Porter Head Retention

[ElmhurstBrew]

Hey guys, I recently put together this recipe and so far I am pretty pleased, with the exception of the fact that the head retention for this beer is pretty much non-existent. 2-3 minutes after tapping a glass from the keg, the head is completely gone. I was thinking of adding about a half pound of carafoam to it the next time I brew, but was wondering if I might get better results from flaked wheat or similar. Any advantages to one vs the other? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Recipe is as follows:

3.3lbs Breiss Porter LME
3.3lbs Amber LME
1lb Crystal 60
0.5lb Chocolate Malt
0.25lb Black Patent
0.5lb Dark Molasses

1.25oz Northern Brewer 60 min boil
0.5oz East Kent Golding 30 min boil
0.5oz East Kent Golding 5 minute boil

0.5 Whirlfloc Tab 15 min

Danstar Windsor yeast.

Grains were steeped in 2.5 gallons water @ 150F, then sparged with 0.5 gallons 170F. Fermented at 65f for a week, then one week in secondary, cold crash and kegged. This was force carbonated, no sugar was added to the keg.

 

[user 70770]

You can try adding a little calcium carbonate to the boil. That'll offset some of the acidity contributed by the dark malt and may help your head retention. Otherwise your recipe looks good. I've never used carafoam before so I don't know what kind of effect it has on the beer flavor wise.

 

[Denny]

Foam is very much more dependent on process than ingredients. Check this out...http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

 

[ElmhurstBrew]

Foam is very much more dependent on process than ingredients. Check this out...http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

Excellent read Denny, thank you. I did not use a yeast starter, simply re-hydrated the yeast per the packet instructions and pitched. I wonder if that might be a big part of my issue since this beer had an OG of 1.061. I must admit though, I am a bit intrigued by the calcium carbonate which beerhappy mentioned. I am guessing that the amount added would be based on water chemistry?

 

[Denny]

Excellent read Denny, thank you. I did not use a yeast starter, simply re-hydrated the yeast per the packet instructions and pitched. I wonder if that might be a big part of my issue since this beer had an OG of 1.061. I must admit though, I am a bit intrigued by the calcium carbonate which beerhappy mentioned. I am guessing that the amount added would be based on water chemistry?

Since you say you rehydrated, I assume you used dry yeast. In that case no starter is needed. Calcium carboante isn't a great solution...it dissolves incompletely so you can't really tell how much you're getting. I'd recommend calcium chloride instead, or even baking soda. You can add a tiny bit to a glass of beer to see if it helps. If it does, download Bru'nwater to help you figure out how to treat future beers. https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

But to tell ya the truth, you have so little dark malt in there that I really don't think that's causing any problems. You're using extract, which has a much lower protein content than brewing from grain. It's the protein that gives you the foam. And none of those water additives will affect foam, just taste.
https://sites.google.com/site/brunwater/

 

[user 70770]

Excellent read Denny, thank you. I did not use a yeast starter, simply re-hydrated the yeast per the packet instructions and pitched. I wonder if that might be a big part of my issue since this beer had an OG of 1.061. I must admit though, I am a bit intrigued by the calcium carbonate which beerhappy mentioned. I am guessing that the amount added would be based on water chemistry?

It very much depends on your starting water. And for that you'll have to look at a local water report and play with some water chemistry tools. But I've always noticed my dark beers have body and head retention issues unless I compensate a little with calcium carbonate to balance out the ph. That's why some of the great beer cities in the world like Dublin have great success with dark beers is due to their water that is naturally higher in carbonates.

 

[user 70770]

I will give you this advice. Basically two things contribute to head retention. Proteins from the grain and isohumulones from hops. You have hops in your beer which is good! But per Denny's information, I didn't know extracts had lower protein content than wort derived from a fresh mash. Since this is largely an extract beer, maybe the carafoam is what you need to add that missing protein. Try that addition first in your next iteration of this beer and see what that does for you.

 

[ElmhurstBrew]

Well I tried an experiment last night, per the discussions above, I added a tiny amount of baking soda dissolved in water to a glass before tapping a pint of this porter. I have come to the conclusion that my issue here is twofold. The baking soda did help with head retention, but only slightly. I think that going forward i need to pay closer attention to my water chemistry and in this recipe, since it is very extract heavy, I do need to try and introduce some more protein. Well this has certainly been enlightening, I never really put much thought to the water being a culprit. Thank you very much for the input gents, it is much appreciated.

 

[meatcleaver]

I'll vouch for flaked wheat since no one else has.
I do stove top biab, mini mash, partial boil. my recipes typically have 2 lbs of base grain, specialty grains, .5 lb flaked wheat & a 6 lb jug of LME. I do 3 week primary, 3 week bottle conditioning + 3 weeks lagering (if it's a lager).
never have a problem with head formation or retention. I don't really notice the flaked wheat in the finished beer but I admit I'm not great at distinguishing the different contributions each ingredient makes.

 

[user 70770]

Well I tried an experiment last night, per the discussions above, I added a tiny amount of baking soda dissolved in water to a glass before tapping a pint of this porter. I have come to the conclusion that my issue here is twofold. The baking soda did help with head retention, but only slightly. I think that going forward i need to pay closer attention to my water chemistry and in this recipe, since it is very extract heavy, I do need to try and introduce some more protein. Well this has certainly been enlightening, I never really put much thought to the water being a culprit. Thank you very much for the input gents, it is much appreciated.

I'd be careful with baking soda (NaHCO3) as it is not the same as calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Also without going into too much detail, the effect of these salts on beer protein really only takes place prior to the boil. Adding calcium carbonate to your beer once it is done will not add protein back and shouldn't in principle do anything for head retention.

If you have time and an inclination about beer chemistry, the following link is a great read.
Braukaiser ph lesson

Specifically the section about protein coagulation is what you're looking for as far as what's relevant to head retention.