Head retention issues!!!

[suffolkbeer]

I recently brewed a pale ale and all seemed to go ok.
It’s now been in the bottle for about 6 weeks and I decided to try it last night.
Plenty of fizz but no head at all.

My glasses are clean and I never use detergent on them etc etc...

I included wheat malt in the grist at approx 8% of the total weight.

Potential issues may be:

Wheat malt instead of my usual torrified wheat (I’ll boost to 10% as well)?

My wort was too high OG at the end of the boil so I diluted with water to hit my OG?

My water is hard! Would this affect head formation/retention? If so what would one add??

I rinsed bottles with starsan immediately prior to bottling, would this affect head?

Any ideas on the above???

 

[Zephyr259]

What was your OG and abv? I find I get very little head on my low strength brews despite flaked barley etc, 1.5 vol of CO2 also doesn't help there.

 

[suffolkbeer]

OG was approx 1.039 if I remember correctly.

Abv 4.2%

 

[Zephyr259]

Yeah, that's right where my bitter sits, 1.038 - 1.040 and 3.8 - 4%abv, low carb level but the head disappears right away. Recipe has 7% crystal malt, 9% flaked barley and the last version got 20% munich. I've stopped caring, I've yet to find a commercial bottled ale which can hold a head and my stouts and bock head brilliantly.

 

[marshbrewer]

I used to get head retention issues, but then noticed commercial bottled beer often had the same issues, so put it down to my glassware. That made me feel much better about things and I stopped caring so much.

Typically, my head retention issues then disappeared, lol.

I do always mash with either torrified wheat or flaked barley, usually about 150g or so.

 

[ACBEV]

In my experience its quite hard to get good head retention on low ABV British type ales. If the beer is on the thin side, no amount of foam positive stuff will help. To me this is a double edged sword, by the time I've added this and that, and done the other, am I really brewing what I intended just for a little head.

So, for me the viscosity of the beer is my starting point for good head retention and adding foam positive adjuncts...

All my beers have 5% wheat malt, never hurts!
A few more hops, if you like that sort of thing.
You can get away with more crystal malt in low ABV beers, this helps with viscosity.
For pale ales and bitters, some amber malt. I find any roasted malts have a positive effect.
Moderate amounts of flaked barley, torrified wheat or malted oats are foam positive and/or are thickening adjuncts.

A continental approach to mashing can be positive for head formation and retention i.e. start on the low side. Also mash PH and the like!

There are a myriad of other factors involved, which are far beyond my little brain!