Beer gas

[okeeffe2401]

How do u dispense your stout

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[Dutto]

In a glass! :thumb:

Welcome to the Forum. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Godsdog]

C02 not nitregeon as I don't want to have another gas canister and imo C02 is fine

 

[okeeffe2401]

Is it creamy like the guinness head

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[okeeffe2401]

Ha ha!!

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[Dutto]

I mostly bottle beer so "dispensing" isn't something I've studied much.

However, from the kegs I use CO2 after the original carbonation starts to flag and (from what I have seen) the head stays more or less the same if I catch the CO2 injection early enough to stop the carbonation escaping from the liquid.

The "creamy head" from both bottles and kegs are definitely a factor affected by:

o The amount of carbonation sugar added (I prefer a low amount because I hate "gassy" beers).

o "Old-man Time" because the longer the beer is left to condition the smaller the bubbles and the creamier the head.

Hope this helps. :thumb:

 

[okeeffe2401]

God tips thanks

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[beerhunter]

if you want the creamy head that you get on g******, then you need N2O (laughing gas) as it has smaller bubbles.

 

[MyQul]

if you want the creamy head that you get on g******, then you need N2O (laughing gas) as it has smaller bubbles.

It's N2 (nitrogen) not N20 nitrous oxide, blended with CO2 that Guinness use (and probably john smiths too)

 

[DarrenSL]

MyQul is correct. Nitrogen is used so it can be dispensed at high pressure through a special tap that creates the creamy head. Nitrogen has low solubility in water/beer unlike CO2 so keeps the carbonation low.

 

[peebee]

if you want the creamy head that you get on g******, then you need N2O (laughing gas) as it has smaller bubbles.

Beer conditioned normally is perfectly capable of generating a "creamy head" without alien gases like nitrogen. As "Dutto" said, time is what it needs (a couple of weeks at least). Even "g*******" was once served from cask before they started mucking about with keg (it would wait eons on the bar for the froth to die down before being topped up - I believe; this was even before my time!).

Trouble with "keg" (apart from it actually existing at all) is the very high pressure it was served at (there might be a bit more "control" these days) which would dissolve CO2 in the beer and create a "sharp" flavour (carbonic acid). By mixing CO2 with nitrogen that "sharp" flavour could be "smoothed" out while dispensing pressure could be kept high. Nitrogen does not form an acid if dissolved. Because of "partial pressure" (eeek!) of CO2 in the mixed gas less CO2 would dissolve in the beer (less fizzy).

As a *side-effect* some nitrogen would dissolve in the beer which would come out of solution in the glass as very small bubbles creating a tight head.

But before you can get nitrogen to dissolve you need high pressure (>30psi).

And nitrogen needs special regulators because it doesn't conveniently form a liquid like CO2 so must be crammed into a cylinder as a gas; at 2200psi! CO2 can't go above 8-900psi because it forms a liquid above this.

So, lecture over! For home brewing I cannot understand the attraction of nitrogen gas. The idea of 2000+psi cylinders about the home, special regulators, very high serving pressures (don't try it with a plastic pressure barrel!) and for what? A creamy head? But I can get creamy heads serving at 2psi with a hand pump!

Nitrogen (and "mixed gas") has NO part to play in home-brewing. At all!

 

[feralCheese]

I tried the N2o gas bulbs on a coopers stout once, but the head was about the same as a standard gas bulb. Leaving the beer to condition longer gives a better head IMO

 

[MyQul]

Beer conditioned normally is perfectly capable of generating a "creamy head" without alien gases like nitrogen. As "Dutto" said, time is what it needs (a couple of weeks at least). Even "g*******" was once served from cask before they started mucking about with keg (it would wait eons on the bar for the froth to die down before being topped up - I believe; this was even before my time!).

Trouble with "keg" (apart from it actually existing at all) is the very high pressure it was served at (there might be a bit more "control" these days) which would dissolve CO2 in the beer and create a "sharp" flavour (carbonic acid). By mixing CO2 with nitrogen that "sharp" flavour could be "smoothed" out while dispensing pressure could be kept high. Nitrogen does not form an acid if dissolved. Because of "partial pressure" (eeek!) of CO2 in the mixed gas less CO2 would dissolve in the beer (less fizzy).

As a *side-effect* some nitrogen would dissolve in the beer which would come out of solution in the glass as very small bubbles creating a tight head.

But before you can get nitrogen to dissolve you need high pressure (>30psi).

And nitrogen needs special regulators because it doesn't conveniently form a liquid like CO2 so must be crammed into a cylinder as a gas; at 2200psi! CO2 can't go above 8-900psi because it forms a liquid above this.

So, lecture over! For home brewing I cannot understand the attraction of nitrogen gas. The idea of 2000+psi cylinders about the home, special regulators, very high serving pressures (don't try it with a plastic pressure barrel!) and for what? A creamy head? But I can get creamy heads serving at 2psi with a hand pump!

Nitrogen (and "mixed gas") has NO part to play in home-brewing. At all!

I reckon nitrogen in stout is just more marketing cobblers from Guinness. As others have said you ca get a nice head on a stout if you leave it to condition longer. Stout's imo benefit from longer conditioning anyway - If I can resist (which I usually can't), I find 6 weeks conditioning makes a superb stout both for the head and for the flavour

 

[beerhunter]

It's N2 (nitrogen) not N20 nitrous oxide, blended with CO2 that Guinness use (and probably john smiths too)

yes but you can`t get the little bulbs of N2, that's why I said N2O.

 

[peebee]

I shouldn't make claims without some sort of backup...

It is hand-pumped. It's been conditioning some ten weeks although you don't need to wait ten weeks to get a head like this just that my brewery churns out 45L minimum and this is the second keg.

But there's a few things to come clean about: It isn't stout. It has over-carbonated in the time waiting for me to polish off the first keg (and stands at 6-7psi, not 2). My fancy new "venting" procedure needs a bit of tweaking, hence why I haven't got it down to 2psi yet.

 

[Soton]

I shouldn't make claims without some sort of backup...

It is hand-pumped. It's been conditioning some ten weeks although you don't need to wait ten weeks to get a head like this just that my brewery churns out 45L minimum and this is the second keg.

But there's a few things to come clean about: It isn't stout. It has over-carbonated in the time waiting for me to polish off the first keg (and stands at 6-7psi, not 2). My fancy new "venting" procedure needs a bit of tweaking, hence why I haven't got it down to 2psi yet.

Yep I agree, I almost always have a stout in one of my corny's, I keg it then I just connect it up to my beer fridge with the CO2 set at about 4 psi to dispense it, I get a great head after a couple of weeks like that, I use picnic type taps to pour a beer, I have found with that that type of tap that while pouring your beer you easy back a little as if you were stopping the pour then you get just foam head, pour some of that into a glass then top up to the top of the glass and you have the perfect pint with a good head that stays to the bottom of the glass

 

[Soton]

My last reply inspired me to pour a beer post a picture of it here, the head dies back a little as the larger bubbles pop but the smaller bubbles in the head last to the bottom of the glass

 

[Soton]

And then it was gone

 

[okeeffe2401]

What did I start ha ha

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[okeeffe2401]

Looks good are u an all grain person

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