My Holy Grail

Trying to keep this short.

I've made a dozen or more all grain brews now and loved the taste of each one.

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation and head in them mostly.

I've tried to follow suggested measures of drops (I've not used table sugar yet), I tried pressure barrels which I've now skipped and the last brew I used Grolsch bottles but nothing changes.

I do sanatise everything I use including bottles and the Brewzilla and equipment.

I am guessing I might be erring on the side of caution. I mention I try drops but I've also tried bulk priming which was maybe a little better.

Should I just be braver and whack more in?

Thanks as always.

The Cat said:

Trying to keep this short.

I've made a dozen or more all grain brews now and loved the taste of each one.

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation and head in them mostly.

I've tried to follow suggested measures of drops (I've not used table sugar yet), I tried pressure barrels which I've now skipped and the last brew I used Grolsch bottles but nothing changes.

I do sanatise everything I use including bottles and the Brewzilla and equipment.

I am guessing I might be erring on the side of caution. I mention I try drops but I've also tried bulk priming which was maybe a little better.

Should I just be braver and whack more in?

Thanks as always.

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Can be anything from something as simple as the cleanliness of the glass you are drinking from to the pH, the mash temperature, or the grain bill. The use of high-protein adjuncts or dextrin malts will help.
Sugar or carbonation drops do not improve a beer's head and retention.
I like my beers with minimal carbonation and can keep a decent head retention to the end, only limited by the ABV.
So you need to describe in detail your brewing procedure to get more help.

Foxy, you didn't mention the pour, or using a glass with nucleation etching

jof said:

Foxy, you didn't mention the pour, or using a glass with nucleation etching

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Because the pour, or any nucleation etchings won't help our feline poster. We are in a serious lack of brewing technique territory.

foxy said:

Because the pour, or any nucleation etchings won't help our feline poster. We are in a serious lack of brewing technique territory.

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The Pope Of Foam disagrees. Pouring with vigour is part of the equation. This is essential viewing for both cats and caninae, and contains the answers both need.

The Cat said:

Trying to keep this short.

I've made a dozen or more all grain brews now and loved the taste of each one.

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation and head in them mostly.

I've tried to follow suggested measures of drops (I've not used table sugar yet), I tried pressure barrels which I've now skipped and the last brew I used Grolsch bottles but nothing changes.

I do sanatise everything I use including bottles and the Brewzilla and equipment.

I am guessing I might be erring on the side of caution. I mention I try drops but I've also tried bulk priming which was maybe a little better.

Should I just be braver and whack more in?

Thanks as always.

Click to expand...

We could do with a bit more detail Tbh. Maybe even a pic?

The Cat said:

Trying to keep this short.

I've made a dozen or more all grain brews now and loved the taste of each one.

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation and head in them mostly.

I've tried to follow suggested measures of drops (I've not used table sugar yet), I tried pressure barrels which I've now skipped and the last brew I used Grolsch bottles but nothing changes.

I do sanatise everything I use including bottles and the Brewzilla and equipment.

I am guessing I might be erring on the side of caution. I mention I try drops but I've also tried bulk priming which was maybe a little better.

Should I just be braver and whack more in?

Thanks as always.

Click to expand...

Have you tried a pocket beer engine (haven't seen this mentioned in a while)?

The Cat said:

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation

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The head is more complicated, but there should be no excuse for no carbonation. It just needs sugar and a relatively small amount of yeast (eg Fuller's reseed 1845 with 0.5bn cells/litre, about 1/15 of what you might use for main fermentation - you don't need to add more) to make CO2, and then you just need to make sure it's not being lost through leaky caps etc.

I guess one thing to check is how much headspace you're leaving in your bottles? You want the beer to be into the neck, but you don't want it brimful - maybe leave an inch or so? And IME 330ml bottles need a bit more sugar relative to 500ml bottles to get the same carbonation.

But yeah, carbonation is pretty simple - don't overdo it as it wrecks the flavour of beers that aren't meant for it but it sounds like you could do with a bit more sugar.

Oh, and keeping it too warm between the later stages of fermentation and bottling will cause CO2 to be released which may muck up your calculations, so try to avoid that.

In short, if it's not carbonated enough, put more sugar in the bottles. There are some good calculators for how much sugar to add for each style on the internet (and the forum). 1/2 - 1 tsp of sugar per 500ml bottle is a good guide. I don't know how much you're adding.

Add for the head, there can be a million things sadly. Many good podcasts/articles on the subject. Without trying to list every part of your brewday, I would suggest listening some of those (Google homebrew, head and podcast and that should point you at the main ones) and trying to figure out where your current regimen is falling short, then coming back to us with further questions.

I'm surprised carb drops aren't doing the job.

I'd much rather batch prime using this, though.

Sadfield said:

The Pope Of Foam disagrees. Pouring with vigour is part of the equation. This is essential viewing for both cats and caninae, and contains the answers both need.

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Pouring with vigour doesn't help a beer with faults of which there can be many. As Charlie says in the video. Foam and lacing is the signature of a good quality beer. A really well-brewed beer. The OP suggests he has only made a dozen beers so it is understandable he hasn't got the expertise as yet to understand the making of a "signature beer" Might be a good idea to take a photo of the beer.
Some of the pros and cons of head retention.

If it’s none of the above I find 100g of Torrified wheat does wonders for head retention although that will not help if the carbonation is not there in first place.
Ps I understand that nothing is free in life, but I am finding these animated adverts v annoying!

foxy said:

Pouring with vigour doesn't help a beer with faults of which there can be many.

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How would the OP know they have faults, without first ensuring sufficient carbonation, and that they are vigoursly pouring into a clean glass? A point clearly made by Bamforth.

Why the predetermination the OP has a 'serious lack of brewing technique'?

I've never used carbonation drops but have always found half a heaped teaspoon of granulated sugar to give both adequate carbonation and a decent head. I trust the OP is putting his newly bottled beer somewhere warm enough to keep the yeast active for at least a week?

The Cat said:

Trying to keep this short.

I've made a dozen or more all grain brews now and loved the taste of each one.

However I have been disappointed by the carbonation and head in them mostly.

I've tried to follow suggested measures of drops (I've not used table sugar yet), I tried pressure barrels which I've now skipped and the last brew I used Grolsch bottles but nothing changes.

I do sanatise everything I use including bottles and the Brewzilla and equipment.

I am guessing I might be erring on the side of caution. I mention I try drops but I've also tried bulk priming which was maybe a little better.

Should I just be braver and whack more in?

Thanks as always.

Click to expand...

Good morning @The Cat.
I'm a bit taken aback by some of the harsh responses to what seems to me to be a perfectly legitimate question, but maybe I've misread the thread.
Here's what you need to do:
-Have full confidence in your sanitation regime, looks fine and you don't mention any off-favours.
-whatever you're sanitising your bottles with, give them a rinse with cold tap water anyway.
-you dont mention it, but if you're using any kind of stabiliser at the end of your fermentation, then stop it. That's only for home made wines.
-get rid of your carbonation drops they're a complete rip off.
-prime each 500 ml bottle with a scant level teaspoonful of ordinary sugar. (not low calory sugar which contains artificial sweetners).
-cap the bottles and keep them in a fairly warm, but not hot place. 18-20C is ideal, but a degree or two either side won't harm and lager yeasts need a lower temperature.
-it will take up to six weeks for your beers to carbonate and condition. Believe me, I've had beers which give a good head after a couple of weeks, but they're still "green". Bottled beer is not the same as cask beer even if you've followed a cask beer recipe.
-20C is too warm for drinking the beer so chill out down to whatever is appropriate to the style.
-when you crack open the bottle, there should be a hiss. Pour the beer carefully down the side of the glass to judge how the head is forming, if necessary and with very cold beer, you may need to pour the rest of the bottle onto the top of the beer to make it froth up. You ll get the hang of that after a few pours.

Good luck and happy drinking.

Thanks for all the replies. I will give it all plenty of thought before brewing my next one.

I should have included my main disappointment is with the Belgian Blond I like to make. It tastes wonderful but I just want more head and life. I like ales without too much going on so those have been fine.

I'll get there one day but cheers for all the replies it all helps.

The Cat said:

Thanks for all the replies. I will give it all plenty of thought before brewing my next one.

I should have included my main disappointment is with the Belgian Blond I like to make. It tastes wonderful but I just want more head and life. I like ales without too much going on so those have been fine.

I'll get there one day but cheers for all the replies it all helps.

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You should still post a photo, a thousand words, and all that.

foxy said:

You should still post a photo, a thousand words, and all that.

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Will give it another 2 weeks till Christmas then I'll do that.

The Cat said:

I should have included my main disappointment is with the Belgian Blond I like to make. It tastes wonderful but I just want more head and life.

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Typically requiring higher carbonation than other styles, and maybe more sugar than the one size fits all of carbonation drops.

Here's a good guide to typical carbonation levels.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...gQFnoECCUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1fncsTUiZrTRVuzvHGesiM

@Clarence I went through your points and think I might have identified a major omission in my process.

I've been bottling the beers and putting them in my garage so it sounds like I am missing the step of keeping them warmish for a few weeks before putting them in the fridge. I do have a spare fridge and an inkbird and heater so I'll try that with my next brew hopefully that will be my glaring error.

Just tasted the latest one it's a Belgian Blonde at 8.6% tastes cracking so I think I'm brewing ok just missing a major step to make it better.

Thanks all for the advice I will update it when I do the next one.