Hey guys,
So I'm at a point where my beers have all been turning out fantastic taste-wise, but I'm noticing a trend where the majority of my beers lack body and don't quite form or retain head so well.
I have noticed that most of my beers end up with an FG below 1.010. usually around 1.006 or so. I think that maybe (despite what my thermometer reads) I am mashing lower than I intend to. How significant of an impact on head formation/retention would a lower than intended mash temp have? I generally shoot for 152ish on most beers. Usually over the hour mash i lose a degree or two max. Im wondering even if my thermometer is 10 degrees off (which i highly doubt) would mashing an hour at 142 completely kill head formation/retention? I have read that a prolonged step at 120-130 would kill head...
I batch sparge and typically do not do a mash out. I just wait 60 minutes-ish do an iodine test, then drain the mash tun. When I sparge the grainbed doesn't usually heat up to 170, maybe around 160 or so typically. Does sparge water temp have any affect on head formation/retention? I read in many spots that sparge temp doesnt matter when batch sparging?
My last thought is that maybe my boil is not vigorous enough? I do my boils on my electric stove, and it certainly boils, but its quite a weak boil. I read that a more vigorous boil can help head formation/body/head retention, but I don't know how significant of an impact this has?
This is an issue across the board for me on all beers that i have been making and I really want to sort this out properly. Even a wit I made felt flat and really had no body or head retention...
I don't want to start adding carapils to every batch or anything like that, so I'm just looking for some advice. I keep thinking my low FG numbers are the culprit, but other homebrewers make wickedly dry saisons and such with big rocky foamy heads, so I'm second guessing that... I dont think my thermometer is THAT far off if it is even off at all.
When bottling I am maybe a little heavy-handed with the starsan. usually when each bottle is almost full starsan bubbles out the top of the bottle. Then I cap it. It is dilluted as per the instructions though and I always read dont fear the foam, but could starsan in the bottle affect head retention?
Speaking of bottles, I do clean my bottles using PBW, but not every single time. Just if the bottles are crummy and gross. Otherwise I just rinse and starsan. This issue occurs in batches where I have used PBW on the bottles and also in batches where I haven't..
I don't get it! any advice on body/head formation/retention would be a big help thanks!
P.S my glasses are hand washed, its not because of soap or anything like that. body and head retention is crap in any glass.
P.P.S I bottle all batches, I dont keg. I use one of the priming sugar calculators online and crab to style. I have been thinking maybe those amounts are too low, so I have been overcarbing a bit, and still the beers feel flat and body-less...
P.P.P.S I don't think this is related to pitching rates either. It happens using dry yeast as well as liquid yeast. and i always do a nice big starter when using liquid yeast.
So I'm at a point where my beers have all been turning out fantastic taste-wise, but I'm noticing a trend where the majority of my beers lack body and don't quite form or retain head so well.
I have noticed that most of my beers end up with an FG below 1.010. usually around 1.006 or so. I think that maybe (despite what my thermometer reads) I am mashing lower than I intend to. How significant of an impact on head formation/retention would a lower than intended mash temp have? I generally shoot for 152ish on most beers. Usually over the hour mash i lose a degree or two max. Im wondering even if my thermometer is 10 degrees off (which i highly doubt) would mashing an hour at 142 completely kill head formation/retention? I have read that a prolonged step at 120-130 would kill head...
I batch sparge and typically do not do a mash out. I just wait 60 minutes-ish do an iodine test, then drain the mash tun. When I sparge the grainbed doesn't usually heat up to 170, maybe around 160 or so typically. Does sparge water temp have any affect on head formation/retention? I read in many spots that sparge temp doesnt matter when batch sparging?
My last thought is that maybe my boil is not vigorous enough? I do my boils on my electric stove, and it certainly boils, but its quite a weak boil. I read that a more vigorous boil can help head formation/body/head retention, but I don't know how significant of an impact this has?
This is an issue across the board for me on all beers that i have been making and I really want to sort this out properly. Even a wit I made felt flat and really had no body or head retention...
I don't want to start adding carapils to every batch or anything like that, so I'm just looking for some advice. I keep thinking my low FG numbers are the culprit, but other homebrewers make wickedly dry saisons and such with big rocky foamy heads, so I'm second guessing that... I dont think my thermometer is THAT far off if it is even off at all.
When bottling I am maybe a little heavy-handed with the starsan. usually when each bottle is almost full starsan bubbles out the top of the bottle. Then I cap it. It is dilluted as per the instructions though and I always read dont fear the foam, but could starsan in the bottle affect head retention?
Speaking of bottles, I do clean my bottles using PBW, but not every single time. Just if the bottles are crummy and gross. Otherwise I just rinse and starsan. This issue occurs in batches where I have used PBW on the bottles and also in batches where I haven't..
I don't get it! any advice on body/head formation/retention would be a big help thanks!
P.S my glasses are hand washed, its not because of soap or anything like that. body and head retention is crap in any glass.
P.P.S I bottle all batches, I dont keg. I use one of the priming sugar calculators online and crab to style. I have been thinking maybe those amounts are too low, so I have been overcarbing a bit, and still the beers feel flat and body-less...
P.P.P.S I don't think this is related to pitching rates either. It happens using dry yeast as well as liquid yeast. and i always do a nice big starter when using liquid yeast.