What gives head?

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jjward101

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PERVS! I meant in beer, lol. What is it in a recipe that helps us to get a nice, thick, creamy head. ReDing around the site, it seems as though some think that rice solids aid in head/head retention, but im not really sure. Im asking, because the last few brews, most people have enjoyed the taste, the aroma, etc....but all have commented that there wasnt much of a head.
 
Hops (especially with high alpha acids) create head. So if you're brewing an IPA, you generally dont have to worry.

Certain grains/malts also help with head, such as carapils or torrified wheat. These are ideal additions for styles such as stouts and porters.
 
On the recipe side, adding wheat malt, carapils, flaked oats, or flaked barley can all increase head formation. I add 2-3% wheat to most of my beers just for that purpose. Also, the amount of hops in the recipe can affect head retention, because the iso-alpha acids can help stabilize head; this effect seems to be especially noticeable in Pilsners, IMHO.

On the process side, make sure that if you use soap or oxyclean on your equipment that you rinse it extremely well, because the detergents can negatively affect head retention. Finally, never use drying aids in your dishwasher (Jetdry, et al) and consider hand washing your glassware with minimal soap.
 
Hops (especially with high alpha acids) create head. So if you're brewing an IPA, you generally dont have to worry.

Certain grains/malts also help with head, such as carapils or torrified wheat. These are ideal additions for styles such as stouts and porters.

All the times that I have messed with hops in beers they will dissolve head due to the oils. Much the same way dirty glassware dissolves head.
IPA's generally have grains with long chain proteins added such as wheat, carapils, carafoam, etc or they would have very little lasting head.
 
I am pouring into extremely clean pilsner glasses, I have been extremely clean and careful with sanitizing as well. Im now wondering if maybe my late hop additions are creating some of the problem.
Do the rice solids actually do anything at all for head? Or are they just more fermentables?

Thanks to all for the replies.
 
I brew extract and am having the same problem. Have been experimenting with adding carapils and using late extract additions to try and improve it. Have not bottled the beers with these changes yet to find out if it makes a noticeable improvement though....
 
I am pouring into extremely clean pilsner glasses, I have been extremely clean and careful with sanitizing as well. Im now wondering if maybe my late hop additions are creating some of the problem.
Do the rice solids actually do anything at all for head? Or are they just more fermentables?

Thanks to all for the replies.

Hops actually help with head, so the late additions won't harm it at all.

Rice solids are a simple sugar type fermentable and will not contribute to head, much like corn sugar.

Carapils (dextrine malt), crystal malt, wheat (flaked or malted), flaked barley, etc all contribute to foam stability/head.

Can you give a typical recipe? We can pinpoint some issues.
 
A strong head builder is flaked barley. It has to be moderated in use since increasing its percentage will increase haze production.
 
I was going to say half a bottle of wine is what leads to it perhaps. But...

I must say, whenever I see a "how to get more head on my beer" or similar posts, there is ALWAYS someone who jumps in with the "is your glass clean?" comment. I had this happen with me ass well on one of my posts, when I was trying to figure out what grain gives good head retention (1/2lb carapils does good apparently). It is like asking a bottling question: there is always one person who says "you should keg!" despite what the question is about.

Alright, rant ended.

Carapils and other crystal malts are good. And also time, as I found that I was wanting better head formation and retention on a stout I made, and a month later it was more than I had imagined.
 
Yooper said:
Hops actually help with head, so the late additions won't harm it at all.

Rice solids are a simple sugar type fermentable and will not contribute to head, much like corn sugar.

Carapils (dextrine malt), crystal malt, wheat (flaked or malted), flaked barley, etc all contribute to foam stability/head.

Can you give a typical recipe? We can pinpoint some issues.

Here is a typical hybrid recipe:

Steep 1 lb. carafoam for 20 minutes.
Bring to boil ( 60 min )
Add 2lbs. Dme
Add 1 lb. rice syrup solids
Add 1oz. Liberty
@ 30 minutes into boil, add 1/2 oz. liberty
@ 45 minutes into boip, add 1/2 oz. liberty and 1tsp irish moss.
Also a 45 min, add 3.3 lbs lme
@ flameout add 1oz. Cascade
Cool, bring to 5 gallons, aerate, and rdwhahb.

Rinse, repeat as needed :)
 
Are the DME and the rice syrup the only fermentables? Or do you also have more extract? Also, what yeast are you using and what is your pitching procedure?

I see three potential issues. First, I believe that DME has less head forming ability than either grain or liquid extract. Second, using rice syrup for 1/3 of the fermentables essentially decreases head forming proteins by 1/3. And third, doing a partial boil and diluting can decrease head retention; there is a maximum concentration of protein that can be dissolved in boiling wort and the excess will coagulate during the hot and cold breaks, by doing a partial volume boil (say 3 gallons) and then diluting up to 5 gallons, you essentially have only 60% of the maximum protein concentration in the final beer, which can lead to lower head retention.

So two suggestions that I would make are a) try using liquid extract for 90% or more of your fermentables and b) try doing a full volume boil.
 
I've found that waiting a few weeks have improved the amount and quality of the foam in my kegged beer.

I have also found that abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.
 
I do partial boils/late additions with my all extract exploits,& since I used 3lbs of plain extra light DME in place of the 1kg of brewing sugar,head retention/quality has gone way up. ABV% went down a little,as did OG. But the head is thick & velvety. I did do 1 15min hop addition,& dry hopped for 1 week as well. Check out my gallery for the one in my avatar.:mug:
 
i have noticed that if i rinse my glasses, even if they have not been washed in the dishwasher, i get a better head, also if i frost my glasses in the freezer. something about the rinse additive in dishwasher detergent causes bad head retention. i suppose you could shake it and pour it really fast too. LOL
 
unionrdr said:
I do partial boils/late additions with my all extract exploits,& since I used 3lbs of plain extra light DME in place of the 1kg of brewing sugar,head retention/quality has gone way up. ABV% went down a little,as did OG. But the head is thick & velvety. I did do 1 15min hop addition,& dry hopped for 1 week as well. Check out my gallery for the one in my avatar.:mug:

I dont mind a lower abv, since I dont drink to get wasted...i drink because I like beer. I know it is not always embraced by all on hbt, but I prefer extract brewing for now, and I prefer lighter beers....partly because I like them, partly for the challenge. It is clearly harder to make a lighter beer that looks and finishes clean and clear than it is to make an irish stout (not that I mind a god irish stout :) Can you elaborate on where you use the 3lbs of el-dme?

I definitely have a good amount of carb, although I couldnt tell you anything about my carb volume...when I buy my ingredients, I just pick up a baggy of priming sugar as well. I believe it is about 1/4 cup, just havent measured it. If anything, with this beer I may have ended up just a hair overcarbed.

I used safale us05, and rehydrated it....swirled it into my freshly aerated wort, drank 4 homebrews, and went to bed.
 
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