Poor Head Retention

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Mexibilly

Mexibilly

Mexibilly
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Brewed Heady Nugs extract kit from LHBS. It was carbonated nicely after 7 days. Seriously delicious. Came up short on the abv by about 1%.
At 12 days it pours beautifully and nice head, but it disappears quickly. I haven't looked into the factors that affect head retention. I brewed with distilled water due to issues with spring water/extract in the past. Given the flavor, aroma and overall quality with distilled I intend to brew 2 extract recipes in 2 days with distilled. Any idea if distilled water might be causing the retention issue?
 
Any kind of oil on your glassware? Do you use rinse agents in the dishwasher (for example, jet dry)?
 
As mentioned, dishwasher rinse agents can seriously impede lacing and head retention. I always give my glasses a good rinse with cold water before pouring a glass. I also include 1/4 lb of Carafoam in all of my recipes by default, for head retention and lacing.
 
Mexibilly said:
..... I haven't looked into the factors that affect head retention. ....
Click to expand...

Ideally it is best when posting these questions to research the topic first and then provide some details about your process and why you think it may/may not be that part of your process.

Glassware, yeast health, excessive foaming during transfer/oxygenation effecting the protein structure....there are many different things that could effect it and without knowing anything about your process or aspects of it you have ruled out it is just a guessing game at this point.
 
Thank you. I am an avid novice. I do tend to jump on here and ask questions before doing any research, research that may well have provided a method to avoid whatever situation I'm asking about. I'll take that into consideration and ask for your patience with me as I develop as a brewer.
 
No problem with head retention on other beers, just this one.
Extract IPA kit followed to a T.
Distilled water. 2 week primary, 7 day dry hop 2nd week.
It came out great other than head retention. Great flavor, aroma and head, it just dissipates quickly.
 
Things to consider other than the things already mentioned are pitch rate ferm temps and water mineral profile. If the year was unhappy it can adversely effect head.
 
Something nobody's asked yet which stuck out to me most about your post: was this 7 days in a bottle or in a keg?
If it was in a bottle, you're about 14 days or so too early to make any conclusions on head retention.
 
It appears you are getting enough foam, or "head" on your beer, you just want it to stay around longer. The quick answer is to add 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb wheat malt (for 5 gallons) to your recipe.
I don't have any experience with extract kits, so I don't know if this would actually work with the kit you are using.
For a longer explanation of factors that affect foam and foam retention, check out this article:

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/693-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques
 
14 days primary, 2nd 7 of that dry hop, 16 days in the bottle.
I hadn't considered that although I have a very good carbonation level with 5oz corn sugar, longer in the bottle might affect retention. I don't recall the ingredients specifically and don't have the recipe handy at the moment, but I will look it back over.
Time will tell. Thanks for the input.
 
Anywhere between an hour and 8 hours. None overnight yet and I haven't transferred them all to the basement yet, about 50-55
 
Mexibilly said:
Anywhere between an hour and 8 hours. None overnight yet and I haven't transferred them all to the basement yet, about 50-55
Click to expand...

Keep them in the fridge long. 24 hrs minimum, longer is even better. It take a while for the carb to absorb into the beer

Try one after a day or two in the fridge and report back.
 
beergolf said:
Keep them in the fridge long. 24 hrs minimum, longer is even better. It take a while for the carb to absorb into the beer

Try one after a day or two in the fridge and report back.
Click to expand...

+1

Also +1 on clean glasses.

Finally, give one a really rough pour when it's super cold and see how foamy it gets and how long the foam sticks around, that will help show you whether it's an overall foam issue or just a pouring/glass issue.

I don't remember if you said this but are you using a bottling bucket to carbonate or adding sugar to each bottle? Just want to rule out under-carbonation as a possibility.
 
Mexibilly said:
14 days primary, 2nd 7 of that dry hop, 16 days in the bottle.
I hadn't considered that although I have a very good carbonation level with 5oz corn sugar, longer in the bottle might affect retention. I don't recall the ingredients specifically and don't have the recipe handy at the moment, but I will look it back over.
Time will tell. Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

I've read that "bigger" beers in terms of ABV need more time to carb and/or condition and this beer is somewhere between 9-9.5% so I'd be curious what the head retention is like 3 weeks from bottling. I will try to start a thread later tonight because I have some questions about this beer as well but its a great beer so far.
 
JJ900 said:
I've read that "bigger" beers in terms of ABV need more time to carb and/or condition and this beer is somewhere between 9-9.5% so I'd be curious what the head retention is like 3 weeks from bottling. I will try to start a thread later tonight because I have some questions about this beer as well but its a great beer so far.
Click to expand...


Good call. It's harder to get head retention in bigger beers, at least IME. I've never heard of the beer, so this didn't occur to me.

I've had commercial brews that would barely foam when poured pretty roughly. Anything I get above about 11% will hardly form a head at all, let alone retain it.
 
PatrickLS83 said:
+1

I don't remember if you said this but are you using a bottling bucket to carbonate or adding sugar to each bottle? Just want to rule out under-carbonation as a possibility.
Click to expand...

Bottling bucket, 5oz priming sugar.

I've ruled out glasses as the issue as I have no issue with other beers.
I had solid carbonation at 7 days and overflowing head in an IPA glass. It just dissipates quickly.
I'll keep a few in the fridge 24 - 48 hours and see what happens.
Not a big deal, it's a delicious beer. As time allows I'll look further into it.
Thanks for all the input.
 
Mexibilly said:
I don't recall the ingredients specifically and don't have the recipe handy at the moment, but I will look it back over.
Click to expand...

Do you know if you were using a quality all-malt extract? If there was a lot of sugar in it, or if the recipe included a large sugar addition, head retention and body are affected. You'll get a thinner beer with poor head retention.
 
rhys333 said:
Do you know if you were using a quality all-malt extract? If there was a lot of sugar in it, or if the recipe included a large sugar addition, head retention and body are affected. You'll get a thinner beer with poor head retention.
Click to expand...

It was a quality kit from my respected LHBS.
I've had a couple in the fridge over 24 now. I'll try one tonite and again after 48
 

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