Youngs Beer Heading Liquid

[Scampy]

Hello everyone

I'm struggling to get a decent head on my pints of homebrew.

I have therefore purchased some Youngs Heading Liquid to add to the fermenting beer.

The instructions say to add to the beer and stir in prior to bottling. However, if i do this , it will stir up the sediment in the bottom of the fermentation bucket.

Therefore, can anyone else offer some advice on Heading Liquid? If i add to the beer in the fermentation bucke, stir, and then leave for two days before bottling (so the sediment settles) will the Heading Liquid still work or just settle to the bottom and do nothing?

The brews I've been doing are all kits, and when bottled I've used PET screw-top bottles, so they're sealed-up, but still I've struggled with a head on the pint.

Thanks

 

[AdeDunn]

Can you not batch prime and add it to the bucket you batch prime in maybe? I've never bottled directly from the fermentation bucket, always from a 2nd one that I batch primed in, leaving the sediment/yeast cake behind.

 

[terrym]

I didn't even know you could buy heading liquid, but perhaps you dont need it.
If you are making up 1.5kg one cans with 1 kg dextrose to the full 23 litres and drinking it three weeks after bottling it is likely that there will be little head on your pint. If that's the case, longer conditioning, more malt and perhaps brewing short (less volume) may help.
Also if your drinking glasses are not clean, i.e. you can see tiny bubbles on the side, when you have beer in them, that too will kill the head on your pint. Wash glasses in clean soapy/detergent water, rinse, then dry with a dedicated glasses cloth should sort that out.
And you could also syringe air into the beer in your glass (think child's Calpol syringe) which works as well.
But in the end remember many bottled commercial bottled beers dont keep their head very well for whatever reason

 

[Bobtheblob]

You could always pour your beer out of the bottle from a height. That would make a nice head.

 

[obscure]

This is the same beer at 14 days and 36 days was a one can kit brewed with sugar. It’s by no means guaranteed but as @terrym stated a bit longer conditioning can make a difference.

 

[Scampy]

Perhaps i could try conditioning longer, although I've left some bottled for a month and still haven't got a reasonable head on the glass.
Also, i have never tried batch priming. Would a pressure vessel be required for batch priming?

Thanks for your input everyone!