Spring Break
The Truth About Good Head
American Spirits
Timothy Bleasdale
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Focus
For the funnelers out there, there really is no quick fix. Once you pour your beer into the device, you've simply got to wait till the foam subsides, which it eventually will. However, if you don't mind risking tarnishing the taste, there are a few tricks you might try. Take the funnel (and only the funnel, not the tubing) and very lightly coat the inside of the funnel with olive oil of even an oil based or buttery cooking spray. If you do this lightly enough, it should minimize the effect of the oil on taste.
But for those looking to make the least effort, simply buy a different kind of beer. Beers brewed with a lot of adjuncts (grains other than barley) such as rice or corn have far less protein in them and so less head. Good examples of this are Budweiser, Coors and Keystone Light. You should also avoid darker beers and wheat beers. Dark beers tend to have significantly more barley in them. As a grain, wheat has far more protein in it than barley. Examples of wheat beers are be Blue Moon or Sam Adam's White Ale. Oh, and when you're in a fix and if you're not terribly squeamish about bodily fluids, rub your index finger on your nose to collect a little grease (natural human lipids!) and stir around the foam (just the foam not the beer). That's one urban legend that happens to be true.
Contact Timothy Bleasdale at
Timothy.Bleasdale@UConn.edu.
But for those looking to make the least effort, simply buy a different kind of beer. Beers brewed with a lot of adjuncts (grains other than barley) such as rice or corn have far less protein in them and so less head. Good examples of this are Budweiser, Coors and Keystone Light. You should also avoid darker beers and wheat beers. Dark beers tend to have significantly more barley in them. As a grain, wheat has far more protein in it than barley. Examples of wheat beers are be Blue Moon or Sam Adam's White Ale. Oh, and when you're in a fix and if you're not terribly squeamish about bodily fluids, rub your index finger on your nose to collect a little grease (natural human lipids!) and stir around the foam (just the foam not the beer). That's one urban legend that happens to be true.
Contact Timothy Bleasdale at
Timothy.Bleasdale@UConn.edu.
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