No Coldbreak, Krausen, or Head

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walthenf10

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Hey all, long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been brewing for a few years. 32 batches in and I've done all of them BIAB since about batch #5.

With my process I've always had vigorous cold break and lots of krausen on every kind of beer. I also "shake up" my gravity samples to get the CO2 out to (hopefully?) get a more accurate reading, and that always produces a lot of foam in the test tubes that takes time to settle.

None of this has happened on my last beer! It is a Rauchbier, which I've brewed before. (This is my first time using Briess Cherrywood Smoked Malt vs BEST Smoked Malt, but I doubt that would makea difference.) I noticed that the cold break was as weak as I've ever seen. After whirlpooling and letting it sit for a while, it didn't separate out like it usually does for the transfer. Fermentation produced zero krausen, though it's definitely fermenting (1.059 to 1.018 in four days). Even when I shook the gravity sample, it produced very little foam. I can't think of anything in my cleaning process that was different. I used treated RO water as I always do, and I used 34/70 for the yeast which I've used in a number of lagers without any such effect...

Anybody know why this might be?

To be clear, I'm not really worried about it. The first taste from the sample was just fine: a nice BBQy beer! It's a cowbody-themed beer too ("Roughriders Rauchbier"), so I'm OK with it being a little "rough" around the edges, even if it ends up being a "cloudy lager" (fits nicely with the smoked theme). I'm just genuinely curious. :)

Thanks all!

Edit - I suppose I can't properly say it has no "head" yet, it just seems to be "heading" in that direction.
 
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The only time that happened to me,I'd left the bag in the tun and came down in the brewery 3 or so days later and, where is that smell coming from? The TUN! all the pours were clogged so I soaked it in Dawn dish soap and it was really clean, awesome or so I thought. 2 brews without krausen or head. If I need to use dish soap for any reason I always soak in PBW after,and it hasn't happened again. The beers were drinkable but sad. You know that foam when you first tap a beer for the evening? Well I would fill my glass with headless beer then top with the tapper next door.
 
I thought of the possibility of some kind of leftover detergent, but I'm guessing that's not the case... I use Oxyclean free, and I make sure to rinse thoroughly at the end. If that IS it, it would be the first time it's ever happened.

PS - I went to school in Mequon!
 
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