Low to no head

[LawDawg05023]

I am fairly new to brewing, and have noticed when I poor the beer there is no head, or if there is one it disperses quickly. Does anybody have any Ideas?

[jawbox]

First question are you extract, partial mash or all grain brewing?

[LawDawg05023]

Extract brewing, not good enough for all grain yet

[jawbox]

Could you post the recipe or beer style that you made. If it was a kit, did you get it from northern brewer, more beer, local store etc.

[LawDawg05023]

both beers I have brewed were kits, both from more beer

[slothrob]

Two good places to start looking are:
-Clean and soap-free glassware and brewing equipment. Avoid rinsing aids if you use a dishwasher.
-Fermentation temperatures. Warm fermentation, say 70F or above, maybe, produce more fusel alcohols that can be head killers.

[LawDawg05023]

My bottles for my current brew are in the basement around 70-75, you think I should find a better place for them? Thanks for your help.

[slothrob]

70-75F is a good temperature for carbonating bottles, but it would be getting warm for a clean primary fermentation. Also, if you're storing the beer for very long, it's best to store the bottles as cold as possible once they're carbonated. I don't think that storing them warm would affect head retention, but they will stale faster. A month or so shouldn't matter.

Is the beer well carbonated?

[ColoradoBrewer]

Regarding head retention - You should have a set of glasses dedicated for beer use only. Other beverages can sometimes leave residues that are hard to remove. Use a detergent, not soap, to clean your glasses. I like TSP substitute. It gets my glasses clean without leaving any residue and it's cheap.

[LawDawg05023]

My Irish Red Ale has been bottled for almost a week, you think another week will do?

[slothrob]

My beers are rarely fully carbonated in 1 week. Often they're ready in 2 weeks (plus a couple more days in the fridge for the CO2 to fully dissolve), but sometimes they take 3 or 4 weeks. One stout I made took 2 months for some reason.

[LawDawg05023]

well thankyou gents will let you know how it turns out

[LawDawg05023]

Thanks for the help Gents, the Irish Red turned out Great. My family drank it ALL. Oh well that is what we brew for!

[slothrob]

Glad to hear the beer came out so good. Congratulations!