Jump to content
Coopers Community

Head retention


Recommended Posts

Probably has been discussed before.....what are the main influences on head retention....done quite a few brews and can be hit or miss....I myself in my small brewing world am more concerned about carbonation in my beer, and get it regularly, so that’s no issue...after some ideas??....cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

G'day UnkieDrunkie,

What ingredients do you usually use to make your beers? Replacing Brew Enhancers with Dry Malt Extract helps with head formation and retention, also steeping grains and hops can contribute too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been going through the coopers range and getting fantastic results, but my best beer to date has been using the woollies draught......have been using recommended brew enhancers but I have found using dextrose with hops and other added crystals and wheat has made my beer very very likeable and great tasting.....best part is experimenting all the time

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your added hop, crystal and wheat should help a lot, Unkiedrunkie.  Dextrose will thin your beer making head retention poorer. Use less or none. Try steeping 300g of Caramalt.

Cheers

Edited by Worthog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Try a beer using ldm(light dry malt) instead of the dextrose.

Most of mine are:

1 X can of goop(Cooper's APA is a great base)

1 or 2 boxes 500g Cooper's LDM

(Up to 250g dextrose to add a bit more alcohol if desired, or to "dry/thin out" beer)

(Insert hop schedule here)

1 X US-05 yeast...

23ltrs.

From my results as a K&K brewer, I get the best head retention using only ldm. I buy the boxes of the Cooper's stuff, but any lhbs will have it. 

I'm assuming you could use the liquid malt extract to get the same results ***attention brains trust***???🤔

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Pretty sure it is a 20% ratio.

That is 1kg of Light Dry Malt = 1.2kg Liquid Malt Extract.  The Liquid Malt Extract contains 1kg of Light Malt plus 200g of water.

Wouldn’t it be 1kg LDM = 1.25kg liquid malt extract 

If the water content is 20% then 1.25kg of liquid malt would contain 0.25kg of water (1.25 x 20%)..

Leaving 1kg of malt (1.25kg - 0.25kg).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hairy said:

Wouldn’t it be 1kg LDM = 1.25kg liquid malt extract 

If the water content is 20% then 1.25kg of liquid malt would contain 0.25kg of water (1.25 x 20%)..

Leaving 1kg of malt (1.25kg - 0.25kg).

Happy to stand corrected Hairy.

I may have got the percentage wrong, but it depends on which way you are going.  I thought that 1kg of Light Dry Malt has the same amount of malt as 1.2kg of Liquid Malt Extract.  So you have to use 20% more by weight of Liquid Malt Extract for the same amount of Dry Malt Extract.  However going the other way, if a recipe calls for 1.2kg of Liquid Malt Extract, but you want to use Light Dry Malt, you have to use 16.7% less by weight (1.2kg less 16.7% = 1kg).

However, if as you say 1kg LDM = 1.25kg liquid malt extract, then if a recipe calls for Light Dry Malt, but you have and want to use Liquid Malt Extract you need to use 25% more Liquid Malt Extract for the same amount of malt.  And if a recipe has 1.25kg of Liquid Malt Extract, but you have and want to use Light Dry Malt you have to use 20% less by weight of Light Dry Malt for the same amount of malt.

Unless somebody advises otherwise I am happy to accept your more learned information that 1kg of Light Dry Malt = 1.25kg of Liquid Malt Extract.

Cheers Shamus

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's easier to just post this...

Grain to LME multiply by .75
Grain to DME multiply by .67
LME to grain divide by .75
DME to grain divide by .67
LME to DME multiply by .89

DME (Dry Malt Extract) is the 1.00 😉

Cheers,

Lusty.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

100% dont forget the type of glass .... yesterday I shared an Ale with my son .... his had wonderful head, you could see every sip he had taken on the glass ....  mine looked like a Asian crappy lager head ... same sample, same bottle different glass styles ... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More like a potential Monty Python theme with be-robed theologists in big wafty hats, with feather quill pens, at the table with a big papyrus, trying to save the world from the dreaded "Malt Conversion Sacreligion"  😜

  • Like 1
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

My LHBS ran out of US-05 yeast so gave me another American brand he recommended (forgotten what it was) but when I opened the bottles it produced very little head retention and little fizz. I've only used US-05 or Coopers yeast and wasn't aware that some yeasts produced almost flat beer ? All the other ingredients and method were the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...