Big Head

[willheap]

Hello friends,
I am looking for some advice on how to avoid the massive head of beer that I get when I ferment darker beers with weizen yeast. When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE! Pouring about a fingers worth of chilled beer into a well cleaned glass will easily create 2 pints of head! I don't get the same problem with lighter versions using same recipe less the chocolate malt. I can't understand why the addition of chocolate malt makes such a difference. I've also tried using Nottingham ale yeast on the same dark recipe and that gives me a lovely thick 1 finger head.
Is it just down to over priming?

 

[serum]

It could be that or the beer may not have finished fermenting and went a little further after you primed it.

 

[willheap]

Thanks serum. I thought I avoided this problem by leaving it at least 2 weeks in the 2ndary. Although I don't like to leave the wheat beers too long in the 2ndary. I don't normally check for consistent gravity before bottling..... maybe I should then.

 

[beerhunter]

bottled too soon by the sounds of it Will, I did the same with a barley wine, more head than ale :nah:

 

[Dads_Ale]

Do you cool down before serving. My dark wheat beer is lively if not chilled.

 

[brewpirate]

If you're brewing all grain do a longer protein rest to breakdown some of the head forming proteins.

 

[willheap]

Thanks guys.
I have to chill the beer before opening otherwise it spews out of the bottle.
It's still worth the >20 minute pour time though. It still taste good :-)
I have a HERMS so I already do a decent protein rest but I'll look at increasing that too.

 

[brewpirate]

Actually this sounds like over carbonation or infection. How did you prime ?

 

[willheap]

I used to only use gyle but i kept forgetting to save the wort so I just use brewing sugar (boiled in water then cooled) mixed with twice-racked fermented beer.
I'm convincing myself that it's not infection because this always happens with my dark wheat beers but never with my lighter versions with the same recipe less the dark malts.
I 'like' the idea of unfinished-fermentation. do dark malts ferment slower?

 

[proost]

I used to only use gyle but i kept forgetting to save the wort so I just use brewing sugar (boiled in water then cooled) mixed with twice-racked fermented beer.
I'm convincing myself that it's not infection because this always happens with my dark wheat beers but never with my lighter versions with the same recipe less the dark malts.
I 'like' the idea of unfinished-fermentation. do dark malts ferment slower?

Tried wetting the glass before you pour? Just an idea.

 

[willheap]

Yup, tried both wet and dry. Same effect.