Carb Differences

[Hitman]

G'day,

As i am now well and truly into the extract brew thang, i have noticed one variable that is constant.

I posess enough bottles to have three complete brews in storage and one in the fridge, which for any novice i think is very important in maintaining enthusiasm towards the homebrew scene.

however, when i drink a brew and lets say i consume half a doz at one sitting, i have always got four (approx) that have good head retention (i always use some extra light malt, well worth it) and two that taste the same and are still a good drop but are flat as. Is it a diff in carb drops?

As i said this is a constant.

 

[pint of lager]

Hitman, head retention and level of carbonation are two different aspects of beer brewing.

Head retension is improved by better quality ingredients as you have found with malt extract and also hops help with head retention.

If you have variation in carbonation levels, it is probably due to:
you forgot to prime those bottles
the lids are leaking due to poor seals.

What are you priming with? Carbonation drops? Some brands do have variations between drops, but you would never say they are flat.

The most likely culprit is poor sealing. How are you capping your bottles? Are you reusing crown seals? What brand of capper do you have?

Are you bulk priming? You need the priming solution to be well distributed.

Are you using a sugar mix such as brew booster to prime with? These are a combination of different ingredients, some of which are useless for priming.

 

[ollave]

however, when i drink a brew and lets say i consume half a doz at one sitting, i have always got four (approx) that have good head retention (i always use some extra light malt, well worth it) and two that taste the same and are still a good drop but are flat as. Is it a diff in carb drops?

As i said this is a constant.

Well, a constant problem is easier to troubleshoot than an intermittent one, so that's good news, if not so good news as no problem at all would be. :icon_cheers:

I'm not sure I understand what problem(s) you're complaining about: head retention and carbonation aren't the same (related, sure); you can have well carbonated beer with poor head retention.

I suspect "flat as" means not merely poor head retention but that the beer is not carbonated? If so, like pint of lager I'd wonder if your bottles are not all getting good seals ... so what type of bottles (PET? Screw top glass? Non-screw top glass?) and if PET are you using new caps for each brew, and if glass what type of capper do you have?

If your "flat as" beers are carbonated but don't have good head retention, then scratch the above and I have no idea and someone else will have to help out ...

 

[roverfj1200]

Could be the glass is getting dirty.. I use a new clean glass with each tally I get from the fridge.

 

[manticle]

Elaborating slightly on what others have said.

Carbonation and head retention are different things (although there is a relationship - still beverages won't result in good head. You can take that accidental pun and run with it if you like).


Carbonation results from coreect priming:

The most consistent way to prime (apart from kegging) is to bulk prime - adding the total calculated necessary amount for the level you want to the whole brew before bottling.
Some people like it, some people hate it so it's obvious that many find they can achieve consistent levels using sugar or drops.

If you want to continue bottle priming you need to be systematic about your sugar additions to make sure each bottle gets the appropriate amount.
If using crown seals you need to make sure they are capped tight so no CO2 escapes.

For good head retention, make sure your glass is clean (a good wash, then dousing with vinegar and re-rinsing seems to help). Detergents or oils left on the glass will inhibit head formation.
You can chill your glass. Obviously chilling both beer and glass can help - it's just dependent on what level of cold you want your beer to be. If you like a stout or a dubbel to be slightly over 'freeze your tits off' temp, as I do, then you want to be cautious about how long bottles spend in the chiller.

There's a good article on head retention here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=70

and one on consistent carbonation here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=79

Also some on here have a method for getting good head formation and retention using a clean syringe canister - fill with beer then squirt back in glass. I think it brings out the CO2. I've tried it and it does work - it can be a little messy the first few times though.