Proper Head Pours

Back to OP's post, if a craft brewery's bartenders don't know how to pour beer properly they shouldn't be working at a craft brewery and should probably go to a local pub instead where people care about that kind of thing less.

 

I blame it on the omnipresent 16oz shaker-style pint glass. Barkeeps think they're doing you a favour by putting as much beer in them as they can and, by their lights, I guess, they are. 20oz imperial pint pub glasses or nonics should be the universal standard and bar owners should tape a colour photograph of a properly drawn glass with a two-finger head of foam behind the taps for servers to refer to.

 

If you want a proper pour, pour it yourself. A proper pour is very subjective. I see plenty of Instagram posts with a full rim and no head. Every time I see it I want to take a gun to my head and pull the trigger. It's not my thing but I suppose it can be for some (does a 2 finger head make a 10oz tulip half empty or half full?). I've seen 18% beers pour with a 4 finger head and no head. It just depends on how you pour. As long as you enjoy what you are doing that's all that matters.

Cheers!

 

2 local places have GREAT taplists but constantly pour them in 16oz pint glasses with minimal head. they only put 8%+ beers in 12oz tulips. i want Kane Head High in a nice glass please

 

Places around here do a pretty good job of pouring and glassware.

Cheers!

 

You mean a "Boss Pour?" Yeah...seems to be a trend these days.

 

Shit, I'll take the extra couple oz's of beer! Once I get it down an inch, inch and a half or so from brim, carefully swirl it (since shakers are...not traditionally meant for swirling. Or to hold beer. I digress...). Boom. You've got lovely CO2 rising to the top, carrying the aromatic fruits of the labor for you to enjoy.

After all, if you're ballin' on a budget, you gotta check the ego at the door and be grateful for every extra ounce you can get.

 

Head is overrated IMO. The finest pint of Bass I ever had was completely liquid.I also feel that selling froth when you pay for beer is sharp practice.In fact a pint here has to be at least 95% liquid , if less you ask for a top up.
True,a quarter to half an inch head does look attractive though.

 

I have these great 18 oz glasses that you can pour a full (U.S.) pint into and still have room for a generous head. I wish more bars had glasses like these and did this sort of thing.

 

Id say if the bar keep pours you a shaker pint full with no head then say thank you and drink your pint. It is 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. if you leave the head the customer will be delighted but some people like the idea of a full glass. There is no sense in pouring a hefe without the head. I think the lager should show a finger or two but not so much that I am thinking where is the rest of my beer?

 

The taprooms I frequent do what I call a careful taproom pour. They know which beers would normally have too much head, so they pour them more carefully. I seldom get a beer with even one finger of head. The exception is nitro beers, they seem to struggle to get less head and/or they figure you want to see the nitro head. I do a careful pour myself at home, no more than two fingers if possible. Orval is difficult, hard to get less than a glass of head.

 

As someone who isn't a fan of the taste of foam, I'd rather a extra 1/2 of beer in my glass.

 

All foam, right down the center, Randy Mosher style!

Most of the local chain of craft beer bars knows to leave a little room for head. Sometimes, however, they'll throw a boss pour of something at you: Their weekend special was 32oz of Oberon for 5 bucks, and I swear that pour had a convex meniscus.

 

Recently I had a West Coast IPA at Preyer Brewing Co. poured with no head flush to the rim of a standard pint. It was awful, nearly flat to begin with and the bartender thought he was doing me a favor. Next door at Joymongers we had a Double IPA poured perfectly in a snifter, gorgeous head, thoroughly aromatic and delicious. The following week we had perfectly poured Greensboro Pale Ales at Gibbs 100 in very nice big English dimpled (with handle) mugs. Mixed bag, I guess.

 

Wow. why would you want to put Orval in a nonic pint, which is designed for totally different beers...? I never had any trouble with properly pouring Orval in a trappist chalice.

Wow, this looks a lot like Willy becher.. You'll find those basically all over the place in southern germany, pretty standard glass for Helles and Dunkles and a lot of other Lager styles..

Anyway, I personally noticed that modern "craft" beer places in germany have a lot more trouble pouring properly than "traditional" places have- either not enough head,or too much, badly poured etc. There seems to be no real knowledge or love in the way the beer is served and presented to you there...

 

A perfect pint (or 19.5 ounces )

Here is a "pint" where the landlady invited me to take a couple of deep swigs so she could top it up:

and as good a pint of Bass that you will ever experience;

 

I think many people's perception or assumption that foam is more air than beer and they are being cheated is wrong though. If you allow time for a typical 1-2 finger head to settle out the final level of the beer will be closer to original level of foam than the original level of liquid. Assuming the beer is poured with a normal head the minor liquid "loss" is, in my humble opinion, worth the sensory and visual benefits, particularly for styles like American IPAs, pilsners, saisons, etc. That said, I respect the British tradition of beer measurement and presentation and would never suggest changing those. The connection with British beer history and culture [i.e. the subtle psychological effect] is far more beneficial to enjoying a proper English-style beer than the minor empirical benefit of some foam.

 

I always appreciate a bar that makes an effort to use proper glassware and pour with an appropriate head. Most places do a fairly good job and I'd say it's constantly improving. It's disappointing when you drop $8 on a draft and it comes served in a frozen shaker pint that's filled to the brim with no head.