I just started drinking a Classic Pilsner that has a nice frothy head, but it dissipates rather quickly. Is that characteristic of the style, or can the mash or recipe be adjusted to improve head retention?
Thanks. I keep seeing carapils in recipes but have never used it. I'll try that next time. How much carapils would you add, 5 - 10%?
I put 0.5 lbs of wheat in most of my beers. That plus I still do a protein rest when I use pilsner malt. Most of my beers have head like whipped cream.
Another point, particularly for lagers, if one leaves the beer on the whole yeast cake for too long, the yeast do release proteases that break down head forming proteins.
I can't recall exactly where I read that or the exact time frame (it might have been greater than 30 days).
Dr. Foam.I know is was stated by Charlie Bamforth,
High ABV is bad, and so is stressing yeast. Both of these conditions lead to the release of proteinase A from the yeast which degrades foam positive proteins.
I think the reason I am getting away with this is that the yeast are not stressed. I can tell when they are getting to end life because the diacetyl starts to creep back up. Perhaps foam quality is actually degrading at that time and I'll try to remember to look for it.
Another point is that this beer is not sitting on the entire cake - only the stuff in suspension at time of transfer to the kegs. These are, I believe, key to my ability to keep beer fresh for this long.
What about protein rests? Does that help?
What about protein rests? Does that help?
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