Many years ago I used to sometimes go out for a drink with my father and my Uncle Bill, who is long since deceased. We would get three pints with dense, creamy heads, but he only had to take a couple of sips from his glass to make the head completely disappear, leaving him with the proverbial beer that was as flat as a fluke, whereas the other two heads remained intact. It must have been some characteristic in his saliva – maybe unusually acid – which reacted adversely with the beer.
Over the years I have come across a number of other individuals who have the same effect on their beer, including one with the perhaps appropriate name of Malcolm Swallow.
I have to say this makes a pint of beer look extremely unappetising, but it doesn’t seem to deter those who suffer from it. I wonder whether this is a phenomenon others have ever encountered.
Think its more to do with an enzyme in the mouth and spit rather than acid.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the cause it would seem like a lucky affliction!
ReplyDeleteGrease and fat can cause head to collapse.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dave, but the people I'm referring to have this effect on heads regardless of whether they've recently been eating.
ReplyDeleteor
ReplyDeletea detergent on the glass or lips.
Women with lipstick will kill the head on beer (there is a joke in there but)
If someone washes their face with soap and water and doesn't rinse it off, that will kill the beer.
Another way is to have greasy hands and touch the neck of the glass, transferring the grease to the lips and thence the beer. Eating crisps or handling them without actually eating the could also de it.
Alternatively these people are actually lizards.
What the fuck do I know, I a only a panda and eat bamboo.