Just opened my coopers stout after 3 weeks in the bottle and was very disappointed with the lack of head, can anyone tell me why this has happened and what I might have done wrong and can I do anything to alter this or is there anything I should do differently next time
Was it a pre-hopped extract can? If so, their isn’t much you can do. A 1/4 pound of maltodextrin added to the boil might help and shouldn’t affect the flavor.
Is the carbonation ok?
Yeah pre-hoped can, carbonation just right, I’m really new to homebrewing this is only my second brew, the first was woodfordes nelsons revenge which was gorgeous jut a bit disappointed with the stouts head retention but tastes fine.
The nelsons revenge is a pretty hoppy beer so that’s going to help with head formation and retention while the stout is not hoppy.
what temp did you ferment at? even low levels of fusel oils can kill the head. These are formed if your temps in the first three days or so of fermentation are too high (much above 70*f for ales) or your yeast are otherwise stressed out.
could also be a glassware issue but if you get good foam on other beers I would look first at your fermentation temps.
Well actually I would look first at your raw materials. the best ingredients make the best beer and unless it’s very fresh, liquid malt extract isn’t a great ingredient.
What temp did you ferment at? Fermenting too warm definitely hurts foam retention . And it sounds silly, but try washing your glass by hand and rinsing in a lot of hot water, then dry. Soap residue is a foam killer too.
Edit - Sorry Jonathan. Should’ve read ;D
Both Jon and Jonathan make good points. I like to pre-rinse my glasses with cold water before pouring. Get any dust and residual stuff out. I find it also helps to avoid excessive head.
Most new homebrewers give very little attention to fermentation temps and ferment way too warm. Warm fermentation temps create fusel alcohols which not only kill head retention also create unwanted off flavors and terrible head aches. You really need to chill you wort down below 70 degrees at least before pitching yeast and you really don’t want the temp of most ales to get much higher than 70-72 degrees (and preferably keep them in the low to mid 60s) - and be aware that fermentation is exothermic, so the temp of your fermenting beer will be several degrees over ambient. In other words a 70 degree room is far too warm to ferment your beer in. You need to find a way to keep it cooler.
For a new brewer, the best thing you can do aside from hanging out here and asking questions is to pick up a good homebrewing book such as John Palmer’s “How To Brew”.