force carb problem?

i force carbed a small batch of porter i had.. i did the 30 psi for 2 days, then put it at a serving 12 after purging and its been there for about a week now..

the beer tastes fine, though there is little to no head retention to it.. when pouring it comes out quite foamy, and then when it dissipates there are no longer the tiny bubbles associated with a pint but almost giant ones that resemble soda and they don't hang around very long.. is that a product of the quicker attempt i made? it was a small batch and i'm probably like 4 pints into it and it still does it.. i think for my next one i'll do the 12psi for 7-14 days with my irish red, didn't know if i did something wrong with this one though..

If it comes out really foamy, I think you slightly over carb'd.

There is a difference between carbonation & head retention. Just b/c the beer is carb'd well, dosent mean you will be able to retain the head it produces.

To increase head retention add wheat or carapils to your mash. They help with head retention.

there are also chemicals that can kill head retention. like if you use your dishwasher to clean utensils or bottles, if any jet dry or detergent gets anywhere near your beer you will lose head retention.

or if there was any oil (olive oil, veggy oil, butter, etc) residue on anything from previous uses that may have gotten in your beer.

it doesnt sound much like a "undercarbonation" problem, at any rate.