Carbonation goes away quickly

[stratstud00]

Just opened the first bottle on a new batch. Bottled with carb tabs, then 3 weeks on bottle and another 5 days in the fridge. When I open and pour, beer has a decent head and tastes fairly carbed for about 5 mins, then starts losing carbonation fairly quickly. Ideas?

 

[unionrdr]

I never liked those pill-size carb tabs. Had to use too many of'em per bottle. The Cooper's carb drops were better. If you store your bottled beers in temps cooler than 70F or so, they'll take longer to carbonate & condition. At 70F or more, they should be decently carbed in 3 weeks. 7 days fridge time is better for me, but two weeks fridge time I found gives thicker head & longer lasting carbonation. There are exceptions to this depending on your process & particular ambient conditions.

 

[zippy84]

Could be anything from glassware to the type of brew you did to those tablets. Don't wash your glasses in soap, boiling hot water rinse for me. Or if herself has put 'em through a wash I'll rub them whilst wet with salt to remove any potential residue. Could be a canned kit and a kilo of sugar you brewed? If so this type of beer would not keep a great head. Beer generally needs body for a good head.

 

[unionrdr]

Oh, idk...I started with kit-n-kilo, & they came out good. Case in point, my first, the Cooper's OS lager that came with my Micro Brew kit when I started;

 

[zippy84]

Oh, idk...I started with kit-n-kilo, & they came out good. Case in point, my first, the Cooper's OS lager that came with my Micro Brew kit when I started;

Hmm picture inconclusive, blurred so can't see size of bubbles, could be a second after the pour also just kidding. But yeah I suppose got decent head at times too with kit and kilo, but I put it down to over-carbonation more than anything. I used to prime bottles individually with a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle :/ No consistency, and no pasteurising the sugar.

 

[stratstud00]

Thanks for the feedback. I will let them sit in the fridge for a few weeks and see if the additional time helps at all. Stay tuned...

 

[unionrdr]

The head is formed by dissolved proteins in the beer, but is driven by carbonation after it's poured. So generally, if carbonation doesn't last, the head goes away quickly. And that pic is from 2/11, taken with a 5 megapixel camera, non-HD.