better head retention?

[bperlmu]

what are some ways that people out there increase the head retention of their beers? I usually add a little bit of malted wheat to most of my beers, but i was wondering if there was anyting else that you could do. My IPA has the best head retention ive ever gotten and it didn't have any wheat in it. hmmmm

 

[DeathBrewer]

i use a small amount of wheat malt in almost all my brews...works great. you can also use carapils or flaked-oats/wheat/barley/corn, etc.

what was in your IPA recipe?

 

[Blender]

Some more info on FabulousFoam
Hope it helps.

 

[bperlmu]

I brewed this in early october and found it unimpressive until about a month ago when it fiinally hit its stride (booze mellowed and malt and hops really came through) and definately ranks as one of the best things ive ever done with my life The head is dense and thick and lasts all the way through the glass and leaves some epic lacing down the side. heres the recipe. when i brew it again i think ill bump up the hops all around, but this is how i made it.
what do you think?
9 lbs english light LME
1 pound light DME
8 oz 40 l crystal
8 oz victory
1.5 oz chinook 60 min
1 oz EKG 15 min
1 oz cascade 5 min
1 oz gypsum
tsp irish moss
WL british ale yeast
dry hop w/ 1 oz of fuggles

like i said, no wheat in this one. do you think it could be the victory? I think maybe the gravity had something to do with it?

 

[bperlmu]

Some more info on FabulousFoam
Hope it helps.

thanks for the link. Bittering hops as head builders is an interesting point. But i was confused about this:
"*Foaming cleaners and sanitizers. Detergents destroy beer foam even though they are foamy themselves. These compounds must be rinsed off of all brewing equipment."
are they implying that using star san to sanitize bottles reduces head? I havent heard this before and have never noticed it to be true...have you?

 

[the_bird]

Star-san's not a detergent. They're referring to soaps; any soap residue on a drinkining glass, your head retention will be shot.