Hello Gents! and any lady brewers present. I just started to home brewing beer this year. Made my first batch and drinking it currently. It was a Porter Kit, bought from Listerman Brewing in Cincinnati, Ohio. The flavors are very good, and they keep getting better as it sits. (it wont last long, allready killed half of it, and I made it in Early Jan, 2016). Currently working on a Imperial IPA, initial gravity 1.086. One week in the fermentor, 3 to go. Way hoppy at estimated 100 IBU’s.
The one thing I noticed is the lack of head, head retention in this Porter. Very very light in that area. Good Carbonation in the bottle.
I have a digital temp guage I used during both the grain 30 minute steep, wort cooldown. I had my temps on the upper 140’s, low 150’s in the steep. (148-152F). My 60 minute boil was what I would consider a “soft” boil. was trying like hell to prevent a boil over mess on my first try. On my IPA, I made sure my temps were a bit higher, around 155 + -2degrees. Good solid rolling boil for a hour.
I’m wondering if the temps are responsible for the lack of “head” on the final product. Everyone who has tried it so far has been positive feedback.
I join the Bloatarian Brewing club in Cincinnati. The one piece of feedback from them was to give it more time in the fermenter to allow for more dropout. (13 days in a Glass Carboy, 6.5 gallon)
When it comes to cooking, I’m quite good at it, and I look at recipes as guidelines, my wife see’s them as gospel. Not quite ready to adopt that theory to homebrewing just yet, need to learn allot about the process of brewing before taking that stance. Right now Im using Kits.
Hey! I am also from Cincinnati and go to Listermann for all my homebrewing needs. Try using some wheat, carafoam or some other flaked oats. These will help with body and head retention.
Welcome ! How warm did you ferment the porter out of curiosity? Fermentation temps that are too warm can cause a a lack of head retention. You say the beer is carbonated well but with little foam, correct?
Are you a member of the Bloat’s? I joined at the Feb Meeting. I figured for the cost of membership, the 10% savings at the local vendors on ingredients will pay back the membership cost. No Brainer , plus all the knowledge in that group is unreal. Those guys are a 1000 light years ahead of me, no questions asked!
I’ve visited Brew Monkeys on HArrison Ave , in Dent or Cheviot Ohio. Good selection on ingredients there as well. Lets meet up and sample each others brew!
Hoosier brew, it was fermented in a glass carboy, 6 gallon. Spent 13 days in there. had a good 1" + of “silt” in the bottom of the Carboy at that time.
The head retention is the same in a real glass or a plastic Solo cup.
Was this an extract or all grain beer? If extract, you shoud know that extract beers often have less foam due to the fact that a lot of proteins have been removed in the manufacturing process. The other thing to keep in mind is that fermentation process can have a large effect on beer foam. Check this out…http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques