I brewed a milk/sweet stout, and it's good except for the lack of head retention. The head disappears faster than a fucking Bud Light. The grain bill was as follows (Partial Mash): 4 lb Dry Malt Extract - Light 3 lb United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale 1 lb Flaked Oats 0.75 lb American - Chocolate 0.5 lb American - Roasted Barley 0.5 lb United Kingdom - Crystal 60L 1 lb Lactose (Milk Sugar) 0.5 lb German - De-Husked Caraf II I also added about 2 cups of brown sugar. Is there any apparent reason why there is no head retention based on the malt bill? No lace either. It's offensive looking.
A long time ago I brewed a Dubble that had head retention like that. Now that I pitch healthy yeast at the right amounts, and control the fermentation temps, I get great head retention, even in beers that are all pilsner malts, or a CAP with 20% corn. A poor or hot fermentation will produce fusels that kill the head.
This may not be your problem, but we uncorked a triple about a month ago, that we had brewed, and poured it into 2 separate glasses. The head on mine went away real fast, while my co-brewers was just fine. He then mentioned to me how he had just read that glasses washed with regular dish soap can leave an unseen film on the glass that can kill the head. Just a thought.
I've also found that the glassware makes a pretty big difference in head retention. I've started rinsing beer glasses with water and sitting them by the sink until I have a half dozen or so. Then I give them a quick oxy soak in the sink, scrub with a green scrubby pad (I keep one separate for glasses so that I know it hasn't been in a greasy pan), rinse once with hot water, and then stand each glass up in the sink. A drop of starsan goes into each with a thorough rinse to make sure the oxy residue is all gone, and then dry them upside down on a rack before storing. I'm not sure if Starsan impacts head retention, so I rinse them really well until there is no more foam. About a 15 minute process, but my glasses are all nice and spotless.
protein is your best bet imo. so long as your glassware is very clean and you didn't overdo it with fermcap, a bit of wheat can do wonders. the oats and lactose aren't helping matters either. cold beer will have exhibit more head retention all things equal. again, clean glass is a requirement. google "beer clean galssware" or some of the threads around here for alot of advice. Cheers.
As billandsuz said a "bit of wheat can do wonders". This is good advice. Try adding 50-100 grams of Dry Wheat Extract to the boil and you will have a good healthy head.
