I'm not going to mention the beer, in case I'm imagining things, but one of my regular beers seems to be displaying uneven carbonation from can to can. They are all handled, stored, and as closely as possible poured the same way. First of all, is this possible? Second, if possible, why would this occur? Cheers.
Head formation and retention just don't seem the same from can to can lately, particularly today. I've poured a lot of beer and I'm quite certain the pours are as close to similar as possible. I've just had two cans from the same batch. The first had the head and retention I'm used to from this beer. The second had half the head and it disappeared quite quickly. The glass was rinsed (no soap) and thoroughly dried between beers. I just opened a third can and the head is dying off much more quickly than I'm used to. I suppose a brewery can change carbonation, but then all three beers from this batch should be the same, and they most definitely have not been.
Air dried or towel? Some towels will leave very very small bits of fiber that can affect head formation and retention.
Towel, seemed thoroughly dry but was used before for same purpose over the last couple of days. No other use of the towel that I am aware. Sorry, towel was obviously not thoroughly dry between the second and third beers. ...Talk to me.
its the irregularity that's puzzling. Having watched canning lines at work and had multiple cases of canned beer I'd expect it to be consistent across all cans in the same case with all being good or poor rather than seemingly random. That suggests to me something going on at cleaning/pouring/drinking time.
I honestly don't believe it's the pour. Not to this level anyway. I don't know if the towel has been washed since it was used for same purpose a couple of days ago. I would have to ask my wife upon her return. If washed, could residual soap in the towel cause this? First beer in a clean glass was fine. Next two, using the towel, not so good. Sorry to drag this out, but I'm kind of baffled. If the towel was not washed but used for something else, what could cause this? Oils? Thanks.
Definitely bought since we arrived in China at the end of August, as we brought no such things with us. I've seen this towel around recently, so it's at least one month old but no more than three. Cheers.
Try using a glass, then rinse, then don't dry with the towel. A few drops of clean water on the inside of the glass won't have noticeable impact on the second beer. Air dry after washing using hot water during cleaning. Avoid the towel for a while.
Also keep in mind the pouring method. Little know fact with canned beer is that the lip of the can actually releases the proper amount of carbonation when pouring versus the bottle (which needs the whole tilted, then vertical glass method). Also, is the glass flat-bottomed or round bottomed? That could help determine the issue. Still, if you poured the same way each time, I agree with previous posts that the towel, glass cleanliness, or oils are the likely cause. At this point, I would be curious as to the brewery, just to get an idea of where it is brewed and if they are a large enogh operation to have a robust QA process?
Yes, the brewery in question is big enough to have a good QA process. At this point I clearly won't mention them as it seems highly likely that the problem is on my end, not theirs, and I wouldn't want to associate their name with a problem, even if not of their making. Cheers.
Was the beer in cans or bottles? One thing that I think happens fairly often is that beer in transport or in storage in back rooms actually freezes and that means that carbonation is lost. I think that you will also notice that some brewers and beer advocates have said that commercial beer is a wee bit over carbonated in general and that is why I think I am seeing brewers take measures to see that is not the case depending on the style of beer. I recently poured two beers form the same sixer that had very different heads. Here they are - Both tasted excellent.
Can to can could be a seam issue, and you have some that are leakers. That's about all that I can think of that would be an issue with them.
