Help With Kit Beer's

[MadHatter95]

i have been brewing kit beer for over a year now but i have never been able to make a batch that keps a good head atleast not for long anyway. i mostly use the coopers draught or largers. i only use a primary fermenter. i ferment for a week to a month then bottle. i use the yeast that cmes with the kit. i try my hardest to keep the fermenter at the right temp by covering it with jumpers and jackets but sometimes the temp drops. i am going to by a heat belt next week. i sanatize all my equitment and i store my 750ml pet bottles in my clothes wardrobe i think the temp in there ok. what chould be wrong with my beer ? and how do i use a heat belt ? and i do use carbonatation drops incase your wondering.

[Tipsy]

Hi, welcome to the forum.
What are you adding to your kit? Cane sugar, Dextrose, Malt?
You may not need a heat belt if you change to a lager yeast in the cooler months.

[Guru]

Do you sterilise your bottles? If so what with?
I am no expert but I'm pretty sure that things like detergent can reduce the head on your beer.

[earle]

What do you wash our glasses with. As mentioned above detergent residue is a head killer.

[Oliver]

Hi and welcome, MadHatter. I would be looking at your glasses, and making sure that if you wash them by hand you give them a really good rinse in hot water afterwards. I put my beer glasses in the dishwasher, which would make some people go , but I have never had a problem. Ditto the bottles (but not too hot because it will melt the plastic.)

When you say that you are brewing at the "right temp", what is this temperature. I was at Grain and Grape for the Good Beer Week "system wars" and there were homebrewers asking the professionals how to improve their beer. The number of newbies who ferment at 21C-27C because that's what it says on the packet is frightening! First thing you should do is to chuck out those instructions and have a read of the "Simple things that make HB better" thread.

Also, get yourself some no-rinse sanitiser if you haven't already. It's one of the biggest time-savers I've come across in brewing.

Let us know the answers to the questions that others and I have posed and we might be able to solve your head-retention issues.

Cheers,

Oliver