Beer

 

The appearance is one of the most important characteristics of beer to the consumer. The beer foam is one of the most important characteristics if it comes to judgement of the beer quality by consumers. Some admire a creamy stable foam layer on a beer, others don't. The appearance of the foam depends mainly on its behaviour. Therefore, the control of the foam behaviour is paramount. The behaviour of beer foam cannot be explained solely by the chemical composition of the beer that forms the foam. For example, surface active components can contribute either positive or negative to the beer foam behaviour. This depends on, amongst other parameters, to their concentration, their interaction with other components and their location in the foam. There are four physical processes that mainly determine foam formation and stability.

 

First is bubble formation and growth. Second is rising of the bubbles and drainage of liquid (beer) out of the foam. Third is coalescence of the bubbles in the foam and fourth is disproportionation of the foam bubbles. All four processes mentioned before are interrelated and each process affects the others. In addition, a very important factor that affects foam behaviour is an external one, the consumer. Fatty lips or glasses can deteriorate a beer foam within minutes, maybe seconds.

 

Foams.nl can help you to understand the foam behaviour of your beer and advice in increasing the robustness of the beer foam against external influences.