I bought several pounds of white wheat malt. In hopes of improving head, in the retention department.
How much does it take in a 10 gallon batch?
In the excellent article referenced by Denny it says:
My experience has been that, if you are having problems with forming a head, adding wheat malt doesn’t help. (On the other hand, if you are already getting decent foam, adding wheat can increase the amount and longevity of foam.)
The question asked in this post was about increasing the longevity of the foam, so wheat might help. The same article says that 1 lb per 10 gallons is the amount generally recommended.
No problems with the initial pour, with plenty of thick foamy head. Subsequent pours are not as long lasting, or quite as thick. Just looking for a way to lengthen the duration a bit. Not a problem, just looking to do even better.
if subsequent pours have poor foam I reckon its oils from your lips on the glass
Took the words right out of my mouth
Yeah, if the first pour is OK then the problem is not with the beer. Try a fresh glass for the successive pours and see if that helps.
Could be a carb/temp issue. My first pours are a bit foamy compared to subsequent pours over a session. The faucet is warmer when I first get to it.
Exactly my first thought. First pour can be extremely foamy depending on your draft set up which can give a lot of foam. Subsequent pourings may not be as foamy. Definitely rinse the glass and see if that is an issue.
Wheat can help enhance head retention but, like Denny’s post says, it’s not going to fix poor head retention. Fermentation temps, low pitching rates, draft problems, etc. have to be fixed first. Then if you have decent head retention you might notice wheat enhances that.
I’ll have 4 clean glasses all lined up ready to go. The first pour is always “heady”, thick and long lasting. The next pour will be much less so. I can induce more head with my tap, and I do this sometimes.
My towers are chilled with forced air.
This phenom has been observed over the many years of having draft beer available at home. I have seen it in commercial bars also.
A lot of time though it is because of the bubbles in the line. A good bar tender will pour out the first coupe of ounces unless it’s a heavy flowing tap. If it sits for a while it’s a good bet it will be more foamy.
The key word that makes a real difference in Denny’s assertion, is ‘malt’.
Wheat malt has minor head building capability. But raw forms of wheat and barley have excellent head-building, beta-glucan content.
Beta-glucan content is significantly reduced during malting and that is an important goal and result of the process. Beta-glucan is typically an undesirable component in malt since it creates haze and clarity problems in finished beer. But it is useful for head building and head retention.
While raw barley actually has more beta-glucan content than raw wheat, I find the flavor of raw wheat more neutral than raw barley. I prefer to use a raw wheat product in my beers to aid head for that reason. A quarter pound per 5 gal batch is more than enough for voluminous head.
Correct. Did I mention that I won the “Best Pour Contest” at the Heineken Brewery, in Amsterdam?
They teach (like you stated) first open the tap, and let it run free for a couple seconds. Then place the glass under the flowing beer. That way, you always get fresh beer vs. beer that has sat in the lines.
Congrats on the award!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun, with 3 other contestants. Right there in the brewery. Of course, we drank the beer we poured!
I’m pretty new to AG, but have recently added a pound of Chit malt (12# grain bill) for this and it has improved the head retention considerably. It seems to have added a little more body to the recipe as well as some “slickness” in the aftertaste (mouthfeel I guess?).
Not sure how it affects the flavor as I made a couple mistakes on this batch which I can’t blame on the Chit. Maybe someone else has some Chit’y 
experience to share.
This chart was developed by UC Davis based on their analysis of the effect different ingredients have on foam. It’s no surprise UC Davis produced this because their professor, Dr Bamforth, is known as the “Pope of Foam”. As Martin said, if you want foam add non malted wheat to light beers. Based on this information, roasted barley or Black Patent substituted for the wheat helps for dark beers.
Combe AL, Ang JK, Bamforth CW. Positive and negative impacts of specialty malts on beer foam: a comparison of various cereal products for their foaming properties. J Sci Food Agric. 2013 Jul;93(9):2094-101. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.6117. Epub 2013 Apr 11. PMID: 23450736.
Interesting thanks!
I add torrified wheat to improve foam quality and lace. The Anglo-American bitter recipe that posted in the recipe section contains torrified wheat.