Oil causing head retention issues?

As a general rule, any brews I make with coffee added tend to have less head retention than those that don't, but I haven't really had one that has had real problems before.

They must have been pretty oily beans!

 

I do not keg, but have added coffee, nibs, coconut and other stuff to the secondary, yes the dreaded secondary, LOL.
usually no more than 10 days and as short as 5.

 

Look for the best beans from the best roasting company you can find. If the beans look oily then they've been over roasted. Beans should look small and dry not oily. The oil is the flavor. If it's retained in the bean you get much more flavor and aroma and a lot less bitterness. Oily beans = Bitter Coffee. This is why Starbucks tastes like there's a Marlboro sitting at the bottom of you cup.

If you are cold brewing a well roasted dry bean you should get less oil as heat is what releases the oils.

 

I have brewed with flavored beans, which are oily because thats how they get the flavor in there and havent had an issue with head retention. Although I think your point is smart and correct, I am not sure its the reason he has no head retention on this brew.

 

what was the og recipe?

 

I'm a big fan of believing that a 5% acidic beer will kill off most of anything you need to worry about. Dry additions are plentiful with few incidents in my brewery.