Of the five brews I have on tap, only one has any head to speak of. I can't figure out any major difference from it than any other recipe other than it contains fruit extract (raspberry). I've noticed a lack of foam since I started all grain brewing. Anyone have a similar situation or solution.

Thanks.

It would help to know your all grain procedure, as well as the recipes you've been using.

Cheers
Dave

GuitarLord5000 wrote:It would help to know your all grain procedure,

I'm not sure which step of the procedure you're thinking might contain the problem, so here goes. I grind my base malt and specialty grains with a Corona mill. Single step infusion mash at 151 degF with spring water. Typically mash overnight in a 5 gallon cooler. Batch sparge to get 6.50 gallons (normal evaporation rate at 1 gal/hr). Chill with 50' x 3/8" immersion chiller to <70 degF, pitch starter. Blam!

As I type this I'm wondering if my lack of additions my mash/sparge water might have something to do with it. Is that possible? Too hard or soft?

GuitarLord5000 wrote:as well as the recipes you've been using.

Recipes: All over the map. I've been brewing as many different batches as I can while re-pitching only 5 strains of WL yeast (London Ale, English Ale, German Hefe, Belgian Wit, and California 5). If you need more info, let me know.

Thanks,

josh

151 degrees is a low-ish temperature to mash at. This creates more fermentables, but results in less body and fewer proteins in your finished beer. You are also doing a very long mash. Coupled with the low mash temperatures, you may not be leaving enough proteins in your finished beer for the CO2 to collect around. Also, I'd imagine that your beer is tasting very thin and lacks body.
I'd suggest mashing at between 155 and 158 degrees, and shorten your mash time to 60 minutes (unless the beer style dictates otherwise). Alternately, if you prefer a thinner bodied beer, continue to mash at 151 degrees, but shorten your mash time to 75 minutes or less. See if any of that helps out with the heading problem. If you don't like any of those suggestions, or if they just don't help, try adding some heading agent to your beer.

Cheers
Dave

Thanks for the tips, Dave. Truth be told, my mash temps are typically higher than 151, although it seems to vary from batch to batch. According to my brewing software (BeerAlchemy) my strike water temp recommendations are usually lower than I find they should be to stabilize my mash at the correct temperature. Possibly my mash tun thermal mass is less than I've calculated. I'll try raising the strike water temps and mash temps a few degrees.

I'm not truly into the mash science, but it seems to me that the time spent mashing is irrelevant once you've achieved conversion. If you've achieved conversion from starches to sugars, what difference would it make if the mash sits for an extended period? Not that I'm questioning your knowledge of brewing; I just don't see what difference it could make. I open for suggestion, however. My extraction rates have been relatively high for the most part.

Thanks again.

josh

You are correct, once conversion is complete, you're done. The reason I recommend a shorter mash is to prevent the introduction of bacterial infection. Infections vary widely, as do their symptoms, and not all bacteria are deactivated during the boil. There are many bugs that can consume a larger variety of sugars than the average beer yeast can, making a lesser bodied beer, which could affect head retention.

Of course, this is all just assumption on my part. If you not getting extremely low Final Gravity readings, then this is most likely not your problem. There are lots of variables that go into head retention, with recipe formulation being at the top of the list. If FG readings are in the normal range, try adding carapils or carafoam malts to your recipe. Also, make sure all your equipment is very clean when brewing. Oils can kill beer head quickly. I've heard that late hopping in large quantities can ruin head, but I don't have any experience to back that up.

Cheers,
Dave