Beer head on cider possible?

[Drewed]

Is it possible to have a beer head on a glass of cider? I'm not looking for a Guinness style, but perhaps a Sam Adams? Or at least a decent that root Beer?

Is there an additive? Or is head more a case of grains and such? In which case it would totally screw with th taste.

 

[bernardsmith]

I think that you need a net of proteins to trap the CO2 to create a head. Apples are essentially protein free. If you really want a head you may need to create an apple ale otherwise cider will - at very best - behave a little like a sparkling wine.. The one option I can think of - and this won't create a beer like head - is to pour the cider into a glass with nucleation points. Those points will encourage the continuous production of bubbles from the CO2 in the cider but they won't produce a head. For that you need something to trap the CO2. And to the best of my understanding there is nothing in apples that do that.

 

[JimRausch]

Bernard is correct- No protein= No head. I did a straight cider a few years back and over carbonated it. She was fizzy and did have a head when poured, but it only lasted seconds.
What you need to do is make a Graf- check out Brandon O's original thread and the hundreds of additional threads since.

 

[bernardsmith]

And apple ale - or "Graf" is quite delicious. You can make it heavy on the cider, heavy on the ale or equal parts of each.

 

[Bilby.qld]

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but I was trying to get a particularly cloudy batch of cider to clarify, and discovered that adding gelatine causes it to form quite a decent head.

I added 1.5 tsp of Gelatine to 5gal of cider; When kegged, the result is a beer-like head on a cider that is otherwise unchanged in flavour.

Not what I wanted, but might be helpful for anyone who does

 

[412CiderGuy]

I haven’t accidentally got to ambitious with force carbing and got some massive heads on my pour. It only lasts a few minutes and doesn’t have any flavor.

 

[dmtaylor]

Head is wrong in a cider. Just wrong. I don't expect a long lasting head when I pour a Coke into a glass. Neither do I with cider.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

My basic Graff has a nice head. It does not last a long time, but still it added to the "pour appeal"

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Cracked a qt of pineapple cider a few days ago, down to the last pour it made a really nice head on the glass. Wonderful bright taste too.

 

[ten80]

Judges in a recent competition noted that my cider had no head retention . I had a good laugh when I saw they were using beer scoresheets.