tiredofbuyingbeer
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- Joined
- Sep 5, 2016
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So I've got this bitter that I carbed relatively low (1.6 vols, I think) to simulate a cask conditioned ale. The carbonation tastes OK, but I'm not seeing any head. Granted, I'm only drinking them two weeks in the bottle, so maybe they'll carbonate more and get more head. But I thought maybe it would take less time to carb a beer with less priming sugar. Is this a problem I should expect to clear up after a bit more conditioning, or is this beer just going to have a disappointing presentation? (The original recipe called for over 10% invert sugar--I used Lyle's golden syrup.)
I should also mention that I did the little medicinal syringe trick to simulate the nitro widget that comes with some beers, to try to get the nitro head. First, I have to do it a bunch to to see any head, and that throws almost all of the carbonation out of the beer. Second, the head is weird: when it dissipates, it leaves behind what looks like scum or break material. I assume these are protein structures that form when agitating the beer. Is that normal? I wonder if that's a sign that I've still got a lot of chill haze material that hasn't fallen out?
I should also mention that I did the little medicinal syringe trick to simulate the nitro widget that comes with some beers, to try to get the nitro head. First, I have to do it a bunch to to see any head, and that throws almost all of the carbonation out of the beer. Second, the head is weird: when it dissipates, it leaves behind what looks like scum or break material. I assume these are protein structures that form when agitating the beer. Is that normal? I wonder if that's a sign that I've still got a lot of chill haze material that hasn't fallen out?