Weak Head on a Hefeweizen

[deharris]

I just drank the first bottle of a Hefeweizen batch my buddy and I brewed (our second beer ever) and it was unbelievably delicious. The color is gorgeous and all the right flavors were there.

The only problem is that we had a "weak" head. There was plenty of foam but it was thin and would fizzle out after a few minutes. Usually hefs have a really thick, long-lasting head right? What are we doing wrong?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Rinse your glasses in no-rinse sanitizer, not dish soap. Do not dry off your glasses afterwards. Air dry only.

 

[FlyingHorse]

Hard to say without more details on your recipe and process. Could be something as simple as dirt/soap on your glassware, could be detergent remnants in your equipment, could be an overly long protein rest (if you mashed), could be the ingredients (though unlikely with a hefe, assuming you had lots of wheat in there).

 

[deharris]

Thanks to both who responded. This was an extract recipe, and the ingredients were pretty straightforward (6.6 lbs. Wheat LME, Tettnang hops...that's about it) so I'm guessing it was the glass itself. I'll try your suggestions and post the results.

 

[Beerrific]

Do you use jetdry in the dishwasher? The film it leaves on glass will kill head. If so, wash again in weak dish soap, rinse a bunch, and let air dry.

 

[homebrewer_99]

If the head fizzles out fast I agree with the soap residue on your glasses. Even with a clean glass I'll rinse in hot water then cold. Shake a few times. Do not dry it off. There is soap residue on your towel also.

How young is your brew? It usually takes about 3-4 weeks in the bottle to get a nice long lasting head and lace.

How long did you have it in the fridge? I have found that if you leave you brew in the fridge for 2 days the head gets thicker. You may also want to try to place a bottle in the freezer for about 20 mins.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

I discovered that if I have a glass that's not holding head, I give it a spray with some sulfite/water mix and rinse and lol and behold it holds head again!

 

[deharris]

All good points.

The beer has been in the bottle for exactly three weeks. I'll see what happens in another week or so.

As for chilling the beer to get more head, I drank another this weekend that was much colder than the first and it was a bit more heady but not much. I'll get my hands on some of the sanitizing solutions that have been recommended and see if those work better...