Head on Lager

Blisterman

What do people here like.

Big Head, like this http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/384909/2/Cold_beer.jpg


Medium sized head, like this http://thumb.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/395/395,1100118319,1.jpg

Or as little head as possible.

Sleepy

Just in the middle for most lagers. WeisBier gives good head though

The Sweeper

I associate the big foamy heads with rather excellent German lager. (I had a near-religious experience a few years ago in Frankfurt with German lager.) If I got a head like that on my pint of stella, however, I'd be ranting at the barman.

Crucifix

As little as possible. If there's any head on my pint I try and sip it off first, to get it out of the way.
EDIT: Except with Erdinger, I like a bit of foam on that.

Blub2k4

The head is a vital part of German/czech Pilsener as it drags some of the hop solids and the CO2 out of the beer and to the top and makes for a sweeter beer.
I was told this by my boss who was a master chef and whose father was a "kellermeister" (cellar master, sort of like a French Sommellier) as the reason for the head on the german beer.

Personally I find in this country that it is not so important but if I am back in Germany then if a beer didn't have a proper head the barman would not hand it out. People used to complain there when we didn't wait the required 7 minutes for settling and gave them a "schnelles bier" (fast beer) and they were not happy.

Kingp35

Blub2k4 wrote:

The head is a vital part of German/czech Pilsener as it drags some of the hop solids and the CO2 out of the beer and to the top and makes for a sweeter beer.
I was told this by my boss who was a master chef and whose father was a "kellermeister" (cellar master, sort of like a French Sommellier) as the reason for the head on the german beer.

Personally I find in this country that it is not so important but if I am back in Germany then if a beer didn't have a proper head the barman would not hand it out. People used to complain there when we didn't wait the required 7 minutes for settling and gave them a "schnelles bier" (fast beer) and they were not happy.

This is very true as Im just back from Munich there not so long ago and I spent a considerable amount of time in the different beer halls the city had to offer. They will not give a litre of beer unless it had quite a considerable head on it and tbh I think the head of the beer is quite nice when you are talking about proper German beer. A weisbeer is a totally different prospect than a lager in that it should be drank with a big head on it.

the beers that we get in Ireland though are a totally different story and I would not want a big head on my beer over here as they are not nice at all.

On a side note the beers in Ireland really taste horrible compared to a good quality german beer. We should take a few lessons from those guys

noby

I agree with the genreal concensus here: if you're drinking a good beer, then the head is a factor. Maybe a good two-fingered head for a lager/pilsener. More for a weiss, etc.
But with pints of lager down the pub, a small head is grand.

joker77

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

I associate the big foamy heads with rather excellent German lager. (I had a near-religious experience a few years ago in Frankfurt with German lager.) If I got a head like that on my pint of stella, however, I'd be ranting at the barman.

Agreed here mate, same thing happened me in Germany - my eyes were opened as to what beer was supposed to look and taste like! No more American pop beer for me - large headed Pilsner all the way!!!

Blisterman

I like as little head as possible on beer. It's hard to drink, and you end up getting less beer.
I got a beer in Spain which was about half head.

Blub2k4

Blisterman wrote:

I like as little head as possible on beer. It's hard to drink, and you end up getting less beer.
I got a beer in Spain which was about half head.

Beer should not really have much of a "fizz" in it, the CO2 makes for an acidic beer, you should try to get to Germany or even Belgium ( am not really a fan of belgian beers ) if you want to try pils and beers as they are meant to be. All German glasses have an "eich strich" on them which is basically a state endorsed line (endorsed by weights and measures) that the beer when filled to the line has a certain amount of beer in it with a margin of error which is not that large but allows for inconsistencies in production. So really in germany there is no way you can get a short beer, as the line tells the truth.

Ireland got a bum deal on beers, we didn't get any of the beautiful real ales that make British beer so good but get some really crappy lagers that have nothing to do with the original pilseners and how they are meant to be.
Luckily enough though we did get stout which is hard to beat, at least we have one speciality.

kenmc

Blub2k4 wrote:

The head is a vital part of German/czech Pilsener as it drags some of the hop solids and the CO2 out of the beer and to the top and makes for a sweeter beer.

Erm... there are no hop solids in a beer once the wort has been set to ferment. The solids are removed after the boil. There may be some oils initially (hence why the hops are boiled - bittering hops at at the start or during the boil) and the hoppy smell is due to aroma hops added at the end or during fermentation - no boiling there, so no oil extracted - just a light aroma infused through the beer.

Blub2k4

kenmc wrote:

Erm... there are no hop solids in a beer once the wort has been set to ferment. The solids are removed after the boil. There may be some oils initially (hence why the hops are boiled - bittering hops at at the start or during the boil) and the hoppy smell is due to aroma hops added at the end or during fermentation - no boiling there, so no oil extracted - just a light aroma infused through the beer.

"Bitterstoffe" is what they are called in German and "hop solids" is my rather ham fisted attempt at translating that to English so you could call them "bitter agents" if you wanted to translate it to English and be accurate but not make a lot of sense.

kenmc

ahhhhhh fair enuff!
sounds like it's taking the aroma hops up in the head then to give it the lovely smell.

Blub2k4

kenmc wrote:

ahhhhhh fair enuff!
sounds like it's taking the aroma hops up in the head then to give it the lovely smell.

It would appear that it is taking the aroma and whatever solids are left from the process with the hops and while leaving the hop flavour in the beer it lessens the bitterness, if you ever get a German beer dip the head with your finger and check it and it is indeed very bitter compared to the rest of the beer.

You dont drink the head on a german pils, just like with guiness it is supposed to solidify and last until the end and on good pils that it properly poured this is indeed what happens.

memphis

It depends on the lager in question really. If its a good european beer from say Holland or Germany I'd like a big head on it, but if its your usual pint of say, Budweiser, or Carlsberg, I'd have to say medium.

I go nuts if the barman hands me a beer without somewhat of a reasonable size head on it... but then the barman in my local is so good that the minute he sees me walk in the door he has the pint on for me.... That's what I call service... No ordering, he knows what I like!!!