Foam head on beer.. What´s up with you british?

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Pfeffer

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Hi all,

There's a question that has bugging me for quite a while, being from the other side of the North Sea and this forum seems to be the perfect media to sort it. I really enjoy a good head on my beer, whether it's a simple pilsener or a special brew, it has to have a decent head.

In the UK it's standard to almost completely fill up the glass, without a proper head. The little layer of foam dissappears in a matter of seconds. I figure you'll get the most beer for your hard earned money, but what's the science behind it?

At work I only get the standard comments like "More beer" or "it's just a british thing". But might there be more to it?

I find that it helps with the aroma a lot. If I get the same beer without a head, I find it less appealing and tasty than when it has a good foamy head on it. For my mind, drinking a UK drafted version of "my beer" tastes like one that went flat because I didn't touch it for a while.

Can anyone shine some light on this british thing?
 
UK ales, such as bitter, are usually carbonated at low levels and so if served 'traditionally' on draught from a hand pump or by gravity will not have a significant head. However some beers do keep their head (lacing down the glass) and this is often seen as a sign of a good beer.
In some parts of the country, draught beer was/is served to fill the glass with liquid rather than liquid plus 'froth', since the froth was/is seen as short measure. So froth was not desirable. Personally over the years I have asked many times for my glass to be topped up rather than be served a short pint.
UK bottled beers do tend to lose their head quicker than their draught equivalent, no idea why.
 
Up here I find we get better heads on our pints than in England. I think it might have something to do with the fact that, in England, your pint measure includes the head by law. In Scotland, however, the head does not form part of the pint.
 
I live in the north of England - Having lived in a pub that served Boddingtons Bitter from cask via hand pump with a small holed sprinkler on it - if it was ever served without a head the locals would complain. And I agree - I like a nice head on my beer.
If I remember rightly The Good Beer guide actually has a section for each beer which states if it should have a sprinkler or not - probably to do with if the beer should be aerated or not.

I notice the further south in England you go (on average) the less appealing the head becomes.

I was served a pint of Tribute in Cornwall that was served without the sprinkler on the pump and looked like dishwater. I was going to complain until I noticed that was how everyone else was drinking it - it was still delicious, but the first bite is with the eye and it just doesn't seem right to a northerner like me.
 
My local pub actually has oversized pint glasses with a line showing the liquid pint level - and an extra 3/4 inch for "head room"
 
Ah, Mike's point makes great sense. Here the "volume" bar that's usually on a glass also indicates the volume (0,25l, 0,3l, 0,5l etc) for the liquid part, the head is not measured in the sold volume. If by law the volume is just the glass contents, I can imagine that (especially in the old days) people would have a hard time paying for "air".

For me personally, I think the head is important for the aroma as well. A lot of the taste comes from your sense of smell anyway. Plus the aesthetical part is also quite important for me. A good head looks like a proper beer for me, if it lacks foam.. it's indeed, well, dirty water that was used for the dishes.. But that might be a cultural thing over here.
 
Up here I find we get better heads on our pints than in England. I think it might have something to do with the fact that, in England, your pint measure includes the head by law. In Scotland, however, the head does not form part of the pint.


Must be something in the water up here mate:lol:

If I was served a pint without a head I would send it back, glass marked or not.

First time I saw a pint glass that was volume marked was on holiday down south
 
Must be something in the water up here mate:lol:

If I was served a pint without a head I would send it back, glass marked or not.

First time I saw a pint glass that was volume marked was on holiday down south

I had a pint of Paulaner in London in 2009. It had the pint line marked about 2cm from the top of the glass. I'd had the same pint in Edinburgh (at the same bar chain) and the liquid stopped at the line with a lovely foamy head taking up the rest of the Glass. In London, however, the head was a fraction of the size, stopped at the line and I had 2cm of empty space in my glass. AND I paid about 75p a pint more than in Edinburgh for the privilege!
 
Extract from Wikipedia concerning pint glasses in the UK which may help understanding

"Selling beer in unmeasured glasses without using some other form of calibrated measure is illegal. Half-pint, one-third pint and two-thirds pint (schooners) glasses are also available, and are subject to the same laws.
Despite this emphasis on accurately measured glasses, there is a practice of defining a pint of beer as only 95 percent liquid.[12] It is common for drinkers to be served less than a full 20 ounce (568 ml equivalent) pint of liquid[13] — either because too much of the glass is taken up by a foamy "head", or simply because the customer has been sold a short measure. This allows publicans to sell more beer than the stated capacity of the cask or keg and hence save money. This practice may have consciously increased since the removal of a duty allowance on ullage (wastage). To counter this the British Beer and Pub Association have issued guidelines for bar staff to respect a customer who asks for a 'top up' to a full 20 ounce pint (568ml).[14]
For those wishing to avoid this practice while still serving beer with a large head, "lined" or "oversized" glasses are available. These have a line near the top (usually labelled "pint to line") to which the beer should be poured, with the head forming above it. In the past a number of breweries supplied these glasses to their pubs; this is now rarely the case and lined glasses are found mostly at enthusiasts' events such as beer festivals, serious cask ale pubs, and breweries' own bars. The use of lined 568 ml pint glasses in pubs is advocated by the Campaign for Real Ale."

So if this is correct, it seems to me that next time you get a 'pint' in an unlined glass and the glass is not full and has more than about 10mm foam on top you have been given short measure, and you have a right to get it topped up to your liking, foam or not, like wot I do.
 
Is it not something to do with weights and measures?? with a standard pint glass
 
I regularly go to craft ale festivals and one in particular the black eagle one just outside brum every July serve a dozen or more straight out the kegs by venting and gravity.there's never a head on them and the conditioning leaves a lot to be desired and ends up after supping a few with me and my mate retreating to the craft ales in the bar with the lovely head and conditioning,so no I ain't a big fan of a no head beer
 
It depends how much head you're talking...too much and you get some in your mouth when trying to take a drink....which for me is unpleasant.
 
Generally I want to see 2 fingers worth of "head" on a pint, less and it starts to look flat but also tend to count the bubbles in the beer as the head in my locals.
 
Hmm... I was working in a pub when the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2009 came out and I was fairly sure that 5% of the pint can be head. Unlikely it's changed since but I could be mid remembering or maybe dodgely informed. We always topped up a pint if it was requested.
 
...and of course when one of our larger pub chains tried a couple of years ago to go to (oversized) but lined glasses, so many of their "customers" complained that they weren't filling the glasses up. Doh. End of lined glasses. Expensive experiment.

Personally I find that the use of a sparkler tends to homogenise the beer and I find it difficult to taste one from another, but since I'm a sissy Southerner my view is of course biased!
 
I remember working in Sydenham many years ago.The first day I landed my father took me the pub.I asked the barman for 2 Guinness and was shocked when he had both poured in the blink of an eye.
I told in a nice mannerly fashion that was not how you treated this stout.
He was very aware of my Irish accent and asked if I would mind showing him.
Without hesitation I jumped at the opportunity and 15 mins later after letting it rest 2/3 of the glass then final top up with a creamy head appeared a pint of stout.
He looked and laughed and said no one shall drink that as it takes way too long and the head is too big.I said try it with your next Irish customer.
Came back a few days later and ordered the same but from another staff member and was asked to take a seat as it would take a while and what a lovely pint it was.

Sent from my ALE-L21
 

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