Head at last, but at a cost...

[ukphiltr7]

I have done three brews now, 2 craft beers and one Coopers Larger that came with the kit. Each time I have not been too happy with the head. The head on the beers have been a bit hit and miss. Sometimes the larger will give a nice head that does not last and some just are as lifeless as flat coke. The other two ales are pretty much the same.


When I finish the bottle, I always wash it out with water and drain it off. When washing, the first bit of water mixes with the sediment and had a fantastic head. So last night I had the first glass, where the head went quite quick. Then before I filled the glass, I shook it up (in the bottle) and the head on it was great. It lasted till the end of the glass and left traces down the glass as I drunk it. The head I always wanted. However, (and there always is), the drink which is normally clear, was now cloudy, as you may suspect, if I am shaking the sediment up.


So if I want a nice head on the larger, I have to have it cloudy. Is there anything that I can do to get drinks with a nice head and keep it, whilst at the same time having a nice clear drink? Or is there any advice that you guys can give me to go forward?


I now do the 2 – 2 – 2 method and I add two carb drops per 750ml PET bottle. I will be trying a tbls of sugar in the next bottles and then going up to 1.5 and 2 tbsl.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

When I read the title I had to look

 

[Bigcol49]

When I read the title I had to look

Same here. I thought, "Story of my life!"
Seriously, though, @ukphiltr7 if you are making beer from kits, try adding about 300g of maltodextrin. It helps with head retention.

 

[ukphiltr7]

Yes looking at it now I can see how it can be taken wrong lol. Or is it just a play on words to get more people to read my thread and hopefully answer??

Not heard of doing the maltodextrin, but if it will help I am more than happy to try it. I also heard that oats would help?

 

[Covrich]

Could be a few thinsg but one thing I wouldn;t do is get a head at teh cost of dumping in the sediment.. The sediment will affect and usually make your beer harsh and unpleasant.

Heads on kit beers can be a little hit and miss but depending on how you make them up can impact what you get.. what do you add to the coopers kits? leaving out sugar in place of Malt extract helps too.

Something which you may not be ready for which helps is adding some grain as the proteins helps form a head carapils torrified wheat flakes barley ect all are good for this

One thing though which is imporant is glass wear and bottles.. how do you clean them? avoid washing up liquids or rinse aids detergents ect.. With glasswear I try to wash with hot water (sometimes a little cleaner if I am a tramp and leave them out too long)and rinse throroughly and either air dry or dry with a microfiber cloth..

Just some suggestions to get you started.

 

[Leon103]

Having a head on a beer isn't necessary although I can see why people would want it.

You also mention that your beer is flat, is it actually carbed?

 

[F00b4r]

Have you got the new style tops for the Coopers PET bottles with the silicone inserts and better outside grip? If not then you might not have a decent seal and even if you are adding the right amount of priming sugar the carbonation might be escaping (maybe why shaking it up and forcing CO2 to start escaping gives it a good head).

 

[Zephyr259]

If you are going to try sugar then batch priming is a lot more reliable than spoons per bottle. Use an online calculator like this one (temperature is the maximum temperature during fermentation, not temp at bottling) to work out the amount of sugar required for the batch, dissolve it in some water and give it a quick boil. If you have a bottling bucket our this into the bottom then siphon the beer on top, if not then you can gently stir it into the primary being careful not to disturb the sediment too much. This will give a much more even carbonation than spoons, assuming your bottles aren't leaking.

Oats may or may not help, but they would require mashing to be used, I think CaraPils can be steeped which is easier and they are meant to be good for (beer) head.

And sorry for being "that guy" but there's only 1 r in lager. I'm not a grammar nazi but beer is important :-)

 

[Cwrw666]

Definitely rinse out your glasses very thoroughly to get rid of detergent.

I think I've heard of using a syringe - pour your beer, suck up a syringeful and squirt it back in. Instant head. But make sure you wash out your heroin first...

 

[ukphiltr7]

But make sure you wash out your heroin first...

Or you may not even care that your drink has not got a good head on it hey lol.

I have found that pouring in from a bit of hight gives a nice head too.

It is not that I want a head like a German drink, I just want to try and get away from the old flat beers that my mum and dad used to make when I was I kid. It would be nice to know that we have progressed a bit since them days. :hat:

I think I will go to the local homebrew shop to check out the grain option as I want the Coopers British Bitter (that I will be doing next) to be the best I have done.

 

[AdeDunn]

I can confirm that the syringe trick usually works. 10 ml syringe, suck beer up, squirt back in, leave the end in the beer whilst you do this. 9/10 times you'll get a big creamy head doing this. It really helps with beer that has lower carbonation, the creamy head turns it from flat and insipid, to creamy and delicious.

 

[Clint]

If you're pimping coopers kits have a look at their website ...loads of ideas on there. Some clever person may be along soon to post a link....

 

[Ciaran12s]

I use a 5ml Calpol syringe, works a treat although I don't use it on much other than stout.

I can see where @Leon103 is coming from with not needing ahead. Most of my beers have been poor for head and retention and they still taste good. There is a lot of satisfaction to be got from pouring one of your brews and seeing a good head and lacing all the way to the bottom.

Is retention and lacing a competition marker/sign of a good beer does anyone know?

I've put many 100s of pints of tennets down over the years and most decent pubs get good head and lacing. I say good pubs, this maybe points to the decent glassware case.

 

[ukphiltr7]

You also mention that your beer is flat, is it actually carbed?

Yep is is carbonated but the bubbles are very small and there is only a few of them.

I hear what people are saying about having a head is not everything and taste is k8ng. I agree but I don' want my son picking up my glass in mistake thinking it is his flat coke lol.

I went to the local brew shop yesterday and had a chat. The guy said (like it has been said on here) that the glasses are important. Not to clean them in normal detergent as it has a drying agent in them that prevents water from sticking to them, thus will try quicker. This agent will also stop heads from lacing. He said to soak glasses in salt water for a bit and then wash in water. This is something I will try next and see 8f this has any effect. I also brought a cleaning agent to help. I brought some more PET bottles to try and help. Just in ase I have some of the Coppers bottles where the kids do not seal correct. And yes the new bottles are not Coppers lol.

 

[ukphiltr7]

Normally when proving I add two carb drops to 1 x 740ml PET bottle. I have one where I put three drops in. I will be trying this soon to see if that works and will update here.

 

[coolhandluke]

There must be a reason for the lack of a head.
I've recently done a couple of Wherrys and two Tom Caxtons, and all had a long lasting head while drinking, and plenty of rising bubbles which lasted.

My Wilko IPA was pretty flat, & I put that down to a few things - I think the finings stopped it from carbing properly. (I've only tried finings the one time, just to see what effect it had. It did clear the beer quicker, but I've been more than happy with the clarity of my other brews so far without using it). I also think I didn't quite use enough priming sugar. The remaining bottles have improved after 10 weeks or so, they have a slight head & bubbles & are reasonable to drink now so it wasn't a total loss.

If it's not being killed by detergent, maybe it's something simple like
-leave a smaller air gap in the bottle neck
-make sure caps are tight
-use enough priming sugar (I bought 3 small plastic measures from HomeBrewOnline for a few pence, and I use the 0.75 tsp size, 1 of these of brewing sugar per 500ml bottle, slightly more than most instructions say but it helps with the carbonation, and is not enough to cause any explosions if everything has fermented).

 

[ukphiltr7]

This is the third beer that I have done, a Northwest Pale Ale (Mr Beer craft kit). With this one I have followed the 2 – 2 – 2 rule, or as best I can. I need to give it one more week, but Tuesday I could not resist anymore. So I opened a bottle.


I used a new glass that had been in the freezer for a little while and poured it in with a little high. As you can see from the picture below, it was ideal. May be a bit too big for an ale, but I was just happy that it had a decent head that lasted and gave nice lacing down the glass. I hope to keep on improving on this as time goes by, but I now know that the glass has a bit to do with it too.