First AG Question

[ChimayLover]

My first AG has logged 9 days of bottle conditioning. It tastes great (even @room temp) and is easily better than my best extract beers by a huge margin. When I serve it slightly chilled or at room temp it has a really thick, creamy white head. But when I chill it for a prolonged time so it is really cold, the head is almost non existent. It still tastes great, but there is just a thin layer of foam with really loose and big bubbles. Any reason for this? Does it just need to condition more? When I pour the beer at room temp the head is awesome, but not when it is frosty cold.

Also, any recipe suggestions for my second beer?

 

[Evan!]

it might just need more time to condition. what's your ambient temp where you store the bottles? You might also try rousing the yeast in the bottles by shaking or swirling them around. I had an IIPA that wouldn't carbonate, so I took to shaking the bottles up vigorously every other day for 2 weeks. Now they're fine.

Just for your info though, yeah, you normally see more carbonation when beers are warm. Now, do you have adequate carbonation? If the beers are fully carbo'd but the head is what you're worried about, that's a different story, and takes some adjustments to your recipe.

Recipe suggestions...well, I'm drinking my Smoked Porter as we speak. The Final Build of it is in my recipe pulldown, and it is sen-freakin-sational.

 

[kenb]

My first AG has logged 9 days of bottle conditioning. It tastes great (even @room temp) and is easily better than my best extract beers by a huge margin. When I serve it slightly chilled or at room temp it has a really thick, creamy white head. But when I chill it for a prolonged time so it is really cold, the head is almost non existent. It still tastes great, but there is just a thin layer of foam with really loose and big bubbles. Any reason for this? Does it just need to condition more? When I pour the beer at room temp the head is awesome, but not when it is frosty cold.

Also, any recipe suggestions for my second beer?

That is typical. The colder a beer is served, the less head it will have. For a bigger, longer lasting head next time though, don't hesitate to use a bit of dextrine (cara-pils) malt. You can use 1/2 to 1lb of that without really affecting the flavor of the beer.