Patton191

Recipes 

I have had about 10 of my red ales so far and it is close to 5 weeks conditioned. One of the first ones I drank I put in the fridge for only a couple hours, and it had a great 2 finger head or maybe a bit larger, but I heard advice that you should leave them in the fridge for atleast a few days. So I tried that with one and left it in there for about 6 days. First I notice that the bottle has lost its pressure to a degree( I use plastic soda bottles). Then I pour it and it gets no head. I even attempted to pour it a little more vigorously towards the end. I can't figure this out. Could there be a leak?

Both bottles had great carbonation and they both taste the same. Could anyone throw out some ideas for me as to why this happened? It wasn't just one bottle, because I left another one in the fridge for awhile and then it too had no head.

Thank you very much for the advice,

Patton

steelerguy

Recipes 

More C02 dissolved in solution when it was cold, so it didn't "pop" as much when you opened. Then when you poured, the colder beer didn't just release all the C02 when it hit the glass. So you didn't get as good of a head, but I bet it kept bubbling longer than the warmer one. Just pour a little more vigerously if you want a bigger head...although red ale generally isn't a real "heady" style. Take them out of the fridge 15 mins before you are going to drink if you want so it warms up a bit, probably too cold right out of the fridge anyway.

Patton191

Recipes 

I will definitely try that, this may just be me, but it seems like there is more flavor when it is warmer anyway.

Reno_eNVy

Recipes 

Typical for an ale. I actually like my reds served around 50F +/- 2F

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