head lacking on my beer

[davidgrace]

ok so the problem is with your beer if there is no head in the glass, or with you if after the first sip, the head disappears......

Very little head from the start and soon disappears.

I take it you are bottling and letting them carb up at room temperature BEFORE storing them in a cold cellar?
If not, there is your answer. Your yeast has got cold and gone to sleep and its not carbing up and you'll never get a good head.
But if you do, ignore the above.

I also find that young beer has bigger bubbles and the head is always a little disappointing. Think lemonade or cola sized bubbles. But given a month or two, it miraculously gets much better and the bubbles become very very small and being small, the surface tension of the beer holds them together and voila - creamy smooth head. I have no idea if this is particular to me, or if its physics, but i genuinely find the bubbles change over time as the beer conditions.

Last night, I tried for the second time, a black sheep ale that started conditioning 7 June. I am a patient brewer and so am prepared to wait for better beer as it ages, but this one is still a little disappointing. Little head that soon disappears. Maybe it will improve by early September. That's o.k. but will it get any better?

 

[bobukbrewer]

foxbat - continuous film with soap present - areas of dryness when you empty out the cold rinse water = no soap present - surely ?

 

[foxbat]

foxbat - continuous film with soap present - areas of dryness when you empty out the cold rinse water = no soap present - surely ?

Hi Bob, I was referring to the "sheeting test" on page 2 of the attached PDF (commercial guide by Micromatic). I've done the "salt test" and it does work. If the salt test doesn't look good use a paper towel to rub the salt around the glass, rinse out and your glass is beer clean.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Foxbat, I read the pdf carefully, and I do not think it is correct. If a glass is "perfectly" clean and it is wetted with say still bottled water, surface tension will cause droplets of water that adhere to the glass. If there were a soap film on the glass (ie a wetting agent ) then the water will all run off without adhering. Years ago I did my own photo processing and best practice, after rinsing the 36 exposure film with tap water, was to final rinse with very dilute wetting agent, and then hang the film strip vertically. The water ran off without leaving residual streaks or bubble marks. My home made beer has better head retention than leading commercial bottled beers, and I repeat my technique, wash glass well, rinse well, dry with clean tea cloth or kitchen roll, next evening before use fill 2 or 3 times with tap water, do not dry glass, just pour in the beer.