Is clumping head/foam......

[NTOLERANCE]

...a sign of an infection? ITs kinda stange, the foam in two of my recent brews is clumping. Sorta looks like clouds when your taking a sip. Looks fine when the glass is upright, although the bubbles are very small. This current one I am trying tastes fine although green, the other had an off flavor.

Really hard to get a pic, cant see it unless your dinking it.

 

[zman]

post a pic so we can see what it looks like

 

[NTOLERANCE]

Man, I just cant get a good pic of it, its only happens when you tip it to sip.

 

[NTOLERANCE]

Well this is the best I can get, if you look at the foam in the center of the pic, its like a big clump. The more you sip, the more mini clumps you come across. It sort of separates.

 

[mitch171]

I think you had a yeast infection that has caused carbonation. JK, well kinda, it looks fine to me. But I don't know much.

 

[BenS]

I really like thick head that won't go away. Helps hold the aroma throughout the entire beer IMO. Just personal preference I guess.

 

[JesseRC]

WOW, that's funny you posted this. Mine Xmas ale is doing the same thing. I had some suspicions about it as it was cold crashing for over 2 weeks. I wont say that I saw an infection, but there was a layer of skin on top of the beer. It was thin and broke up real easily. I just kegged it 2 weeks ago and I cant taste anything weird about it, but the clumping of the head was kinda weird.

 

[JimE]

...

Really hard to get a pic, cant see it unless your dinking it.

Please send a growler or two. I'm sure I can figure it out upon close inspection!

 

[bmbigda]

funny...I recently got Alesmith IPA here in MA and all 3 bottles were doing this. It tasted wonderful and I'm alive and kickin'

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I brewed a wit a couple months ago that I think had the same thing you are describing. It had really good head when poured but then when it settled down it left some clumps of foam. It almost looked like whipped cream floating on top but not nearly as dense as whipped cream.

I didn't bother to post or ask about it because it was a delicous tasting brew. I just drank the clumps.

 

[carp]

I have a batch (IPA) doing the same thing. It tastes fine (not my best batch, but its okay) so its hard to imagine an infection. The foam really sticks together - sometimes its almost like a fluffy loogie sliding into your mouth.

Some specs:
57% 2 row, 32% vienna, plus some rye (4%) and crystal. OG 1.061 and very high attenuation of 87% using US05 yeast. 60 IBUs, kegged on Sept 27.

EDIT: It is generally very (excessively) foamy, separate from the clumping aspect of the foam. I thought I overcarbed it (force carbing) but don't recall giving it extreme treatment. Even after many weeks at low pressure (<5 psi) it is still too foam. The pour always starts off with a big glob of pure foam.

It was a 10 gallon batch, and the other keg did not have this characteristic.

 

[Lmuggs]

Curious... Is this on one of your kegged beers and if so did you force carb it?

I have the same thing in a recent keg of blueberry ale. It tastes great and I actually like the thick foam. I'm thinking it just needs a bit of time since it's still a little green (same as you described). Though my other thought is that the blueberry puree I added in secondary is somehow affecting the way the head forms.

 

[Reelale]

I bottled (from a keg) some Yuri's Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale that exhibits this too. Both from the keg and bottles. I was thinking it was the pumpkin used in the recipe. But now with all of these other reports, I think it's the guv'ment......

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I just had a couple of bottles out of a batch that had tiny fluffy logies as described above. I don't think I was imagining it, but I swear I could just about pick up the very feint taste of a lacto infection in those two bottles.

 

[NTOLERANCE]

I did force carb this in the keg.

ITs got a different flavor. Its a close copy of SWMBO Slayer.

Very drinkable though.

I have tried a few different pressures, no change.

Well, its a good beer. Just curious as to why this batch got it and the last batch didnt.

 

[NTOLERANCE]

I released all the pressure in this keg, let it sit for a few days, and the pressure came right back up. Released it again, and same thing, pressured rigth back up, close to 10 psi I would guess.

Still conditioning I suppose?

 

[malkore]

I'd wager it has a lot to do with the grainbill and the level of protein in the malt that was used.