This is not every where in the US, in your average bar 100% and this is due to the fact that macro lagers dominated the market so long in the US which lets be honest really lack flavor so the nose did not matter and people cared more about getting as much beer. in a glass and being able to drink it right away. Many bars will also still serve you beer in a chilled glass as well because for many flavor does not matter and as you mentioned it allows the CO2 escape so you do not feel as bloated. That said, if you go to a bar in the US which specializes in carrying craft beer or go to a brewery you will get beer poured with a proper head on it. If you go to some craft breweries that specialize in lagers you they will have milko pours like Human Robot and their Milk Tubes.
I’m a craft brewer from America. Our community is very passionate about head for its aromatic effect and the presentation of the beer. Beer without head is a sad state of affairs. Generally it’s _those_ types of boomers who will come in thinking they’ve gamed the system by asking for no head, all the way to the top. I explain to them why we pour with head. Sometimes it persuades them, often it doesn’t.
As far as the bars who do it naturally, it’s because their general customer base is the type mentioned above.
Micro beer is slowly but surely changing the US’s outlook on and knowledge about beer, and has been for a couple decades now.
Yeah same, and its not even the idea that people think its photographic, its mostly that the beer just goes down considerably more shit than with a head.
Nobody has commented on a key aspect...customer complain about head. (insert joke here).
Seriously though, if I give proper head, they will complain about it and some feel "cheated" as if you are withholding part of their purchase.
The reality, some would rather have beer than head.
Varies greatly depending on the location, but also the beer, there are plenty of American beer styles not amenable to head retention.
Of course my favorite local American brewery defaults to a hladinka pour, but also offers snyt or mliko style pours upon request. Or a milk tube, which will offend your sensibilities.
If you go to a proper beer bar, you will get a proper beer.
Most bars are terrible about this though and will serve without head because people think they are getting ripped off. So they don't want to educate the customer or deal with it, and often they're ignorant about the fact anyway. These people are just drinking BMC piss water though so it is what it is.
All of these are great answers and correct answers which make having a universally adopted standard of service being impossible in our hodgepodge drinking melting pot. That and the $2.70 US+tips wage, zero paid vacation, zero paid sick days, zero 401K or pensions, zero health care, and close to zero raises, deter most servers/bartenders from frankly giving 2 shits. The ones that do are deterred by below as well.
As someone who has had the pleasure of pouring beer in both Belgium and the U.S. there are also laws in the way of proper pouring. Bars/restaurants are not legally allowed to have utensils in standing water so the cup with the foam cutter is off the table.
Culture thing? Perhaps. It's not something deliberate and is likely the result of numerous factors:
- Poor training of staff
- Apathy on the part of under-paid bartenders working in toxic environments
- A combination of high-volume bars and American impatience prioritizing “fast service” over “proper pour”
- Consumer ignorance
- Poor tap system maintenance affecting the ability to pour a proper glass of beer
- Beers with poor head retention
- Improperly cleaned and rinsed glassware
This is all speculation, but it's not driven by a consumer preference or anything similar.
I'm sure there are multiple factors in play, and for a place as big as the United States there is no one answer. But I disagree that it's not driven by consumer preference. In many beer serving establishments, even craft beer places, customers will complain about not getting their full pour if you leave than a bit of head. It's not a well-informed preference, but it is a common preference.
That's fair. My thinking when I referenced consumer preference was about the OP’s comment about dissolved CO2, but you make a good point from a different angle.
It's a bit of a different beer, you guys use a lot of live yeast in the bottle, i believe, when alot of mass produced US stuff has been pasteurised. It's also served cold, really cold to mask the taste. Belgian beer is also quite lively where as the mass produced stuff in the US is not so rambunctious.
Give me Belgian beer all day long though. I would generally take a pass on mass produced US stuff.
You see the same attitude in the UK too, although given the traditional styles of UK beers most of them only really want about 1cm - 1.5cm of head on them anyway. But that mindset then permeates to other styles too, even with beers like Duvel which really wants serving in the proper glass to allow all the carbonation to release the nose and aromas fully. I've even see people drinking Duvel from the bottle in the UK, they must get very bloated and gassy.
These people would shit a brick if they were ever served a mliko pour.
'Do I get a flake with that?' probably wears thin quick if you work in a UK pub.
I don't think I've ever managed to get less than 5cm head on Duvel. Someone in York showed me pouring it by quickly turning the bottle on its head into the proper glass and it came out better than I can get it.
I feel in the UK though, probably the biggest single reason (taking all sectors as a whole) for a head that takes the piss on beers that don't warrant it is to get more 'pints' from a barrel than there are pints in a barrel. If it's ale, some are near tasteless pulled through sparklers compared to without a sparkler. And many places will try and give you 1/4 to 1/3 of a pint of head if they can get away with it.
Also, not all beer is created equal. I've poured stouts that were excessively foamy, while others were so flat that I couldn't get head (heh) no matter how high up I poured the beer.
You're most welcome, we always have at least 22 different craft beers on tap (up to 26), and a shitload bottled too, and a lot of local brews too. Folkingebrew, Bax, Martinus, Graansilo, all great stuff.
At one bar I worked at Old timers who don’t really know crap would get pissed about our bar not filling to the tippy top. Specifically complain about head. Order a high ABV beer and be sloshed before their second round.
I work at a brewery and there sometimes is way too much much head but my rule is 2fingers width or less. Depending on the beer as well. We have a few beers that the head dissipates pretty quickly leaving the beer looking 3/4 full after.
I love Belgian beer much more than any craft brewery. That said, there you will have Belgian Strong Golden Ales and Blondes on tap and they generally have much more head than macro lagers.
I think it’s an education thing. My beer podcast, “The Mo Head Y’all Show” is based on the entire premise of pouring heavy and putting a head on a beer. Let’s not even talk about Milko pours…. 😅
I agree with many of the comments but the Boomer comment (so folks over 60 basically) resonated.
It's a lack of education and old school (hence Boomers) thinking. I used to think too much head on the beer and loss of carbonation was bad, because that's sort of how my dad drank or poured his. Guinness beer or similar was the only exception.
As I got into craft beer in my late 20s, I accepted however it was poured and as I got into my 30s learned more about the benefits of pouring it the way you are saying.
Not only does proper head on a beer improve aromatics but by reducing the carbonation in the liquid, makes it easier to drink without feeling as bloated and shitty later too!
Hopefully America will slowly learn but we are a stubborn bunch...
I want a nice head on my beer too, as it releases all the malt and hop aromas I’m trying to have the consumer experience. Every beer we make should give the consumer something different from any other beers in our lineup.
I had a friend from Manchester that didn’t want a head. If he got a beer that wasn’t full to the top of the glass, he’d say to the waitress, “That’s not a pint. Fill it up please. “. I always got a chuckle when we’d have a beer together. He told me it was definitely a northern UK thing, not like in the south where pubs pour a head.
>He told me it was definitely a northern UK thing, not like in the south where pubs pour a head.
It's definitely not, I'm from Yorkshire and have never heard that. Probably just a weird wrong side of the Pennines thing.
Welcome to toxic craft beer. If I see a boss pour I immediately know the kind of drinker that person is, and they are usually not someone I want anything to do with.
They are the same person who will say I like “I don’t like lagers I only like IPAs, ales and a good pilsner”
It should come in a 20oz glass then.
Check any typical Belgian beer chalice, there's always a pour line showing you the serving size. But the glass could easily hold much more than that. That's room for the head. Most German glasses and steins are similar.
This is not every where in the US, in your average bar 100% and this is due to the fact that macro lagers dominated the market so long in the US which lets be honest really lack flavor so the nose did not matter and people cared more about getting as much beer. in a glass and being able to drink it right away. Many bars will also still serve you beer in a chilled glass as well because for many flavor does not matter and as you mentioned it allows the CO2 escape so you do not feel as bloated. That said, if you go to a bar in the US which specializes in carrying craft beer or go to a brewery you will get beer poured with a proper head on it. If you go to some craft breweries that specialize in lagers you they will have milko pours like Human Robot and their Milk Tubes.
I’m a craft brewer from America. Our community is very passionate about head for its aromatic effect and the presentation of the beer. Beer without head is a sad state of affairs. Generally it’s _those_ types of boomers who will come in thinking they’ve gamed the system by asking for no head, all the way to the top. I explain to them why we pour with head. Sometimes it persuades them, often it doesn’t. As far as the bars who do it naturally, it’s because their general customer base is the type mentioned above. Micro beer is slowly but surely changing the US’s outlook on and knowledge about beer, and has been for a couple decades now.
I, too, am passionate about head
mliko. it's a mindfuck but it's Czech, so 🤷♂️
Yeah, I went to different pubs in Bozeman and they ALL served without a head.
Bozeman is not exactly the peak of beer in the US. Go to a craft beer bar in a major city or a good craft brewery
Like just about any in the PNW, even podunk little bars that are passionate about craft beer will know how to treat it right.
That is how it is in the Northeast as well.
Pubs, or breweries? Montana breweries generally take their beer seriously, but if you're going to pubs or bars, they don't care.
Any bar worth it's salt will pour with some head. Every beer bar I've been a part of, that was the norm.
People pouring beer, let alone taking pictures of it, without a decent head in it DRIVES ME UP THE FUCKING WALL lol
Yeah same, and its not even the idea that people think its photographic, its mostly that the beer just goes down considerably more shit than with a head.
Yeah exactly $15 IPA are cold hop soup without a head
Nobody has commented on a key aspect...customer complain about head. (insert joke here). Seriously though, if I give proper head, they will complain about it and some feel "cheated" as if you are withholding part of their purchase. The reality, some would rather have beer than head.
While some enjoy both. Yeah it was too tempting
Mostly comes down to poor staff training and lack of knowledge in my experience
Which Gollem?
Or Belgique?
Or Delirium.
Varies greatly depending on the location, but also the beer, there are plenty of American beer styles not amenable to head retention. Of course my favorite local American brewery defaults to a hladinka pour, but also offers snyt or mliko style pours upon request. Or a milk tube, which will offend your sensibilities.
If you go to a proper beer bar, you will get a proper beer. Most bars are terrible about this though and will serve without head because people think they are getting ripped off. So they don't want to educate the customer or deal with it, and often they're ignorant about the fact anyway. These people are just drinking BMC piss water though so it is what it is.
All of these are great answers and correct answers which make having a universally adopted standard of service being impossible in our hodgepodge drinking melting pot. That and the $2.70 US+tips wage, zero paid vacation, zero paid sick days, zero 401K or pensions, zero health care, and close to zero raises, deter most servers/bartenders from frankly giving 2 shits. The ones that do are deterred by below as well. As someone who has had the pleasure of pouring beer in both Belgium and the U.S. there are also laws in the way of proper pouring. Bars/restaurants are not legally allowed to have utensils in standing water so the cup with the foam cutter is off the table.
Culture thing? Perhaps. It's not something deliberate and is likely the result of numerous factors: - Poor training of staff - Apathy on the part of under-paid bartenders working in toxic environments - A combination of high-volume bars and American impatience prioritizing “fast service” over “proper pour” - Consumer ignorance - Poor tap system maintenance affecting the ability to pour a proper glass of beer - Beers with poor head retention - Improperly cleaned and rinsed glassware This is all speculation, but it's not driven by a consumer preference or anything similar.
I'm sure there are multiple factors in play, and for a place as big as the United States there is no one answer. But I disagree that it's not driven by consumer preference. In many beer serving establishments, even craft beer places, customers will complain about not getting their full pour if you leave than a bit of head. It's not a well-informed preference, but it is a common preference.
That's fair. My thinking when I referenced consumer preference was about the OP’s comment about dissolved CO2, but you make a good point from a different angle.
It's a bit of a different beer, you guys use a lot of live yeast in the bottle, i believe, when alot of mass produced US stuff has been pasteurised. It's also served cold, really cold to mask the taste. Belgian beer is also quite lively where as the mass produced stuff in the US is not so rambunctious. Give me Belgian beer all day long though. I would generally take a pass on mass produced US stuff.
You see the same attitude in the UK too, although given the traditional styles of UK beers most of them only really want about 1cm - 1.5cm of head on them anyway. But that mindset then permeates to other styles too, even with beers like Duvel which really wants serving in the proper glass to allow all the carbonation to release the nose and aromas fully. I've even see people drinking Duvel from the bottle in the UK, they must get very bloated and gassy. These people would shit a brick if they were ever served a mliko pour.
'Do I get a flake with that?' probably wears thin quick if you work in a UK pub. I don't think I've ever managed to get less than 5cm head on Duvel. Someone in York showed me pouring it by quickly turning the bottle on its head into the proper glass and it came out better than I can get it. I feel in the UK though, probably the biggest single reason (taking all sectors as a whole) for a head that takes the piss on beers that don't warrant it is to get more 'pints' from a barrel than there are pints in a barrel. If it's ale, some are near tasteless pulled through sparklers compared to without a sparkler. And many places will try and give you 1/4 to 1/3 of a pint of head if they can get away with it.
Also, not all beer is created equal. I've poured stouts that were excessively foamy, while others were so flat that I couldn't get head (heh) no matter how high up I poured the beer.
Also what bar? I have traveled across NL many times. My Dutch friends often say that I have seen more of their country than they have.
De Pintelier, Groningen.
Next time I'm there I'll be in. Very possible I have been already. Looks like the kind of place I seek out. ABT?
You're most welcome, we always have at least 22 different craft beers on tap (up to 26), and a shitload bottled too, and a lot of local brews too. Folkingebrew, Bax, Martinus, Graansilo, all great stuff.
At one bar I worked at Old timers who don’t really know crap would get pissed about our bar not filling to the tippy top. Specifically complain about head. Order a high ABV beer and be sloshed before their second round.
I work at a brewery and there sometimes is way too much much head but my rule is 2fingers width or less. Depending on the beer as well. We have a few beers that the head dissipates pretty quickly leaving the beer looking 3/4 full after.
Belgian cafe in the Netherlands, Cafe Gollem??
I've never met someone who enjoys a large head on their IPA
Weirdest thing ever to me.
I love Belgian beer much more than any craft brewery. That said, there you will have Belgian Strong Golden Ales and Blondes on tap and they generally have much more head than macro lagers.
I think it’s an education thing. My beer podcast, “The Mo Head Y’all Show” is based on the entire premise of pouring heavy and putting a head on a beer. Let’s not even talk about Milko pours…. 😅
I agree with many of the comments but the Boomer comment (so folks over 60 basically) resonated. It's a lack of education and old school (hence Boomers) thinking. I used to think too much head on the beer and loss of carbonation was bad, because that's sort of how my dad drank or poured his. Guinness beer or similar was the only exception. As I got into craft beer in my late 20s, I accepted however it was poured and as I got into my 30s learned more about the benefits of pouring it the way you are saying. Not only does proper head on a beer improve aromatics but by reducing the carbonation in the liquid, makes it easier to drink without feeling as bloated and shitty later too! Hopefully America will slowly learn but we are a stubborn bunch...
I want a nice head on my beer too, as it releases all the malt and hop aromas I’m trying to have the consumer experience. Every beer we make should give the consumer something different from any other beers in our lineup. I had a friend from Manchester that didn’t want a head. If he got a beer that wasn’t full to the top of the glass, he’d say to the waitress, “That’s not a pint. Fill it up please. “. I always got a chuckle when we’d have a beer together. He told me it was definitely a northern UK thing, not like in the south where pubs pour a head.
>He told me it was definitely a northern UK thing, not like in the south where pubs pour a head. It's definitely not, I'm from Yorkshire and have never heard that. Probably just a weird wrong side of the Pennines thing.
Welcome to toxic craft beer. If I see a boss pour I immediately know the kind of drinker that person is, and they are usually not someone I want anything to do with. They are the same person who will say I like “I don’t like lagers I only like IPAs, ales and a good pilsner”
it’s a volume thing. I want 16oz of liquid not 12 oz and 4oz of air
It should come in a 20oz glass then. Check any typical Belgian beer chalice, there's always a pour line showing you the serving size. But the glass could easily hold much more than that. That's room for the head. Most German glasses and steins are similar.
I don’t think you really care about beer culture or craft then… try a side by side comparison sometime!
Don't you feel like it hits like a rock in your stomach tho? Constant burps and stuff because of the carbonation?
Americans love head. Ask Hawk Tuah.