Head retention

[Stomach]

And no smutty comments!!

I have done a Coopers IPA with a tin of LME and 500g medium spraymalt, primed with 85g brewing sugar and bottled. Left in a warm place for a week ish then a cool place.
Stats:-
OG 1050
FG 1010
ABV 5.3%

Its a lovely full bodied beer, no probs with taste but there is very little head retention and you have to give a it a bit of life when you pour. I do prefer a beer with a bit of life, its not flat, but would prefer a bit more head! (fnar!)

On this learning curve through this forum I have the following conclusions. Either:-

Not quite enough sugar for priming?
Wasnt left in a warm enough place/long enough?
Something else?

All answers greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

[GrowlingDogBeer]

You've covered 2 of the points already, the other possibility is it has not been left in a cool place long enough for all the CO2 to get absorbed into the beer.

How long ago did you bottle it.

[Stomach]

You've covered 2 of the points already, the other possibility is it has not been left in a cool place long enough for all the CO2 to get absorbed into the beer.

How long ago did you bottle it.

Roughly guessing around 3 weeks ago.

[Redimpz]

Your glasses could be an issue, any trace of soap from washing them can kill a head. dishwashers are particularly guilty in this area.

[Manx Guy]

Good advice above.

Check your glasses - hand wash them if you normally use a dishwasher... Also if you have a glass with a 'neucleated' bottom try that see if it helps....

I made a similar brew and its has OK head retention... My own experience with Coopers kits is that they are best well primed (at a rate of 8g per litre).

Hope that helps



Guy

[Stomach]

We dont have a dishwasher these days (I miss it though!!) all handwashed, and I will rinse.

However I think its more the beer as I said above, I have to pour it with a bit of life to give a head so I suspect its not enough sugar and or not long enough in a warm place.

I primed with 85g sugar, so I got no exploding bottles but I think it can be upped a bit next time!!

So based on Manx Guy, next time prime with 8 x 23 = 184g sugar! Is this not explosives? haha!

[Manx Guy]

Hi,

Assuming your beer has fermented out before you prime and bottle there shouldn't be any issues...
I regularly prime with upto 200g sugar (for lagers - max. 160g/23l for a Pale Ale) in a 23 litre batch and not had a single issue.
You might want to start with graduly increasing the amount of sugars until you find one that meets your tastes/requirements.

Just ensure your bottles are sound and they are kept stored below 20C (out of sunlight)

Hope that helps



Guy

[Stomach]

Hi,

Assuming your beer has fermented out before you prime and bottle there shouldn't be any issues...
I regularly prime with upto 200g sugar (for lagers - max. 160g/23l for a Pale Ale) in a 23 litre batch and not had a single issue.
You might want to start with graduly increasing the amount of sugars until you find one that meets your tastes/requirements.

Just ensure your bottles are sound and they are kept stored below 20C (out of sunlight)

Hope that helps



Guy

Thats brilliant Manx Guy

I may pop out to the whole foods shop in town where I work and pick up a kit and try the increased sugar!

My bottles when not in use are in a box in the shed, and when in use, on a shelf in the utility room!

Cheers

Matt

[thedeckking]

If you think they needed longer in the warm it's still possible to give them another boost now with another week in the warm and then at least another 10 days in the cool to absorb the Co2.

I regularly prime with upto 200g sugar (for lagers - max. 160g/23l for a Pale Ale) in a 23 litre batch and not had a single issue.
You might want to start with graduly increasing the amount of sugars until you find one that meets your tastes/requirements.

Finally, someone else who primes like me
Normally when I mention on here putting 200-250g in my lagers I get a bit of

[Jim]

Hi,

Assuming your beer has fermented out before you prime and bottle there shouldn't be any issues...
I regularly prime with upto 200g sugar (for lagers - max. 160g/23l for a Pale Ale) in a 23 litre batch and not had a single issue.
You might want to start with graduly increasing the amount of sugars until you find one that meets your tastes/requirements.

Just ensure your bottles are sound and they are kept stored below 20C (out of sunlight)

Hope that helps



Guy

I would advise being very picky about the bottles you use if you intend to prime at that level. Always go for bottles that are designed for bottle conditioned beer, rather than the flimsier bottles often used for beers that are artificially carbonated (which is most of the beer you are likely to see in supermarkets and off-licenses).

[Geezah]

Is there much sediment in the bottom of the bottles showing a healthy secondary ferment?
My last Coopers APA was 20l and primed with 100g of plain old cane sugar.
2 weeks in the warm then just chilled in the fridge before serving and I got a lovely lightly sparkling pint with a perfect head.
Maybe your warm period wasn't long enough?
1 thing to note with my APA, it was bottled after 14 days in primary so had very little time to clear... maybe the extra yeast carried over helped my sparkle?

[redbenson111]

All of the posts that have been made above are very relevant and will help but I think that the one word in your original post that sums up your problem is 'COOPERS'.

I am a great fan of Coopers kits and usually go for them to the exclusion of everything else because of taste and quality, but they have a reputation for not producing a particularly good head. The best that I have produced from a basic kit was the Coopers basic Aussie lager made with their own no.1 brew enhancer, but the head on all the others have ranged from only fair to non existent.

What I tend to do now is include some wheat spraymalt (about 200g per 20l) in the brew and this seems to produce a lovely thick, lasting head.

[Jim]

Another thing to bear in mind is that head formation and head retention are two different things.

Head formation can be improved by increasing the carbonation level, but that won't make the beer hold its head any better - that's down to the amount and type of head-forming proteins in the beer (which is set by the recipe, and the the mash and boil conditions).

[Geezah]

I'm not sure you can blame Coopers for bad head retention.
My APA brewed with a tin of 'out of date' LME 300-500g of Coopers brew enhancer1 and a fuggles hop tea added at day 4

Conditioned now for about 5 weeks max, this 1 was in the fridge for the last 3 days...






Absolutely cracking pint this!

[Geezah]

...also, I forgot to add, I have just eat a curry n naan bread, so that should have affected the head some.

Now, I just been for a bath and had another swig....



Coopers is all WIN for me...



The End