No head on my porter! (at a brewpub)

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tspilker

tspilker

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I went to a brewpub a few towns over with my GF this afternoon and firstly, I ordered one of their IPAs and I was brought a dark brown number. Took a sip (maybe they did something crazy), brown ale. I flag down our waitress and tell her I wanted the IPA and she said that's what it was. I said no and handed it to her. The bartender brought back the actual IPA (rather disappointing one actually)

I then tried this brewery's porter. I was brought a glass of black liquid with absolutely NO head. I drank it because it was slightly carbonated and tasted damn close to Black Butte Porter and it was pretty tasty. I was disappointed in my lack of head though :(

I wrote on my receipt "To the Brew Master: More dextrins in the porter."

I felt vindicated.
 
lucky.
My neighborhood brewpub hasn't had porter on tap in what seems like forever.

Sports brew pub.
hockey season.
no porter.

FAIL.

The IPA tasted like Dogwater.

I don't know why I keep going back.

oh...

I remember...

Dropping off applications. :)
 
tspilker said:
I went to a brewpub a few towns over with my GF this afternoon and firstly, I ordered one of their IPAs and I was brought a dark brown number. Took a sip (maybe they did something crazy), brown ale. I flag down our waitress and tell her I wanted the IPA and she said that's what it was. I said no and handed it to her. The bartender brought back the actual IPA (rather disappointing one actually)

I then tried this brewery's porter. I was brought a glass of black liquid with absolutely NO head. I drank it because it was slightly carbonated and tasted damn close to Black Butte Porter and it was pretty tasty. I was disappointed in my lack of head though :(

I wrote on my receipt "To the Brew Master: More dextrins in the porter."

I felt vindicated.
Click to expand...

Which pub was this?
 
Unfortunately not all brewpubs make good beer... There is a chain of brewpubs in Connecticut called SBC, stands for Southport Brewing Co, it should stand for Sh!tty Brewing Co. I made the mistake of going to one about a month ago, the porter tasted like dirty brown water and the IPA tasted like nothing at all...
 
I look at it this way head takes up space that should be occupied by beer. Pour an inch head in a pint glass and you've got 14 ounces of beer, or less. It's amazing how much beer the top of a glass holds.

Sadly, not for long.
 
I for one want foam on my beer. Pour off the head to get more beer in my glass... might as well give me pie without the whipped cream.
 
I'm not so sure of the likelihood that lack of dextrins was the problem. You can have a very dry beer with great foam stability. Certain size proteins provide the foam and foam stability. A number of things could have caused this. The brewer could have done a protein rest with Marris Otter or used a significant quantity of oats. Or maybe the glass was fresh out of the 3-basin sink with quaternary ammonia residue on it.
 
I with mensch on this one, dextrines don't affect the head on the beer, that has mostly to do with the protein makeup of the beer. A protein rest on highly modified malts could break down the necessary proteins for good head formation into peptides and free amino nitrogen, good for yeast health but bad for the mouthfeel and head retention of the beer. Also, this could have been due to a glass with soap residue (most commercial dishwashers have a rinse aid that can kill beer head), or it could have been fresh outa the serving tank without enough time to get properly carbonated. All of these problems still point to an improperly run brew pub IMO. Good head is an indicator of good brewing practices.
 
Good beer needs good head. It just doesn't have the right mouthfeel without it. I draw the line at lacing (for, say, british beers), but would prefer an inch tall head on most styles.
 
c.n.budz said:
Unfortunately not all brewpubs make good beer... There is a chain of brewpubs in Connecticut called SBC, stands for Southport Brewing Co, it should stand for Sh!tty Brewing Co. I made the mistake of going to one about a month ago, the porter tasted like dirty brown water and the IPA tasted like nothing at all...
Click to expand...

Thanks Budz. I was thinking about checking out the one in Hamden. I now think otherwise.
 
menschmaschine said:
Or maybe the glass was fresh out of the 3-basin sink with quaternary ammonia residue on it.
Click to expand...

I think this is a common problem. I hate washing my glasses out because I have to rinse them like 12 times to get all the residue out so my usual pint glasses I use every day I typically just rinse and dry.

I was going to make a crack about lack of head but I realize he said GF and not wife. :D
 

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