Too Much Head

[Sheldon]

I brewed NB's 115th Dream IPA (AG). The beer has been properly conditioned and we have been drinking and loving them now. The problem we are having is that no matter how slowly we pour from bottle to glass, there is an over abundance of head which doesn't go down. I've tried pouring right out of frig and after letting it sit for a few minutes.

Does anyone out there in hops and dreams land have an idea as to why this is happening? I have been brewing for over 3 years now (still learning too) and not seen this in any of my other home brews.

Thanks for you help.

 

[Pappers_]

*sitting back and waiting for the double entendres*

When you say slowly, do you mean pouring with the glass tilted? Also, you say letting it sit for a few minutes - you mean opened? Try letting it sit longer.

 

[Mysticmead]

is there such a thing as too much?


ok.. now that it's out of my system.. are the glasses warm or cold?

 

[Sheldon]

The glasses are rinsed with cold water before pouring. The glass and bottle are tilted and the pour is slow, as I have learned to do over my many years on this earth

The problem is that there is way more head in the glass and that makes it hard to get the beer to your lips. I don't recall ever having the head/foam take up so much glass space.

The beer is an excellent Double IPA and there is NO gushing when the bottle is opened, its just when dispensed into a good beer glass.

I appreciate all I learn from you folks, but this is baffling to me even though as I said I am still learning the craft.

 

[postban]

I had the same problem with my last batch of Midwest Peninsula IPA and it got worse as the conditioned bottles aged.
Wetting room temperature glasses and slowly angle pouring would keep it manageable but any following additions to the glass would foam too high. Just my luck that the last few were in bombers instead of smaller 12's.

 

[ChshreCat]

How much sugar did you use when you bottled?

 

[Sheldon]

Used the priming sugar pack from NB. Again, no gushing or excessive hissing when opening bottles.

 

[Slider46]

Only thing I could think of would be if you were opening/pouring the beers at a very high altitude...

A lower ambient air pressure might allow more CO2 to come out of solution, thus producing more foam.

However, seeing as you are in VA - I doubt its high altitude thats causing this. Thats my two cents.

 

[RM-MN]

How long was the brew in the fermenter? What was the FG?
I did an Irish Stout extract kit last year and the final few bottles were like that. I expect that the yeast wasn't done when with the fermentation when I added the priming sugar and bottled. Since the yeast wasn't done, it kept slowly fermenting and ended up overcarbing the last bottles.

 

[Sheldon]

Don't recall exactly how long in fermenters, probably a total of 3 weeks, but the actual carb level seems right for the IPA.

 

[jculler82]

First post here, hello everyone.

Is the beer over carbonated, or I should say, is the carbonation in the beer higher than you normally are used to with the same amount of priming solution? With the amount of hops in that recipe, it is possible that you had less finished beer than expected due to trub loss and you in effect used too much priming sugar.

 

[ChshreCat]

If you didn't measure the priming sugar, there might have been a little bit too much in there. Or you might not have been completely done fermenting when you bottled.

I have an APA right now that ended up just a little bit overcarbed. It's not enough to make it foam over when I open the bottles or anything, but it causes excessive head. Not a huge issue and it doesn't go everywhere, but it makes it just a little hard to get a whole bottle into a glass because no matter what I do, the head builds up to the top of the glass before the bottle empties.

Sounds a lot like what you have.

 

[Sheldon]

You mite be rite ChshreCat, I never measure priming sugar. I usually just make the priming solution and add to bottling bucket as I begin to fill the bucket. Doesn't seem to be over carbed by taste and it is still a great IPA.

 

[Golddiggie]

ChshreCat, where do you typically go in the CO2 volume range for a style? When I primed my Honey Porter I went on the low end of the scale. I went around the middle of the range for my Amber Ale... If I don't tilt the glass for most of the brew, I cannot fit the bottle into the glass (16oz glass, 500ml Grolsch bottles) and have to wait a minute to pour in what still can go in (before the trub starts to come out too)... I was concerned early on during the carbonation process that I wasn't going to have enough head in the brews. Now, I'm not to concerned. I'm thinking that I'll continue to go in the bottom half of the CO2 volume range for my brews. Of course, I'm sure there will be some that I'll want to carbonate higher.

I'm not using sugar to prime with. I've used honey for the first two batches, and think I'll continue to use that, or mix up some DME solution for batches. I still have the two bags of priming sugar that came with my first two brew kits (the only kits I've bought), so I'll have that on hand just in case I need it at some point...

If you've not tried priming with honey before, I recommend it. Just use the CP2 volume calculation, but use 1.25x that number in honey (to offset the fact that honey is only about 80% sugars)... I'm also finding that I like using sugars to prime with, compared with brews that are carbonated using CO2 (in kegs)...

 

[Sheldon]

Update and bump. Still producing a wicked amount of foam head, no gushing and tasting great. Put a 16 oz'er in freezer for 15 minutes to see if that would help, but it didn't. Can't figure this one out as I did everything I usually do and the beer is great. After about 15 - 20 minutes, the head disappears.

 

[Golddiggie]

What temp do you usually serve the brew at? I'm finding that I like mine at 45-50F. I don't think it tastes as good colder. I'm hoping that when I go to full on/regular kegs (corny kegs) that I'll have better head control (of the brew)... Right now, with the party pack kegs, it's not as good. Give it a little too much CO2 and you get half a glass of head. Give it too little, and it doesn't pour. Just hope that I can pick up a couple of cornies by the time what I have fermenting is ready to move to bottles/kegs.

 

[dotnetdotcom]

This happened to me. It was due to over carbonation. I made a pale ale and experimented with priming for 3.0 volumes CO2. The only other thing different in the recipe was the use of 1 lb of Gambrius Honey Malt.
It tasted great, but foamed like crazy. Last month, I poured a bottle of it at a party. Someone saw the head on it and asked, "Did you make a milkshake?"

 

[Sheldon]

I have tried serving after sitting out of frig for about 15 minutes, right from frig and putting in freezer for 15 minutes all with the same result. When I open the 12's and 16's, there is not an excess of hiss, more the normal sound and no gush. Its fine in the bottle, its just when it hits the freshly washed (in plain cold water) glasses. Wouldn't there be more hiss and or gushing if it were over carbed?

 

[ChshreCat]

ChshreCat, where do you typically go in the CO2 volume range for a style?

It really varies for me. If I'm brewing for a comp, I'll shoot for right in the middle range. If I'm brewing just to drink it it can really vary. Sometimes I'll be in the mood for something more bubbly, other times I'll prime it lower.