New to Brewing

[General]

Hi,

I'm new to brewing, I've only brewed one batch, I wasn't too pleased with it, but my family love it. It has poor head retention. (I've tried it in six different glasses and it is definitely not the glasses.)

I was wondering what effects head retention, body, and aroma. Is it something to do with the type of sugar, temperature of the fermentation, priming sugar?

[Guest]

I'm about as new as you, but I've read around the forums that using Malt and other things that dont ferment completely give a better head. (I have the same problem with my beer I'm drinking now that just used dextrose)

[General]

I have since found that Brew Enhancer #2 from Coopers claims to guve beeter head retention, and body.

Can anyone confirm this for me.

[Antsvb]

Not sure is you wash your glasses with detergent but this can effect head retention. I only ever clean with boiling water.

[ghost]

Used it a few time so far and yes it does work . So far its produced a nice creamy top on all the brews I have used it with

[Oliver]

All of my beers contain at least some malt (in addition to the can of concentrate) and I rarely have trouble with head retention.

Give it a shot.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Hillbilly]

I had the same problem with my first brews, after 50 or so brews later and looking back at the log book I managed to pinpoint the mistakes or wrong expectations I made.
A: The darker the beer the better the head
B: With lagers/pilsners add malt for better head
C: Adding 250 grams of corn syrup also improves head retention
D: Do a ( dry run ) whithout wort/extract of water to the fermenter to meassure the correct total level, some extracts need more water than others, you might be adding too much water which is bad for head retention.
E: I foung cleaning my glasses with baking soda then rinsing well with water cleans my glasses well.
Hope this helps.
Hillbilly

[Oliver]

Hillbilly,

All excellent suggestions. Thanks.

Oliver

[General]

Thanks Guys, I'll give it a go.

Oliver, do I get malt from a homebrew shop, as I've only been going to Big W for my ingredients so far, and they don't sell it, as far as I'm aware.

Oh, and I wash my glases in ordinary detergent, rinse them twice, and sterilise them in my baby daughter's bottle Milton solution. (we use a steam steriliser for her bottles now not the solution.) (they hold their head with commercial beer.)

[ghost]

big W should sell Coopers Light Dry Malt. They do at my local one Which is Belmont

[Damo]

Yes general you do get the malt from home brew shops. Big W and supermarkets will supply you with the basics for a beer , however a brew shop will supply you with what you need for world class beers that you want to keep all for your self

[beermeister]

Some Coles supermarkets, Kmarts and BigW's sell Coopers malt and brew enhancers, though they tend to be unreliable with their stock levels.

[General]

Excellent. Thanks guys

[Oliver]

General,

Yep, in general buy malt from homebrew store if your local Big W doesn't stock it (don't use the stuff that most supermarkets sell for baking and so on, as that's an inferior quality for brewing).

There's no need to sterilise your beer glasses, as even if there's some bacteria in the glass it won't have time to multiply and affect your beer before you've drunk it

Cheers,

Oliver

[Guest]

I don't know Oliver I sat on a schooner for about an hour the other day (who knew changing nappies and feeding babies took so long?)

[Gav]

Guest,

I too have a baby. With a certain amount of patience and concentration, your beer never need leave your hand.

Gav

[Dogger Dan]

It gets even better,

When they are older they will get the beer for you, then the get pissed off about it and you have to start getting it yourself again


Dogger