oatmeal stout with poor head

[NewTimer]

My latest beer is an oatmeal stout with poor head. I'm very particular about washing and rinsing my glasses, no jet dry, rinsed with filtered water, air dry, whole nine yards. This is also the first time I used Irish moss and I'm wondering if this removed, or settled out or what ever Irish miss does to proteins, so much so that I now get very little head. The beer is well carbed and a little head initially develops but subsides quickly. Here's the recipe, any thought would be great.

Type: extract w/grain
Batch size: 5 gal
Boil size: 6 gal

Grain bill:
6 lbs. Breiss Dark LME
1 lbs. Crystal 10
2 lbs. Chocolate Malt
1 lbs. Black Patent Malt
1 lbs. Flaked Oats

Spices:

1 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
2 Vanilla Beans (cut and scrape)
1 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

Combine spices, save bean skins, in 1 cup of water.

Bring water to boil and cool 3 gal. Remove 1 gal of remaining water and set aside. Steep grains and flaked oats for 30 mins. Remove bag and soak in half of the water that was set aside, light agitate grains. Pour that back into boil kettle and repeat with remaining water. Let grain bag hang above boil kettle to drain. Turn off heat and add in LME. Stir until combined. Bring to rolling boil.

Hops:
Add .25 cup of spices with each addition.
60 mins - .5 oz. Kent Goldings, .25 oz
Saaz,
vanilla bean skins
45 mins - .25 oz. Saaz
30 mins - .5 oz. Kent Goldings, .25 oz
Saaz
15 mins - .25 oz. Saaz

Chill and transfer to primary. Add liquid Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale).

Primary for 10-14 days, secondary for 3-4 weeks. Prime with 5 oz. of corn sugar and store for 3-4 weeks.

OG: 1.045
FG: 1.012

Kind of disappointed with the low gravity but it is what is. As for the taste the Nutmeg came through more than the vanilla but neither are over powering. Slightly drier and lighter in body than expected. Weak head.

 

[Zixxer10R]

Every single one of the beers i've had this week (commerical, homebrew etc) have poured with a great head but quickly subsided. That's just the nature of beer man, it's not gonna hold a 3/4" head for your entire pint.

 

[NewTimer]

I realize its not going to hang in there that long but this more like a soda than beer. There's literally no head before I can take my first sip. All my other last much longer than that. Not that this a huge deal but I am curious about what's causing it and if there is anything I can do to change it.

 

[cullen]

You might add some pale malt with your oatmeal to provide some enzymes. The best head I've ever had in a beer I made was with a kit that included a half pound of maltodextrin.

 

[Ravenshead]

Next time add a lb of Carapils. It has little to no impact on color or flavor but will help tremendously with head retention.

The Irish moss won't hurt your head, I use it all the time.

 

[Germelli1]

Could be the oils in the cocoa powder too! (unless you used fat free!)

 

[Ravenshead]

Could be the oils in the cocoa powder too! (unless you used fat free!)

I don't think the powder causes problems but I could be wrong. There may be some oil in the vanilla beans too. I've never used either so I don't really know. They are common ingredients though and I've not heard of them causing head retention issues. That doesn't mean they don't, I just haven't heard of it.

OP: You could also increase the amount of crystal in you recipe. The rest of your recipe doesn't have many grains used for head retention.

See:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart

 

[NewTimer]

Well it never seizes to amaze me. Just as I think I have learned about this little thing called patience, I realize I still have a long way to go. Time really does seem to cure what ales your ales. Beer is "now" well carbed and has a head that truly stays to the last sip. This goes to all my fellow noobs, patience, patience, PATIENTS!

 

[Ravenshead]

Well it never seizes to amaze me. Just as I think I have learned about this little thing called patience, I realize I still have a long way to go. Time really does seem to cure what ales your ales. Beer is "now" well carbed and has a head that truly stays to the last sip. This goes to all my fellow noobs, patience, patience, PATIENTS!

That usually works too. How many weeks in the bottle?

 

[NewTimer]

It's been 5 weeks now.

 

[MisterGreen]

What was your reason for using irish moss in a stout?

 

[Tinga]

Lasting head on stouts isn't really to style.

 

[NewTimer]

MisterGreen, I've read a few places that the added clarity would actually make for a darker beer, which is what I was going for, and this one is black as night.

Tinga, its just a personal preference. I'm not much of one for strict adherence to style. To me that's the beauty of homebrewing.

 

[Tinga]

Tinga, its just a personal preference. I'm not much of one for strict adherence to style. To me that's the beauty of homebrewing.

Truth!

 

[joelbob]

I have the same problem which is how I wondered onto this post, 3 weeks and not a single bubble to indicate bottle fermentation. Tastes Ok, just really missing something without the head.

 

[NewTimer]

Just give it time Joel. Also make sure the temp is right. I stash mine next to the my water heater, its in a closet and it stays around 76 in there. However, I should say since that beer I've started kegging and that solved all my carbing problems.