Same beer... two pours... one w/ head and one w/out

So I have recently made a Bock w/ an extract kit. I bottled about 50+ and recently poured two glasses for my friend and me. The glasses were the same, I poured them the same, but yet one came out w/ no head and one came out w/ a perfect head.

I sanitized all my bottles before bottling, but could I have not done a good enough job? Or perhaps there was still residue in the bottles from a previous beer?

Could I have not capped well enough on some of the bottles? Should I look into the oxygen absorbing caps?

I notice the same thing with beer from the store sometimes, I just drink it anyway.

My first guess would be unequal priming sugar per bottle. How did you add the sugar before you bottled?

Lil' Sparky said:

My first guess would be unequal priming sugar per bottle. How did you add the sugar before you bottled?

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The way I learned is to boil a couple of cups of water on the stove and put 3/4 cups of priming sugar in. The rack the beer from my secondary to my bottling bucket and add the boiled priming sugar. Then stir it up and rack to bottles. Is this the right way? It is also possible that I forgot to stir before I racked to my bottles.

I have read that certain types of cleaning solution residue can cause that. I would suspect maybe it had something to do with not rinsing a bottle well enough.

could be soap left on the glasses as well.

riored4v said:

could be soap left on the glasses as well.

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+1

Don't use ordinary dish soap on your glasses if you want to retain a good head. Personally, I'm not that anal, but the point stands. Dish soap kills foam retention.

Sir Humpsalot said:

+1

Don't use ordinary dish soap on your glasses if you want to retain a good head. Personally, I'm not that anal, but the point stands. Dish soap kills foam retention.

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and that's the glasses i pour into and drink out of, not the bottles i rack into. right?

fourseasonsbrewing said:

and that's the glasses i pour into and drink out of, not the bottles i rack into. right?

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both.

you dont want to leave soap behind on either, but your drinking glasses don't need to be sanitized like your bottling glasses.

good thread recently regarding keeping good head in your drinking glasses: http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1211161

riored4v said:

could be soap left on the glasses as well.

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+2...

Rinse your glasses before pouring.

It could be anything everyone mentioned above, and it could be the will of the beer gods. Did you notice if they were equally carbonated, so that head retention was the issue, rather than head formation? If they were not equally carbonated, you could have a difference in priming or a loose cap.

Oxygen absorbing caps make no difference here.

When I bottled, I preferred to add the priming solution to the bottling bucket first, then the beer. That ensures better mixing.


TL

TexLaw said:

Did you notice if they were equally carbonated, so that head retention was the issue, rather than head formation? TL

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Def. an issue of head "retention"

That sounds like a soap residue, then. It if was carbonated well, and had a head that faded, it sounds like soap and/or Jet Dry in the glass.

how long have they been in the bottle? uneven sugars or possibly fermentation simply hasn't finished in one of the bottles (those yeasties have a mind of their own sometimes.)

TexLaw said:

Did you notice if they were equally carbonated, so that head retention was the issue, rather than head formation? TL

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My apologies gents, it's an issue of head "formation"

DeathBrewer said:

how long have they been in the bottle? uneven sugars or possibly fermentation simply hasn't finished in one of the bottles (those yeasties have a mind of their own sometimes.)

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i bottled way back in october, and the two beers in question were poured/drank about 2 weeks ago. although i noticed it w/ previous bocks as well

Considering you cant tell if a certain beer is going to be a problem untill you pour it you have a problem. Your best course of action is to PM for a shipping address so I can analyze them further.

Did i read you correctly in that you put the priming solution into the bottling bucket AFTER the beer?? If so, that's your culprit. No amount of stirring will throroughly mix that stuff into the beer. Next time put the solution in FIRST, then the beer, then stir. BTW bottle right away, as the separating action of fluids at different temperatures (meaning different densities) can cause uneven priming as well. Lastly, I've had problems with beers that won't finish carbing because they are in the lower of two boxes. My basement is pretty cool to start with, and the concrete floor is really chilly. The upper box carbs fine in about 3-4 weeks, but the lower one won't fully carb until I get it off the ground for a couple weeks.

fourseasonsbrewing said:

Def. an issue of head "retention"

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Head retentioin is when you pour a beer into the glass and the foamy goodness is created on top of the beer in the glass...and stays for awhile.


loop