first brew pretty sweet and malty

[NordeastBrewer77]

Do you think freezer would help?

for the mugs? the cold glass may chill the beer, which will help it hold co2 in solution better. that may slow the dissipation of the head.

 

[bleme]

I read in a thread yesterday that cold glasses shock the beer, causing CO2 to be released faster, which might give a bigger head up front, but poor retention. Since both theories seems to have valid arguments, I think this is going to require some extensive side-by-side research...

 

[tre9er]

Perhaps chill the glass in the same refrig, so as to help maintain the temp but not shock the beer.

 

[halister]

I have 2 mugs scrubbed so I will put one in the freezer and one in the fridge. Let's see what happens. Either way I hope one works so I can rule out my beer.

 

[halister]

Gentleman very interesting results. So I wanted real results so I did 3 mugs. All bottles came out of the same fridge.

1 control: mug right out of cabinet- good taste, very low head, 5 count retention.
2 mug in same fridge scrubbed: good head, 20 count retention, very tasty.
3 mug in freezers scrubbed: very good head, 10 count retention, totally lost a lot of taste. I will not be freezing my mugs..

So scrubbing worked but I wasn't ready for the dismal taste that freezing did. Thoughts?

 

[gavball6]

Interesting... I think we need a 4th sample. Scrubbed mug at room temp. Sorry, but you have to drink another beer!

 

[halister]

The control was room temp but I'm sure I can muster another test if needed..

 

[gavball6]

Oh... I thought the control was unscrubbed though. I will think of some other tests then!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

3 mug in freezers scrubbed: very good head, 10 count retention, totally lost a lot of taste. I will not be freezing my mugs..

oh yeah, if a beer's too cold, some of the taste is hidden. it's why i keep my beer fridge and kegerator at ~44, works out a lot better that way.
i still vote for letting the brew condition longer, chances are it's not a glass issue and either some more time will produce a better head, or it's one of those brews that isn't gonna have great head retention.

 

[halister]

Well for my first brew it's tasty and I like it so there in my fridge now. I was more worried about taste seeing it came out malty at first.