Hey guys! I have been brewing for about the past year and a half or so at this point, and something that I have always struggled with is head retention in my beers. They are all well carbonated, so there is indeed c02 to form the head, but after the head forms, it quickly falls apart.
I have heard that soap residue in the glassware can be an issue, so I even have tried cleaning my beer glass with a salt scrub first to address that issue first, but still the head disappears in under a minute.
I have done some reading, and many people seem to recommend adding one of the following to the beer, Carapills, Torified Barley, or Flaked Wheat, apparently these will release proteins into the beer during the mash that will help the head hold together, but I have wondered what are the effective differences between using these ingredients? Can you use them all together to form some kind of "super head" at the risk of possibly having chill haze?
Another factor, I have been doing most of my mashes at 152 F, normally the when I first add the strike water, the mash will be at 155-156, and I stir it until it reaches 152 and mash for 90 minutes. After the 90 minutes, the mash is still in the 151-152 range.
So I have been thinking, if I want my next brew, which might be an APA, American Amber Ale, or maybe an oktoberfest, what can I do give my brew the best shot of having great head retention without wrecking the clarity?
Thanks!
I have heard that soap residue in the glassware can be an issue, so I even have tried cleaning my beer glass with a salt scrub first to address that issue first, but still the head disappears in under a minute.
I have done some reading, and many people seem to recommend adding one of the following to the beer, Carapills, Torified Barley, or Flaked Wheat, apparently these will release proteins into the beer during the mash that will help the head hold together, but I have wondered what are the effective differences between using these ingredients? Can you use them all together to form some kind of "super head" at the risk of possibly having chill haze?
Another factor, I have been doing most of my mashes at 152 F, normally the when I first add the strike water, the mash will be at 155-156, and I stir it until it reaches 152 and mash for 90 minutes. After the 90 minutes, the mash is still in the 151-152 range.
So I have been thinking, if I want my next brew, which might be an APA, American Amber Ale, or maybe an oktoberfest, what can I do give my brew the best shot of having great head retention without wrecking the clarity?
Thanks!