[ccfoo242]

Yeast health, fermentation temp and pitching rate...

http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques

Thanks for the link. It's possible my starter wasn't big enough or I didn't aerate enough, since it didn't finish as low as it should have.

[Joe Sr.]

Denny:

That article mentions the "foam proteins only form once" theory.

In my experience, this has never been an issue (I shake to carbonate, most often).

Just curious as to your experience/thoughts/etc. related to this.

I suppose if you were to carbonate/shake/de-carbonate/carbonate/shake/de-carb/etc. you might see an impact...

JOE

[denny]

Denny:

That article mentions the "foam proteins only form once" theory.

In my experience, this has never been an issue (I shake to carbonate, most often).

Just curious as to your experience/thoughts/etc. related to this.

I suppose if you were to carbonate/shake/de-carbonate/carbonate/shake/de-carb/etc. you might see an impact...

JOE

I agree with your experience, but I also agree with the theory expressed in the article.  I don't seem to experience foam problems by shaking the keg, either, but I always have attributed that to having plenty of foam positive elements to begin with.  In that case, losing some would still leave plenty.  Subjectively, I also think that beers where I use Fermcap seem to have better foam, which I have attributed to the Fermcap keeping those foam positive elements from being used up before I carb the beer.  But as I say, that's just a subjective impression and I have no hard proof.

[richardt]

Evaluating an unfinished beer doesn't always help you.
Sometimes it is better to give the beer more time in the fermentor or even bottle condition before evaluating it fairly.  Understandably, you were rushing the beer for comp purposes.  I've done that many times--and have had a few bottle bombs because of it.  Lesson learned:  plan ahead and factor several weeks of cushion-time to allow for 'change in plans' due to family, work, etc. as well as more time for a beer to finish up and clarify naturally before bottling/conditioning.  Most Belgians benefit from spending a period of time bottle conditioning, as well.

in re haze, don't forget the possibility of chill haze and the possibility that the beer was evaluated in a plastic cup during a contest held in a semi-humid, poorly-lit tap room in Florida--near immediate condensation on the outside of the plastic cup always seems to give inexperienced judges the perception that the beer is slightly hazy.  I make a practice of wiping the outside of the plastic cup just to make sure.

[Joe Sr.]

Denny:

That article mentions the "foam proteins only form once" theory.

In my experience, this has never been an issue (I shake to carbonate, most often).

Just curious as to your experience/thoughts/etc. related to this.

I suppose if you were to carbonate/shake/de-carbonate/carbonate/shake/de-carb/etc. you might see an impact...

JOE

I agree with your experience, but I also agree with the theory expressed in the article.  I don't seem to experience foam problems by shaking the keg, either, but I always have attributed that to having plenty of foam positive elements to begin with.  In that case, losing some would still leave plenty.  Subjectively, I also think that beers where I use Fermcap seem to have better foam, which I have attributed to the Fermcap keeping those foam positive elements from being used up before I carb the beer.  But as I say, that's just a subjective impression and I have no hard proof.

Cool.  I'm going to file this under "Things Not To Worry About."

[denny]

Cool.  I'm going to file this under "Things Not To Worry About."

I'd call it "Something to keep in mind but not go crazy over"!