beer head!

[stavale8099]

Hey all,

I brewed a Belgian strong ale back in September which has just now been bottled a couple weeks ago. I'm bottle carbing it and my question was about the super awesome foamy head that I"m hoping it develops. Does this just develop with time and conditioning? For example I brewed a brown ale last year that I just found a few bottles of and the head is amazing. There was roasted barley and a few other agents to help give it a nice foamy head (in the belgian strong) but I did open one last night and there was no head at all. It was only a little 'psst' sound and it still has a way to go to be carbonated.
Thoughts or am I just rambling?

 

[dadshomebrew]

Its a combination of:

Dissolved C02 (the psst sound) that form the head during the pour and help to maintain by steadily releasing more bubbles. Your beer will need a sufficient amount of time to reach full (bottle) carbonation and conditioning. Usually in the range of 3-4 weeks at room temp.

Foam stabilizing compounds (proteins etc) left over from the mash and the boil. These contribute to what is called head retention. That big fluffy head that sticks around and makes a beautiful trail of lacing down the glass.

Im sure there is an appropriate page in Palmer on head retention.

 

[duboman]

If it's only a couple weeks and the ABV is high being a strong ale it will take more than a couple weeks to be properly conditioned and carbonated. Be patient.

 

[beergolf]

^^^^^^. This

A high gravity brew can take months not weeks to fully carb up. Give it more time.

As a side note, a big Belgian like that will take months for the flavor to get good anyway. Just put them away for a few months and you will be good.

 

[stavale8099]

Yeah, I do know that the carbonation takes time and I'm patient (I brewed it in September). I had my last bottle-carb'd beer take about a month at least before it was sufficiently carbonated, and about 7 months before the head-retention was amazing.
To make my long rambling question shorter - will the foamy head retention be more obvious the longer it conditions and carbonates, or if I'm not seeing it yet in this early carbonation stage is it possible that there just wont be awesome foamy head? Or both