When the average price of a pint in the UK is £5.44, as it is in 2025, it’s understandable that most of us would rather have little to no head on them.
It’s a relatively British phenomenon, with a healthy head of beer often seen on the continent as a marker of refinement and, importantly, a means to prevent all the gas from escaping from your beer and letting it go flat.
That said, if you’re nursing a pint for so long it goes flat, did you even want it in the first place?
Unless you’re the type to pester bartenders until your pint is almost head-free – and honestly mate, have a day off – there’s a good chance you’ll be contending with an inch or two of foam barring your way to the sweet nectar.
If you want to clear it away quickly, it turns out there’s a pretty gross method for dispelling the foam with minimal fuss.
You just have to contend with the fact that everyone in the pub will think you’re a freak. Perhaps they already do!
It’s all to do with the natural oils on your nose. Yep, we’re going there.
Take your finger and swipe it to and fro across the end of your nose to get it nice and oiled up.
Then wipe that oil around the rim of your glass. The foam, much like the pub’s patrons, will recede in short order.
Now you’ve got yourself a foam-free pint, and loads of personal space. Winner!
Apparently it’s no good with a Guinness, but your average lager or pilsner’s head will be no match for your nose oil.
Now, onto why this friend-losing method is so effective.
The bubbles in the head are full of carbon dioxide, with the bubbles being encased in a thin shell of proteins and carbohydrates.
When the head comes into contact with your nose oil, the proteins and carbohydrates break apart to release the gas and clear the head.
As to why the oil comes from your nose, it’s just because it’s a readily-available source of a bit of grease.
If you’ve got an oily T-zone and you’re worried about the social implications of snotting up your glass, perhaps you could pretend you’re doing a sign of the cross over your face before sneakily wiping that oil over your pint rim.
Or, alternatively, don’t be a toddler about your pint head and just get on with it.
Featured Image Credit: Pawel_B/Getty Images
Rachael Davis