Another Stout Recipe Question

SkewedAle said:

I've tried many Stouts and i've loved them all but my favorites have always been Guinness (Cliche, I know) and Beamish. The reason for this is the fine head of foam that they retain. Does anyone know what I should add to this recipe if I want to get that kind of head retention that is similar to a Guiness?

3 lbs Light Malt Extract
3 lbs Amber malt extract
3/4 lb Chocolate Malt
.5 lb Black Patent
.5 lb Flaked Oats
.5 lb Crystal
2 oz Chinook @ 60
.5 oz Bullion @ 5
Ale Yeast

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SkewedAle said:

I've tried many Stouts and i've loved them all but my favorites have always been Guinness (Cliche, I know) and Beamish. The reason for this is the fine head of foam that they retain. Does anyone know what I should add to this recipe if I want to get that kind of head retention that is similar to a Guiness?

3 lbs Light Malt Extract
3 lbs Amber malt extract
3/4 lb Chocolate Malt
.5 lb Black Patent
.5 lb Flaked Oats
.5 lb Crystal
2 oz Chinook @ 60
.5 oz Bullion @ 5
Ale Yeast

Click to expand...

m_f said:

Wait! you can imitate that head. not that you'll get the same, but will be certainly better that nothing!

this is what I do:
brew a beer with good head retention (stout in this case).
naturally carbonate to low level (1.5 to 1.8 vol ONLY) you'll be priming with a ridiculously small amount of sugar, no problem!
buy a 10 ml. a syringe

serve the beer as usual, but minimize foaming. If any, let it sit a couple of minuts
load your syringe with beer+air (thick foam visible inside it)
inject it back into the beer suddenly (syringe tip should be as near to the bottom as possible)

here you have! guinnes/boddington's/beamish like head instantly!

caveats: put your glass in a bowl, the first times you'll get overfoaming and loose some beer. drink it from the bowl and calibrate your injection hahahaha!

wanna try right now?
take any HB you have (with good head retention) pour it in a glass and let it sit for a while 'till it releases some Co2 and follow the instructions. USE a BOWL to save beer/avoid mess!!!

Why this works?
because air is 78% nitrogen (and 21 % Oxygen, but O2 is unimportant here because you don't let beer oxydize in your glass)

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Lou said:

i might have to grab some syringes from the lab on my way out tonight and try this "trick" at home....

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Darth Konvel said:

That's an ... interesting technique, Walker

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Imperial Walker said:

this might sound gross, but....

I just take a big pull from my stout, swish it around in my mouth to foam it up and then literally jet-force spit it back into the glass. I get a thick, dense head out of it this way.

If I were pouring for someone else, I would use a syringe or something, but it's just me so I spit in it.

-walker

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m_f said:

now that's even simpler!
hahahaha

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