Sluggish Head

[Bratwurst]

I've made about 6 brews now and they have all had a similar problem - weak head. I have to pour them rather vigorously to achieve a decent head and then it just fizzes away fairly quickly. I was using Brewing Sugar at the beginning then changed to Brew Enhancer 1, but the weak heads remained. I am sure that I don't bottle too soon. I make sure I have achieved FG then wait another day or 2. I never open a bottle until it has spent at least 2 weeks on the shelf. I use Coopers Carbonation Drops in the prescribed dosage. I keep my bottles clean and always sterilize with boiling water before bottling. My glasses seem to be alright as the commercial brews always keep a good head. The beer always tastes like good beers should - I just can't achieve a good frothy head.

 

 

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Oliver]

Make sure your glasses are really, really clean. Scrub and rinse well in hot water to make sure there's no detergent or oil on them.

 

 

 

Perhaps the reason commercial beer (not Cooper's, of course) is OK in the glasses is that all the crap they put in it breaks down the detergent and oil to keep a good head :)

[Kip]

G'day Bratwurst,

 

 

 

Yeah, like the others are saying, your glasses are critical.

 

 

 

I own an old souvenier tea towel (got it out of a rag bag actually) NZ Linen which is made from a particularly hard and sharp flax, I keep it seperate from the domestic items and wash it carefully in water (no soap) and dry in the sun.

 

 

 

As I finish with a glass. I immediately rinse it out under the tap and polish dry the inside with my good cloth.

 

 

 

foamy tops

 

 

 

Kip

[rossm]

G,Day brewers,

 

while we are discussing cleanliness of glasses and such, I thought I would pass this snippet of information on to all who might be interested. My wife, Bless her soul, actually bottles a lot of my brews for me because I am out bush a lot, she used to use the bottle wash that you get from supermarkets, (or for some of you brewing shops) we tried to find some in every supermarket K mart etc. to no avail, I suddenly though of one of the commercial chemical suppliers and got onto a product called "sani glass" which is the product commercial grog shops use to wash the glasses, it is in 5 litre bottles and cost me about $28, it is mixed at 160:1 with water, so it works out pretty economical. might be worth a try!

 

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