After Conditioning...

[dbreienrk1]

So I bottled an IPA over three weeks ago, popped the top on one today and poured it into a glass. There was a nice thick foam, it was a little warm, but it tasted great. I then transferred 2 bottles into the fridge to let them chill. After a few hours, I popped the top on one, poured it into a glass, and it seemed somewhat flat. I thought it might be a rouge bottle, but all of the others since have been the same. Any ideas? It seems the warmer the beer the more carbonation I get. Also, I use 22 oz. bottles...does that matter?

Am I just an idiot and this is the way it's supposed to be? Or am I missing something? Here's the brew I made....
6 lbs. Gold liquid malt extract
3.3 lbs. Amber LME
8 oz. Caramel 40L
2 oz. Cascade
1 oz. Willamette
1 oz. Goldings pellet hops
WL British Ale 005
5 oz. priming sugar

Did a 60 min boil after steeping grains with hop additions @ 60, 15 & 3 min. Primary week, secondary 2 weeks, conditioning 3+ weeks.

I would give the gravity reading, but I shattered my hydrometer during the secondary fermentation stage...

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

That doesn't make any sense to me. You should have been fine with that amount of priming sugar. Also, beer will hold more carbonation at a lower temp. How did you bottle them?

 

[gtpro]

1) let them sit at room temp longer, carbonation can take longer than three weeks

2) chill them in the fridge for at least 24 hours before you drink one to sink that CO2 in the headspace back into the beer

 

[jrss13]

what gtpro said.... but I've read they need to sit in a fridge for at least 2 days before you should pop the top on one...

 

[remilard]

You get more foam with the warm beer because the c02 comes out of solution more readily when the beer is warm. If you put the same beer in the fridge you get less foam and the beer is more carbonated since the c02 stayed in solution.

You are letting the appearance of a lot of foam tricking you into think there is more carbonation in the warmer beer.

Cold beer needs to be poured with some turbulence to generate a lot of foam.

 

[IceFisherChris]

It might be a mind trick on you. Warm liquids will not hold much dissolved gases, so going from a pressurized bottle to ambient air will release carbonation very fast. The cold bottle of beer will hold it in much longer because cold liquids hold much more dissolved gases.

I am guessing that you just need to be more agressive with your pour. Some beer doesn't need much agitation to foam up nicely. Some need a pour thats right down the middle.