Beer turns to foam in mouth

I made a batch of the White House Honey Ale. It was really great... for about a week. Now whenever I drink any of it, the beer turns to foam in my mouth immediately. I can't drink it because by the time you swallow it isn't liquid.

Is this just a result of over carbonation? I don't have any problems with too much foam when I open the bottles.

Are you drinking it out of the bottle? It sounds like you are and it is either over carbed or infected.

Yeah, I usually drink it straight out of the bottle. When I pour in a glass, it does produce quite a bit of head. More than I'd like, but I'd still expect the beer to settle down and remain liquid when I try to drink it.

I don't think the batch is infected. At least, it doesn't smell bad and it doesn't taste bad either (as good as foam can taste). It was great for a couple days, so I'm guessing it just over carbonated?

I never drink from a bottle (I don't drink wine straight from the bottle either) You want to get the carbonation out of the liquid so that you are not delivering straight to your stomach. You will find that you not only have more room for beer, but you will pick up more of the taste from the beer when you have done a proper pour. Not only is the glass important, but the style of glass also plays a major role in the taste of the beer. (Belgian restaurants have been known to refuse to serve brands when the appropriate glassware is not stocked)

Here is more info...you will definitely enjoy your beer more from a glass.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/pour

Here is how different styles of glassware affect the taste and aroma of beer
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/101/glassware.php

Do you like yeast in every sip of your beer? I imagine not. Drink it out of a glass with some respect for the beer you made.

Anyways, what was the FG? How much priming sugar did you use? Did you add it per bottle or to the batch as a whole?

it sounds like they're overcarbonated if you get too much head when pouring into a glass (which you should be doing anyway). Make sure your beers hit an appropriate FG and check the volume of beer and amt of priming sugar next time to avoid this in the future.

If you made it from a kit, it's unlikely that you primed with too much sugar, but it could be that you didn't hit your FG before bottling. That would effectively mean additional sugars being converted in the bottle, leading to over-carbonation.

But yes, agreed with everyone about not drinking from the bottle. I hate wasting beer, but leaving that last sip in the bottle at the end of the pour improves the quality of the whole pint.

BGBC said:

If you made it from a kit, it's unlikely that you primed with too much sugar

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If he boiled off too much or lost a lot in racking, he could have ended up with less beer than the kit anticipates causing overpriming.

daksin said:

If he boiled off too much or lost a lot in racking, he could have ended up with less beer than the kit anticipates causing overpriming.

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Good point - I skimmed your first response too quickly and missed that you asked for the volume of beer as well.

Ditto on the over-priming.

Interesting theory on the saliva-amylase reaction. Coors beer does that to me, no matter how I drink it, it tastes like cat spit.

I've had the same problem. Not certain whether it was caused by bottling too early, or whether I overprimed when bottling. One way or the other, the beer was basically undrinkable due to the problem. If I recall correctly I had to open the bottles in the sink and allow them to foam over for about ten minutes, and by the time that was done the bottle would be half-empty. At this point it was still very carbonated. It is a wonder none of the bottles popped.