Why no head?

[novice]

Seems I posted at the wrong place. My latest bottle-primed ale froms no head. When pouring it fizzles up and then fizzles down, much like pouring Coca Cola. Any suggestions for why that occurs?

[CalmYourself]

How long did you chill the bottles before opening?
What was the grain bill for the recipe?

I usually get very quick head if I don't chill my bottles for at least 6 hours before opening. I suspect it has something to do with the temperature of the CO2 and the beer affecting retention or something.

Also, including things like Cara-Pils apparently helps improve head + lacing

[novice]

2-row 75%, Munich 15%, Caramunich 5%, Cararoma 2.5%, Carafa 2.5%.
Chilling?? Perhaps that's the problem. I'll pop a few bottles in the firdge. Thanks.

[masterbrewer]

Yes, you did post in the wrong place - we are only brewers, not relationship experts :-p (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Jokes aside, any form of oil will destroy the head retention of any beer. Make sure there is no fatty residue in your glass.

[novice]

Chilling helps but is not the complete answer. I am sure that Andre can do better than that. The problem does not lie with the glass. It occurs whatever glass I use and no matter how clean it is. The question is how does one improve the head in the beer itself. Any assistance out there would be appreciated.

[Paul_tripple_B]

I'm sure someone will correct me here.

How long did you boil the wort for and did you have an extended protien rest? If I understand some of the basic science of homebrewing if the boil goes on for too long you start to have a negitive affect on your beer. One of them is the loss of the protein that helps with head retention and mouthfeel. This article gives mention to it but not much detail. Read under the heading "Trub Defined". http://brewingtechniques.com/library/bac...rchet.html .

I go for a boil of 90min. Seems to be the best balance for me. Longer than 60min therefore better in reducing chill haze and short enough not to affect the head retention.

Another thing i read is that the over use of Irish moss can have an affect (a bad one that is) on head retention. http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/ar...ew-science

Hope this helps.

Paul

[CalmYourself]

Perhaps this blog post on Beer Head Retention will help too.