Grolsch bottles, loud pop, head problems.

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cutchemist42

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So when I pour it, it has a good head for about 10 seconds and then dies. Am I looking at strictly glass problems? Like, the loud pop, does that indicate decent carbonation?

Thanks.
 
Head retention can be complex problem with a lot of unknowns.
You appear to have adequate carbonation from what you describe of the pop and good initial head.
The issue appears to be head retention.
The following are just some of the factors that are suggested as having an affect on head retention:
Time in the bottle
Surface active cleaners/sanitizers. Try washing a glass in water and another in your sanitizer and see if there is a difference in head retention between the glasses.
Lipids-fats and oils (eg from lipstick, dirty dishwasher).
The amount of modification of the malt you are using - adding wheat malt may compensate.
Hops - more may be better
Flaked oats, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, nuts and other nutty brewing ingredients may be foam negative.
Under pitching yeast in controlled testing has been shown to result in poor head retention.

My preference is for nucleated glasses they do help retain a head.
 
So when I pour it, it has a good head for about 10 seconds and then dies. Am I looking at strictly glass problems? Like, the loud pop, does that indicate decent carbonation?

Thanks.

lots of information missing here but it could have decent carbonation but still be too green to form a persistent head. how long has the beer been in the bottle, what's the grain bill? those two could give some clues.
 
+1 for the wheat malt. I had the same problem that you are having, started throwing a half pound of wheat malt into my batchesband it seems to have helped. Conditioning also seems to help.
 
No grain, it was just straight malt extract and hops. It has been in these bottles for two weeks now.

I aslo don't all-grain brew so would wheat malt even work?
 
You can partial mash with wheat. The only downside is doing a mini-mash adds 45-60 minutes to your brew time.
 
With extract brews,it's just a matter of giving them plenty of time to condition as well as carbonate. I give mine 3-5 weeks in covered boxes at room temp. I've also found that 2 weeks in the fridge gives a thicker,finer head,& carbonation to the last. Two weeks isn't long enough for average gravity beers. Longer for big beers.
 
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