Limited head life in glass

[lickedthestamp]

So if you are wanting more head *snigger* would it be better to use say BE3 + 500g LDM rather than using 1kg of LDM with a kit? And if so, would the yeast (7g iirc) that comes with the kit cope with the extra 500g or would you need more yeast?

[DonPolo]

2 hours ago, James Lao said:

250g of wheat DME will do the trick.

All my beers have this amount in and all have great head retention and lacing.

Upping the hops levels will probably won’t do any harm either.

I prefer my beers poured into a glass as well!

Cheers

James

I agree about the wheat malt James, it seems to have done the trick for me. But I had to do a grains steep because I couldn't find any DME anywhere. Any tips?

Also I found that Brew Enhancer 3 performed well I believe it has maltodextrin in it. 

[DonPolo]

32 minutes ago, lickedthestamp said:

So if you are wanting more head *snigger* would it be better to use say BE3 + 500g LDM rather than using 1kg of LDM with a kit? And if so, would the yeast (7g iirc) that comes with the kit cope with the extra 500g or would you need more yeast?

Good question.

[lickedthestamp]

Or if 1kg of BE3 + 500g LDM is too much for the kit yeast, maybe add 250g of maltodextrin to 1kg of LDM?

[Beerlust]

2 hours ago, lickedthestamp said:

So if you are wanting more head *snigger* would it be better to use say BE3 + 500g LDM rather than using 1kg of LDM with a kit? And if so, would the yeast (7g iirc) that comes with the kit cope with the extra 500g or would you need more yeast?

I've had one sachet of the standard Coopers Ale dried yeast strain (7gms) ferment beers up to an original gravity of 1.048 without issue.

Anything higher than that, & you are starting to stretch the capabilities of the 7gm weight of supplied yeast (IMHO).

Cheers,

Lusty.

[Fraser Brews]

19 hours ago, Beerlust said:

Hello Fraser Brews, & welcome to the forum.

Generally if you wish to improve head retention you need to increase the final gravity (body) of your beer. Worts (unfermented beer) comprising of large amounts of simple sugars such as dextrose & table sugar ferment out to much lower levels leaving no body behind, thus reducing head retention.

For those just starting out & using kits, adding a portion of Maltodextrin (or corn syrup powder) into your brewing ingredients will help with improving head retention as they are largely unfermentable.

Perhaps give the following a try with your next brew.

Coopers Brew Enhancer 3

I hope that helps.

Lusty.

Thanks for tip Lusty, are you saying to use this enhancer on top of any other recommended. For example i just did the Coopers half ruby porter which recommended dry light malt with the wort so do you think the additional enhancer 3 as well

[Beerlust]

2 hours ago, Fraser Brews said:

Thanks for tip Lusty, are you saying to use this enhancer on top of any other recommended. For example i just did the Coopers half ruby porter which recommended dry light malt with the wort so do you think the additional enhancer 3 as well

The Enhancer 3 I recommended has a portion of Maltodextrin in it that will improve the situation you described with the beer(s) you have made so far that lack head retention.

In the case of the Half Ruby Porter there will be enough head retention properties already comprised in the kit tin due to the grains used & involved in making a beer style like this, that a maltodextrin addition would likely be unnecessary.

Merely as a guide, if you are happy with the flavour of your beer, but unhappy with head retention, add an enhancer that contains maltodextrin (or corn syrup powder) as maltodextrin is flavourless. If your beer seems a little thin on malt character & lacks head retention, then use pure malt.

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Lusty.

[DonPolo]

12 hours ago, Beerlust said:

I've had one sachet of the standard Coopers Ale dried yeast strain (7gms) ferment beers up to an original gravity of 1.048 without issue.

Anything higher than that, & you are starting to stretch the capabilities of the 7gm weight of supplied yeast (IMHO).

Cheers,

Lusty.

That's a really important observation. I've had quite a lot of beers that had 0G over 1.048 and only used one packet of yeast. Perhaps that is the reason for some of the head issues I've had.

What do you think about saved trub from a previous brew? I've saved about a cup from my last brew and intended to use it in 11L in the 15L craft FV.

[Beerlust]

5 hours ago, DonPolo said:

What do you think about saved trub from a previous brew? I've saved about a cup from my last brew and intended to use it in 11L in the 15L craft FV.

Trub I don't re-use, yeast I do (just to be clear) . Plenty of brewers re-use yeast from trub. I do it on occasion, but I only do it once with that batch of yeast, then I take on a different process with my re-use & re-collection of it.

In a nutshell, when you re-pitch yeast from a previous brew, you have no idea of survival rates or the amount of yeast cells you are collecting for re-use each time. Thus you don't know how much viable yeast you are pitching into your next brew. Given the differing starting gravities a brewer might have from brew to brew, that then begins to affect the viability levels of what you are collecting for re-use. During any fermentation there are yeast cells that live & yeast cells that die. Higher original gravities or overall starting volumes will affect these survival rates adversely. Add to that, how long you store your salvaged yeast before re-use each time also lowers viability (reduces cell counts).

Given we are looking to create levels of consistency in our brewing, consistent levels of starting cell counts of yeast become very important in that process.

I hope that helps explain a few things.

Lusty.

[Worts and all]

23 hours ago, MUZZY said:

I'm quite happy with my mediocrity. As I always say, "when you're mediocre you're always at your best!"

I reckon we should always aim for the highest level of mediocrity.