Advice for first timers

Hi I just poured my fist batch of home brew , tasted a little yeasty but not bad ,my biggest concern was the of head retention , I poured the second one from about 5 inches above the glass and it foamed up nicely but quickly dissipated ( less than a minute) even with that foam it taste flat .whhere did I make my mistake , I will thank you in advance

With zero information about the beer, the recipe and how it was brewed it’s a little hard to say…

As Danny said, need more info.

But. Assuming it’s not a style that’s supposed to be yeasty, when you poured, did you pour gently and leave the sludge behind in the bottom of the bottle? That sludge is basically the yeast. The longer the beer sits in the fridge, the firmer that sludge layer will be, and the easier it will be to leave it behind. Don’t expect to get every drop from your bottles in any case. 48 hours is recommended, but I hardly ever do that myself.

How long since you bottled? That soda-like head, and flat-ish beer sounds like under conditioning. My beers tend to start being drinkable after 2+ weeks at 75, my summer AC setting; but closer to 4 weeks at my winter room temperature of 62.

it was a cream ale kit from northern brewer , I followed the direction best I could . I left it in the ferment bucket for three weeks and in the bottle for 10 days at 67 degrees( room temp).I was careful to pour the first one gently leaving solids behind .

Give it another week and try to warm it into the 70’s if you can. It’ll probably be just fine.

:cheers:

Ron

Edit: And make sure you give it a good 48 hours in the fridge before opening.

+1 you just need to give it more time to carbonate. It takes time for the CO2 to be absorbed an hydrolyzed by the beer. The last bottle you drink will likely be the best in all aspects and you’ll think…hmm…too bad I can’t let them condition a little longer before I guzzle them all down! :cheers:

Thanks I will take your advice .

Another common prob with head retention is the glassware its self. Petroleum based products as well as dishwasher aids leave a film on the glass. This attacks the protein positive properties and destroy the head.

One of the major parts of head retention is the actual fermentation. Here is a GREAT read and will help problem solve:

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/693- ... techniques

This is interesting:

“Lastly, homebrewers who keg their beer should be aware that foam positive molecules can get “used up” when foam is created. Thus, if you shake your keg to carbonate it, you may be dipping into your pool of foam makers for your beer.”

I’ve pretty much stopped doing that because I have more in the pipeline so I’m not trying to rush anything along.

Danny I read that too, but fortunately I always slow carb. I have noticed too that if you take an “average” carved beer and pour it hard it seems like the head, although big, will dissipate quickly.

[quote=“dannyboy58”]This is interesting:

“Lastly, homebrewers who keg their beer should be aware that foam positive molecules can get “used up” when foam is created. Thus, if you shake your keg to carbonate it, you may be dipping into your pool of foam makers for your beer.”

I’ve pretty much stopped doing that because I have more in the pipeline so I’m not trying to rush anything along.[/quote]

Wow, you guys just answered a question that I didn’t know I had. I made a Hefeweizen for the wife and wanted it carbed up quickly (don’t even remember why). So I set the pressure and did the old “keg shake”. I feel that a hefeweizen should have a nice fluffy head on it that sticks around for a while. The head on this one is gone by the time I get upstairs and hand her the beer. With the head goes that banana clove aroma that she likes so much. Huh, maybe I will make this one again some day.

:cheers:

Clean glassware is also a good idea but doesn’t sound like the problem. Won’t hurt though. Wash with water and your favorite no-rinse sanitizer just to be sure. Honestly most of my beer glasses go through the dishwasher with a rinse aid and it’s not bad.

[quote=“dannyboy58”]This is interesting:

“Lastly, homebrewers who keg their beer should be aware that foam positive molecules can get “used up” when foam is created. Thus, if you shake your keg to carbonate it, you may be dipping into your pool of foam makers for your beer.”

I’ve pretty much stopped doing that because I have more in the pipeline so I’m not trying to rush anything along.[/quote]
Interesting. I always shake the keg to get it mostly carbed before I put it in storage awaiting a spot in the fridge. I don’t have the means to do the “set and forget” method unless I take one of my two taps offline. But I never have problems with low foam - sometimes quiet the opposite when the CO2 tank gets low and the regulator self-adjusts itself higher.

I do the slow approach like Josh. I purge, then set at 12#, so I figure if bottling takes 2 plus wks. that’s the approach I take to keg. Seems to work just fine for me, and I don’t need to adjust the gauge for dispense.

I don’t do the slow approach, 95% of the time I force carbonate by shaking the keg, and I have absolutely no problems with head retention. These are all grain recipes.