Why is beer foam called a head?

Answer 1

i am a bertender and we do call the top of beer/ head! however i have no i dea why to be honest i think that it is just because it is on the top as are our heads ? or some really drunk pervert made it up either way it is kind weird!

Answer 2

Every true beer connoisseur will tell you that there are only two terms for the foam atop a beer: the head and the Krausen (in Deutsch Krausen is spelled with an umlaut u). Krausen is both a noun and a verb. As a noun (meaning frizz or ruffle) it is descriptive of the foam that forms when beer ferments naturally (as it should). Krausening beer, the verb, is when the brewer adds the fermenting wort to the brew (in simplest terms).