Spring Break
The Truth About Good Head
American Spirits
Timothy Bleasdale
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Focus
So Is Head A Good Thing?
Head is an essential feature of quality beer. Not only does the correct amount of foam on your brew look pleasing to the eye, but it assures you that the glass is clean and that the beer is properly carbonated. When the foam forms on top of your beer while you pour, it acts as a sort of shield helping more of the carbonation to remain in the brew, an important part of how a beer tastes. Additionally, if the glass your beer is in hasn't been properly cleaned, as in it has any residual food matter or grease, the lipids or fats in these residues will weaken the bubbles in the foam, causing it to collapse. If you're at a bar, this can also tell you about the quality of your bartender. A good bartender will know that he should use sanitizing solution made for use in beer-glassware rather than regular house hold soaps or detergents because these are fat-based and can kill head retention.
So what's up with the anti-headers?
The aversion to head, while mind-boggling to beer enthusiasts, stems from fairly practical reasoning. New beer drinkers, who have never been taught the proper way to pour a beer without overflowing the glass with foam, find the stuff cumbersome. But this is easily overcome. The die-hard adherents to the no-head camp tend to be looking for a way to be able to drink beer quickly. For these characters, the bane of their Friday night is when they go to funnel a Keystone or Coors Light and instead get a tube full of foam. Of course, for the funnelee, this is a precarious place to be given that the object of such a contraption is to quickly down liquid, not foam - which is next to impossible.
Dealing with the bubbles
There are a few techniques you should combine when pouring your favorite brew. Start by simply choosing a wide or broad glass. Although the classic pilsner glass looks pretty snazzy, it was designed to increase head retention, which is why it is so narrow. The broader the glass, the harder it is for the bubbles to stay together and therefore you get less head. When you've picked your glass, hold it at a 45-degree angle as you slowly pour your beer. This slow pouring causes less disruption and so less release of carbon dioxide. The gentle angle of the glass also allows the beer to spread out more along the wall of the glass which also helps to keep things calm.
Head is an essential feature of quality beer. Not only does the correct amount of foam on your brew look pleasing to the eye, but it assures you that the glass is clean and that the beer is properly carbonated. When the foam forms on top of your beer while you pour, it acts as a sort of shield helping more of the carbonation to remain in the brew, an important part of how a beer tastes. Additionally, if the glass your beer is in hasn't been properly cleaned, as in it has any residual food matter or grease, the lipids or fats in these residues will weaken the bubbles in the foam, causing it to collapse. If you're at a bar, this can also tell you about the quality of your bartender. A good bartender will know that he should use sanitizing solution made for use in beer-glassware rather than regular house hold soaps or detergents because these are fat-based and can kill head retention.
So what's up with the anti-headers?
The aversion to head, while mind-boggling to beer enthusiasts, stems from fairly practical reasoning. New beer drinkers, who have never been taught the proper way to pour a beer without overflowing the glass with foam, find the stuff cumbersome. But this is easily overcome. The die-hard adherents to the no-head camp tend to be looking for a way to be able to drink beer quickly. For these characters, the bane of their Friday night is when they go to funnel a Keystone or Coors Light and instead get a tube full of foam. Of course, for the funnelee, this is a precarious place to be given that the object of such a contraption is to quickly down liquid, not foam - which is next to impossible.
Dealing with the bubbles
There are a few techniques you should combine when pouring your favorite brew. Start by simply choosing a wide or broad glass. Although the classic pilsner glass looks pretty snazzy, it was designed to increase head retention, which is why it is so narrow. The broader the glass, the harder it is for the bubbles to stay together and therefore you get less head. When you've picked your glass, hold it at a 45-degree angle as you slowly pour your beer. This slow pouring causes less disruption and so less release of carbon dioxide. The gentle angle of the glass also allows the beer to spread out more along the wall of the glass which also helps to keep things calm.
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