Head retention problems ):

[keke]

Hi guys, Iv'e been brewing for about 3 years now and my beers usually come out very good, flavor wise, but I never get a good head on the beer.
Iv'e tried everything Iv'e read online:
1. Adding some Carapils or Caramels.
2. Adding some proteins from wheat or oats.
3. Increasing carbonation level.
4. Avoiding soap at any cost.

So here is a recipe from my last brew, it was a session NEIPA:

Malt:

Marris Otter 7 lbs
Vienna 2 lbs
Wheat 2 lbs
Flaked Barley 10 oz
Munich 9 oz
Carapils 7 oz

Hops:

10g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic at 10,5
25g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic at 0 min steep for 15 min at 75c

Dry hop:

25g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic early in fermentation (100g)
20g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic in keg (80g)

O.G: 1.050 F.G: 1.012 ABV:5% IBU:46


As you can see I added proteins and Carapils.
I carbonated the beer by shaking the keg while on 30 psi for about 3 min, and it was quite carbonated. But for some reason, yet again, the head disappeared right away.
What am I doing wrong?
Any ideas?
Thanks for any comments guys!

 

[brewbama]

 

[Smellyglove]

View attachment 566169

Which book is this?

 

[Harry482]

Add a touch of white wheat!

 

[Yooper]

There are a couple of easy things to check, since your recipe should have plenty of head.

First, do a simple "salt scrub" on your glass. Moisten the glass, sprinkle some table salt in it, and use your hand to "scour" the salt all inside and over the rim, and rinse well. That will get any residue off of the glass, and have it totally clean.

Then, since your beer is well carbonated but not retaining head, check your tap lines to make sure they are long enough. Sometimes shortish serving lines cause the c02 to break out of solution, so the beer seems well carbed maybe even foamy, but the head retention goes away really fast and the beer's carb level seems to be lacking. Also, make sure to not turn the pressure down for serving- keep it at 10-12 psi all the time, depending on the fridge temperature. Are you changing pressures?

Next, the theory is that the beer only forms so much head during its lifetime. So by shaking the keg, you get the head in the keg, but it won't reform again later. so absolutely stop shaking the keg. Set the regulator for 30 psi for 36 hours- no shaking- and then turn it down to 12 psi or whatever the pressure is needed to have the proper level of carb and it will be so much better!

 

[Smellyglove]

There are a couple of easy things to check, since your recipe should have plenty of head.

First, do a simple "salt scrub" on your glass. Moisten the glass, sprinkle some table salt in it, and use your hand to "scour" the salt all inside and over the rim, and rinse well. That will get any residue off of the glass, and have it totally clean.

Then, since your beer is well carbonated but not retaining head, check your tap lines to make sure they are long enough. Sometimes shortish serving lines cause the c02 to break out of solution, so the beer seems well carbed maybe even foamy, but the head retention goes away really fast and the beer's carb level seems to be lacking. Also, make sure to not turn the pressure down for serving- keep it at 10-12 psi all the time, depending on the fridge temperature. Are you changing pressures?

Next, the theory is that the beer only forms so much head during its lifetime. So by shaking the keg, you get the head in the keg, but it won't reform again later. so absolutely stop shaking the keg. Set the regulator for 30 psi for 36 hours- no shaking- and then turn it down to 12 psi or whatever the pressure is needed to have the proper level of carb and it will be so much better!

I shake all my hoppy kegs and poor-lasting head has never been an issue I've noticed before.

 

[RM-MN]

How long in the fermenter. How long in the keg? Both of those affect head retention.

 

[schematix]

Which book is this?

Looks like Kunze to me.

 

[keke]

Next, the theory is that the beer only forms so much head during its lifetime. So by shaking the keg, you get the head in the keg, but it won't reform again later. so absolutely stop shaking the keg. Set the regulator for 30 psi for 36 hours- no shaking- and then turn it down to 12 psi or whatever the pressure is needed to have the proper level of carb and it will be so much better!

You know... that's quite interesting because the first poor from my beer (30 min after shaking) it had a much better head, so maybe there is something in this theory. I will definitely try this next time, thank you!

 

[keke]

I shake all my hoppy kegs and poor-lasting head has never been an issue I've noticed before.

Do you think it could be a water chemistry thing?

 

[keke]

How long in the fermenter. How long in the keg? Both of those affect head retention.

It was only 10 days in the fermenter and since I moved it to the keg about a month ago and until today there is no head ):

 

[Jtk78]

How long in the fermenter. How long in the keg? Both of those affect head retention.

Can you please expand on how time in either vessel effects head retention? I'm having an issue with this too and am interested any and all fixes. Thanks.

 

[RM-MN]

Can you please expand on how time in either vessel effects head retention? I'm having an issue with this too and am interested any and all fixes. Thanks.

I don't know the answer but just anecdotal evidence that says that it takes a while for the beer to form the heading compounds. My experience was that I bottled the beer at 10 days in the fermenter, then left the bottles at room temp for a week before chilling one. That one had poor head retention. Left the rest another 2 weeks at room temp and had good heading. Most chemical reactions proceed faster in warm conditions than cold so I would guess that kegging and immediately chilling would make that process take longer.

As Yooper pointed out above, lack of a head can be from soap residue too. That can be just in the serving glassware, especially if washed in the dishwasher with an anti-spotting agent, or it could be anywhere in the system like in the keg, tap, lines, etc. Oils can do it too. The OP says they avoid soaps but soaps will dissolve oils and can then be rinsed out.

 

[BrewKnob]

Hi guys, Iv'e been brewing for about 3 years now and my beers usually come out very good, flavor wise, but I never get a good head on the beer.
Iv'e tried everything Iv'e read online:
1. Adding some Carapils or Caramels.
2. Adding some proteins from wheat or oats.
3. Increasing carbonation level.
4. Avoiding soap at any cost.

So here is a recipe from my last brew, it was a session NEIPA:

Malt:

Marris Otter 7 lbs
Vienna 2 lbs
Wheat 2 lbs
Flaked Barley 10 oz
Munich 9 oz
Carapils 7 oz

Hops:

10g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic at 10,5
25g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic at 0 min steep for 15 min at 75c

Dry hop:

25g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic early in fermentation (100g)
20g Kohatu, Amarillo, Citra, Mosaic in keg (80g)

O.G: 1.050 F.G: 1.012 ABV:5% IBU:46


As you can see I added proteins and Carapils.
I carbonated the beer by shaking the keg while on 30 psi for about 3 min, and it was quite carbonated. But for some reason, yet again, the head disappeared right away.
What am I doing wrong?
Any ideas?
Thanks for any comments guys!

I'm a big believer in low and slow when it comes to carbonating in a keg. Put it on about 10 psi for 2-4 weeks.

 

[keke]

I'm a big believer in low and slow when it comes to carbonating in a keg. Put it on about 10 psi for 2-4 weeks.

I don't know if I have the patience to wait that long haha. But I will definitely NOT shake the keg next time and I will just leave it on 20-30 psi for a few days.
Thanks for all the comments guys!

 

[keke]

Next, the theory is that the beer only forms so much head during its lifetime. So by shaking the keg, you get the head in the keg, but it won't reform again later. so absolutely stop shaking the keg. Set the regulator for 30 psi for 36 hours- no shaking- and then turn it down to 12 psi or whatever the pressure is needed to have the proper level of carb and it will be so much better!

I just thought of one more thing, do you think shaking the fermenter before fermentation in order to aerate the wort could also benefit to the same problem?

 

[Yooper]

I just thought of one more thing, do you think shaking the fermenter before fermentation in order to aerate the wort could also benefit to the same problem?

I've never heard that it could be- I wouldn't think so (think of the huge krausen that forms afterwards) but I don't shake my fermenter since I couldn't lift it anyway. So I really don't know.

 

[cegan09]

I might lean towards a kegorator setup issue.

I have a problem with mine right now. Have a tripel and a stout on. The stout has never formed any head whatsoever. The tripel will form excessive amounts on the first pour, and then almost nothing at all for subsequent ones. When you let the kegorator sit for a little while it resets to over foaming. Assuming I have unbalanced lines and the initial over foaming is from temperature missmatches as the tower is warmer than inside the fridge.

 

[brewbama]

Which book is this?

Kunze. Sorry for the delay.

 

[Lefou]

The page shown confirmed a couple of my suspicions that mixing a ratio of bittering and aroma hops with protein-rich malt can help with foam formation and retention. This last beer I've made seems to have much less foam formation than my last blonde, but it is a bit younger.
In the first blonde, I used WLP001, 10-15% white wheat, a slight amount of Citra (alpha) and Saaz (beta). Sixty to ninety minute mash, about 25-29IBU. The current beer had WLP029, 10% white wheat, Saaz only, and a low 145F-150F two hour mash.
I might have to get that book and tweak some methods ....