What factors contributes to bubble size

[Agentgonzo]

Some things like champagne have a stream of very tiny bubbles. Some champagnes vary from others.
Some thing like coke have very big bubbles
Some beers have a fine stream of little bubbles, whilst some have bigger ones.

The Hefeweizen I'm drinking at the moment has bubbles that get bigger as they go up the glass.



What factors contribute to bubble size?

 

[Agentgonzo]

Does anyone know? I have no idea.

 

[Buffers brewery]

This might confuse

https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/poppitz/PHY1530_files/BeerPhysics.pdf

 

[Agentgonzo]

yeah. I googled for it and was overwhelmed with science! I was hoping someone would have a simpler explanation

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I was hoping someone would have a simpler explanation

Does the shape of the glass make any difference?

 

[Agentgonzo]

Does the shape of the glass make any difference?

The cleanliness (nucleation sites) does. Shape, I would guess not, but honestly don't know.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Shape, I would guess not, but honestly don't know.

I know this is taking it a bit off topic but why are there so many different shapes?

 

[Buffers brewery]

Casting my mind back a bit short of 60 years I remember a formula for bubble size that was all about surface tension and pressure, though that was for bubbles created from a tube of fixed diameter. But I suspect it's mainly to do with the surface tension of the beer/wine and carbonation level. I think bubble size is directly proportional to surface tension and inversely proportional to pressure. So higher surface tension (beer) bigger bubble and higher carbonation pressure smaller bubble (sparkling wine)

 

[Agentgonzo]

I know this is taking it a bit off topic but why are there so many different shapes?

Off topic? On this forum?


There is some "flavour science" (like wine/brandy glasses) in that a big tulip glass will retain gases and thus aroma for when the stick your beak into the glass to take a sip. But mostly I guess it's for style/athletics.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Off topic? On this forum?

It's not the Snug so i thought I'd better say it

 

[Scrattajack]

Received wisdom says that nitrogen gives smaller bubbles than CO2 and bottle conditioning gives a smaller bubble than a CO2 tank. Don't know why, nor why bubbles get bigger on the way up the glass.

 

[Donegal john]

How many bubbles do you think are in a typical pint of home brew. And to save a sideways argument on style let’s say it’s a hefe

 

[Scrattajack]

Is there a prize?

 

[Donegal john]

Is there a prize?

Yep. A romantic dinner with @Chippy_Tea

 

[Scrattajack]

I'm out.

 

[Agentgonzo]

Received wisdom says that nitrogen gives smaller bubbles than CO2

This is easy to see with things like Guinness. Does anyone know why?

and bottle conditioning gives a smaller bubble than a CO2 tank.

I've heard this, but never directly from someone observing it. I believe it's apocryphal. From a chemistry standpoint, it doesn't make sense as it's just CO2 molecules dissolved in beer - it's not like they have a memory of where they came from.

 

[Agentgonzo]

This might confuse

https://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~poppitz/poppitz/PHY1530_files/BeerPhysics.pdf

Interesting, but yes. It did confuse. It looks like a presentation from a talk... But without the talk is hard to understand on its own.

I think I learned a little from it.

Oooh! The smaller the nucleation site, the smaller the bubble! I hadn't thought about it, but it makes sense.

Presumably a cleaner glass and a less scratched/higher quality glass will have smaller nucleation sites, and thus smaller bubbles?

 

[foxy]

Bottle conditioning does give a better foam in my opinion, I don't know if it any thing to do with any impurities which may be in bottled glass.
Good article here by Charlie Bamforth.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305441931_Not_just_froth_and_bubble

 

[Sadfield]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.murphyandson.co.uk/beer-foam-what-you-need-to-know/amp/

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yep. A romantic dinner with @Chippy_Tea

I am not paying