Your beer isn't cartbonated enough he says?

Ozarks Mountain Brewery

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while I know the difference between too little or too much in my home brew , how to add and subtract it I was asked a question I couldn't answer the other day by a person who only buys store bought beer.

As I'm looking at the difference the only thing I can see is the size of the bubbles, store bought beer has bigger co2 bubbles.

So I went on a quest to investigate, purchased several six packs from the store and sure enough even the micro brew beer has large bubbles racing up the side, mine of course can barely be seen; but too much and you get that sharp almost bitter burn everyone who kegs has had at one time or another.

so the question is how do we get the larger bubbles in our home brew beer ? what are your thoughts ??
 
I'd love to know how bottled micro brews get that consistent beautiful head, with just the right carbonation.

For one, they filter their beer. Second, they force carb prior to packaging. Third, could be a stabilizer ingredient of some kind.

I ended up having the opposite problem with bottled home brew, some said it was too fizzy - even though my volumes of CO2 were on the low end. I guess it is a matter of personal taste?
 
I do filter my beer and get very good head from the tap every glass but the co2 bubbles are different climbing up the glass and bottle
 
If you are describing the bubble size in the foam, I found that larger bubbles are found when the beer is "green". After it conditions a while in the bottle or keg, the bubbles get smaller and the foam is more stable. Why this is I don't know but I remember Charley Bamforth talking about it on a Beer Smith podcast:
http://beersmith.com/blog/2011/09/28/he ... odcast-23/
Charley is the "Pope of foam" so he should know his stuff. Here is a video of him describing foam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrDP3c_5rPQ
My desire has always been to get the smallest bubbles and the most stable head that laces the side of the glass. Using nitrogen beer gas is desirable because the nitrogen bubbles are smaller than CO2, and produce a creamier cascading head.
 
This link gives some good guidelines.
You will get a feel for it over time. I always hit my kegs with a small maintenance charge after pulling a few drafts. Just 10 lbs to maintain.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/Kegging.pdf

Oh ya, the CO2 will form smaller bubbles over a period of time as it dissolves in the beer. Recipe variations will give significantly different result. The quality of your recipe, water etc. will have a tremendous impact on your head retention also.
 
I completely agree with both of you and frankly like my smooth head better, but the question is how the main brewing companies can put out beer with big bubbles like soda from a fountain??
 
finally got what he was looking for, the last batch I did took a bit longer; did 2 cold crashes, cold crashed the hot wort over night then after fermentation for 3 days .... force carbed at 30 for an hour rolling on the floor.. cold then set in the freezer just above freezing for 24 hours hooked up at 30 then at 12 for a week at serving temperature and wallah big bubbles racing up the side for a good 2 minutes

Happy it was a great beer too lol
 

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