Barely any foam when pouring my home brew from the bottle.

[alexf322]

Recently I tried two different brews than I normally have made in the past. I made a Witbier and added raspberries during the secondary. Also made a honey porter and added coffee grinds to the secondary. Each beer was a 1 gallon batch, fermented for 2 weeks in a primary, then transferred to a secondary for another two weeks. Bottled for 2 weeks and then put in the fridge just like every other brew I have ever made.

Both of the beers though, when poured into a glass have very little foam but taste good to me. I have had others taste the beers and no one has any distaste for the beers. Could it be that they have not been in the fridge for too long, less than 24 hours. Both bubbled fine for a couple days in the primary and foamed the hell out of the carboys. Not sure if the non foaming is a bad thing? I have tried to search it but can only find posts about too much foam. Thanks!

 

[Cyclman]

I typically let my beers go in the bottle for three weeks before the refrigerator.

 

[beermanpete]

How much priming sugar did you use?
Leave them at room temp for another week and then chill for two days before opening one for testing.

 

[GoeHaarden]

When you say foam are you referring to the head? Are they carb'd at all?

 

[6thGoal]

I just did a pale ale (kit from AIH) using 5 oz of priming sugar at bottling. The head was very thin. By no means did it take away from the overall enjoyment and taste of the beer. This was bottle conditioned for 2 weeks before chilled and opened.

 

[Sparkncode]

Its always a good idea to bottle at least one in a plastic PET bottle as the bottle carbonation can vary time wise due to temperature not bring regulated etc and a PET bottle tells you how it's going with a simple squeze test so you can decide when to transfer to the fridge.
I didn't do that on my last batch so due to cold weather and higher ABV than my previous bottled batches they are carbing slow. I did check one the other day by opening and drinking fairly flat beer shouldn't have been necessary if i put at least one in plastic. Still tasted good so not really a waste.

 

[TwistedGray]

Try again after one has been in the fridge at least 24hrs. Put two in the fridge and try at 24 and 48 hours.

 

[Novacor]

Try again after one has been in the fridge at least 24hrs. Put two in the fridge and try at 24 and 48 hours.

Do this. I was amazed when I tried the same beer after 24, 36, and 48 hours in the fridge. Big difference between carbonation, clarity, and taste.

 

[parrothead64]

The co2 will be created at room temp, but the beer won’t absorb much until it’s cold. It takes at least a day or two.

 

[Muff]

I noticed this on my first brew. The my buddy sent me a picture of the same beer in a glass that he pored. Mine no head his a tone. I pored really slow he pored really fast. Maybe you are just good at poring. As long as it tastes great then I don’t see a problem.

 

[TwistedGray]

I noticed this on my first brew. The my buddy sent me a picture of the same beer in a glass that he pored. Mine no head his a tone. I pored really slow he pored really fast. Maybe you are just good at poring. As long as it tastes great then I don’t see a problem.

Except that carbonation is a key factor to taste

 

[Muff]

He says they taste great from my understanding head and carbonation aren’t the same thing

 

[TGFV]

You can have carbonation and no head retention, though for a wheat ale of any kind to have no head retention is strange (though not rare, just bought a four pack that has no head retention in half of it).

What specially grains and malts are you using? And how long are you letting it carbonate for (and at what temp)?

Edit: also it can change in the glasses you use for drinking. My water cups cause little head retention at all (even for my saisons and heady wheat ales) while two of my oldest and most well loved beer mugs cause ridiculous head, even for Belgian and wheat ales.

 

[Aston aitken]

Hi all new to homebrew made a 5gallon Mexican larger but forgot to take a gravity reading at the the beginning how can I tell my abv now

 

[TGFV]

Use a beer calculator and input your recipie?

Was it extract? If so you will get a very close approximate, but if you mashed it's a close guess depending on your efficiency.

I generally use brewersfriend calculator.