Foaming Pint Glasses

My pint glasses are foaming really bad when I pour a beer. After reading on the net, I now know it is from years of dishwasher abuse.... What is the best way to correct this error? Is there anything I can wash them with to correct the problem? How about a cycle in the dishwasher withour soap?
Thanks,
Jimi

Naturally you have to use soap to clean your classes, etc., but in Europe they usually rinse them under cold water before pouring in the beer.

You also need to learn how to pour: tilt your glass at about 45 degree angle, pour the beer in slowly so you don't get too much foam, when the head (foam) reaches the rim then slowly turn the glass upright and continue pouring.

Jimi, are you sure you didn't over carbonate the beer? If you added sugar to the bottles per the recipe, you have probably over carbonated some of them. It only takes about 3/4 cup to prime 5 gallons. One tablespoon per bottle is waaaay tooo much. Aand, spooning it into each bottle is not precise either. You should add the prime to the bucket, so it gets evenly distributed through out the batch.

You could try the Jackie Gleason trick of sticking you finger into the pint as the head rises, it stops the overflow....what was his bartender characters name? you remember the skits with 'Crazy Gugenheim' where we (the audience) were 'Mr. Moriarty'?

casebrew said:

You could try the Jackie Gleason trick of sticking you finger into the pint as the head rises, it stops the overflow....

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That's because of the salt from your body...

Remember greasy and salty foods on your lips will cause the head to drop.

Mmmm, a pint of "Dirty, greasy finger ale"...nice!

That kind of act in the UK would result in a fight in the pub car park!

BlightyBrewer said:

Mmmm, a pint of "Dirty, greasy finger ale"...nice! That kind of act in the UK would result in a fight in the pub car park!

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You mean putting your finger in ale is OK, but putting your finger in Al would be cause for a rumble, huh? (Insert a smilie with a black eye here!)

If you run your glassware through the dishwasher, put them through a second cycle without any soap or re-rinse them by hand and let them air dry. Never use any anti-spotting product either.

I'm wierd when it comes to my beer glasses and coffee cups. I will NEVER use soap on the inside of them and only use it on the outside when i absolutely have to. 99% of the time I use HOT HOT HOT water on them only. If you are wearing lipstick expect me to give you plastic cups . . . but not one of my precious 32oz'ers

I hand wash with one of those dishwashing "wands" with the soap in the handle coming out into the sponge part. Then HOT, very HOT rinse from my bottle washer.

Nice lace, no head problems. (other than the voices...)

All my glassware goes through the dishwasher. I don't have any problem with head retention. Occasionally, like last night, I have a problem with overactive beer.... My Irish Red was a bit overcarbonated, and I had a glass in the freezer, the beer hit the frosty glass and presto, instant foam. I think I had about 1/3 beer and 2/3 foam. I waited for 10 minutes, and everything was right with the world.

I do rinse my glassware before pouring beer into it, and I don't use "spot free" stuff either. Even when I pour something like a Chocolate Porter, I usually get a nice, 1/4 inch thick creamy head out of it. I must be living right or something.

not a glass problem. it sounds like overcarbonation to me.

on the subject of glasses i read a study that this guy did, i think it was in brew techniques, or byo mag. where he took glasses of varying degrees of dirtyness and wanted to see the effect on head retention. his results were that nothing affected head retention! not clean glasses, nor glasses that were not rinsed well, glasses that had lipstick on them, everything concievable that people say would affect head retention, had zero affect.

just a thought...

I wonder who financed his "experiment"?

homebrewer_99 said:

I wonder who financed his "experiment"?

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i'd say Mary Kay!

Denny's Brew said:

I hand wash with one of those dishwashing "wands" with the soap in the handle coming out into the sponge part. Then HOT, very HOT rinse from my bottle washer.

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Exactly what I do, too. Occasionally, I run them in the DW with no soap. FWIW, I have become a recent convert to the 'no frosty glass' school of thinking after fighting it for years! Used to keep all my pint glasses in the freezer. No more.

JimiGibbs said:

My pint glasses are foaming really bad when I pour a beer. After reading on the net, I now know it is from years of dishwasher abuse.

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Soap and rinse aids generally have a negative effect on head...? I think your problem, as mentioned above, is just overcarbonation.

Rhoobarb said:

Exactly what I do, too. Occasionally, I run them in the DW with no soap. FWIW, I have become a recent convert to the 'no frosty glass' school of thinking after fighting it for years! Used to keep all my pint glasses in the freezer. No more.

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I don't even drink most of my beer chilled, let alone a glass.

Homebrewer 99 Quoted"Naturally you have to use soap to clean your glasses, etc., but in Europe they usually rinse them under cold water before pouring in the beer.".....!!!
Indeed they do wet the glass before hand,but that is so that the gassy stuff they sell as 'Lager',the foam will not stick to the sides of the glass!!
In England,with the amount of good independant breweries about,with knowledgable Pub managers,real ale is served in contoured glasses for good head retention,poured well so the head(not to thick as we have a policy of asking for a top up if the head is to large),will last all the way to the bottom.
Mine is usually gone in 5 minutes though!!!!!

How i long for British summertime and English Pubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So true about the water/glass/bubble connection...I didn't say otherwise, but I'm glad you cleared that up for the rest of the crowd. My bad..

How long has it been since you guys went to college?

The trick to reducing head (say from a fresh keg) is to rub your finger on the side of your nose, then swirl it on the head. A little "Nose Grease" was always the bestest trick.

Cheesefood said:

How long has it been since you guys went to college?

The trick to reducing head (say from a fresh keg) is to rub your finger on the side of your nose, then swirl it on the head. A little "Nose Grease" was always the bestest trick.

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...but I was drinking for 10 years BEFORE I went to college...

homebrewer_99 said:

...but I was drinking for 10 years BEFORE I went to college...

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Ahh...

I didn't start drinking till I got to college. I had a few drinks here and there, but never got drunk. It just wasn't my thing. The stuff that was my thing are now no longer my thing, and drinking is my thing.

I did 7 years in the Army before I went to college.