Head Retenion whats the mystery.

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winnywood

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Just poured SWMBO a nice glass of pepsi and me a brewferm tarwebier.
Then I had one of them pondering moments.
What is it that makes beer keep a head and not carbonated soft drinks?
There both fizzy so whats in beer that keeps a head and whats lacking in some beers that stops them from keeping good head? :?
 
So as homebrewers is there anything we can add to aid head retention.
 
Cononthebarber said:
I found an interesting article which you might find helpful...?
http://brewwiki.com/index.php/Head_Retention
Looking at your link, I see it mentions heading liquid.
40 years ago when I were a lad, it was compulsory to add heading liquid to beer.
Now I don't think I've seen a recipe itemising it,
and it's not been discussed on this forum in the last year.
What happened?
 
I may be wrong but I think there have been some advances in the malting process and quality of the finished malt's which mean we are able to get a higher rate of conversion from malts and extract much more of the proteins needed for good head retention. This may be why the use of head retention aids are not as common or needed?
 
I make all my recipes 'northern' by adding wheat malt, about 5% :thumb:
 
Some of my brews allthough the carbonation level is good they stuggle to give me good head. if I use a head keeper glass then I usually get to much good head.
I prefer lager style beers and bottle all my brews so is there anything I can add to galentee I get good head?
Im still a kit man at the moment
And it is only just for the moment!
 
By the way that video is funny. im gonna try that next time a guest complains im not giving good head.
 
Beer with good condition should not be tampered with. However, sometimes the beer contains enough carbon dioxide but fails to deliver a good head or any head at all. I'm not an advocate of a big creamy head, but I like to see some activity at the surface of the beer. Washing thoroughly to remove any traces of fat, oil or detergent is essential of course. Also scratching the bottom of all your beer glasses with (eg) a tile scribe is a clever way to help seed fine bubbles from the bottom of the glass. I've been through all my glass stock to scratch the bottoms. Also I have found that adding a very small amount of finely ground mixed spice powder to the glass (on the tip of a teaspoon) enhances the head and head retention of flat homebrew beer. Add a lot less than you think you might need. You can add it after pouring the beer if the head is disappointing. Gently stir it into the beer. It evidently seeds the little bubbles of CO2, provided that there is already CO2 in the beer of course. The flavour of the beer is enhanced with the hint of spice. Most of the powder does rise to the surface and make the glass and head look a bit messy, so add only a tiny amount at first. I've put the spice powder to the test...very small fine bubbles continue to dance around the top of the beer when the glass is gently shaken. When I used heading liquid the head did not seem natural...it floated away as you tipped the glass to drink. Better of course if you can get a natural head without recourse to spice powder and the like. I've heard that including flaked barley in the mash aids head retention, say 500g of it. I used to add this to my stout and the head was better than for bitter. Next brew I'll include some flaked barley for sure. I've heard that a little wheat malt is also good for head retention.
 
I'm learning about head in my new AG quest. My first AG was nicknamed the cream of ash Vegas. Mostly cause I got the mash all wrong. :) side affect massive head. :O. it's amazing how you can soon learn. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405622660.214117.jpg
 

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