contain oils and proteins that help with foam stability.

Click to expand...

I thought about the glass cleaning too. Never had a problem with my non GF beers keeping a nice head. Next time I will had some GF oats.

Torrefied grains can work, too. It's not too hard to find puffed rice and puffed corn in the cereal aisle of a health-food store, or even puffed millet or puffed quinoa. More maltodextrin can help as well; I usually use 4-8 oz per 3 gallons, so for 5 I'd use more like 6-12. Also, did you add the honey at flame-out, or did you boil it? Adding it at flame-out also seems to help, as long as you're using raw unfiltered honey (the kind that comes with like flecks of pollen in it). Bee pollen has protein in it, after all!

How would you go about using the torrefied grains? Steep them or add them to the boil?

Phunhog said:

I am typically an all grain brewer but some family and friends convinced me to brew a GF beer. I brewed a Honey Pale Ale and it turned out great except that there is no head retention. It is properly carbed and forms a great head when poured but just dissipates really fast. I used 6 oz of maltodextrin for a 5 gallon batch. Anything else I can use to get better head retention? I am thinking maybe some GF oats?

Click to expand...

Can you post your recipe; it may help?

ChasidicCalvinist said:

How would you go about using the torrefied grains? Steep them or add them to the boil?

Click to expand...

Steep/mash.

If you want something easy: head and head retention increased dramatically for my brews when I started adding buckwheat honey as an adjunct.