Beer line calculator for nitro

[Frisp]

My beer fridge saga continues and todays question is :

Where will I find a calculator to work out the optimal diamater and length of beerline to serve nitro beer through a stout tap in my fridge ( think stout tap set up like a party tap, not fixed to the fridge)

there are tons of Co2 calculators to be found but its hard to work out the beerline needs for 30/70 Nitro @ 2 bar, 4C withhout needing a flow restrictor.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Stout tap has a restriction plate built in.
You don't need to worry about line length or diameter really.
My stout on beer gas 30/70 has line 1 metre long 4mm internal,fridge at 6C and pressure gauge 35psi.
I reckon to hear peeb on his long run up.

 

[Manxnorton]

Morning lads n lasses.
Ive been temped to drive down the rabbit hole of Nitro on n off for years, until now.
Just spent 2 hours on mobile without my reading glasses, more i looked i got confused (sorry if you know me my is damaged but i get there!)
1. Do we need to ballance a Nitro beer line? (i take it 3/16th line)?
2. pre carb using low co2 psi or not? found a lot of problems threads on this one around the world different forums.
I'll be using Close transfer from Brewzilla all rounder to corni. around 5psi.
3. Do i need one o them carb stones (i got one but with floating ball pick up) as one youtube vid suggests!?? thought this is co2?


Happy with the other parts, local Gas surplier where i get my co2 from.
Any links to aid my (visually)as my online shopping is fraught with probs buying the wrong part, or more than i need:
Nitro Regulator
Nitro tap (atm mo wont be fixed)
I'll leave it there LOL, sorry to hijack the thread, but most articals and videos they seem to just consitrate on what you need to buy,obv in youtube vids there aint going to go on what can FAIL! IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
All look simple on youtube vids!!!
Lata all,
Hope you all have a great weekend.

 

[Frisp]

Fret not about hijacking front. All good questions that im keen for the great and the goid to answer.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

1/2

Starting with the gas…. CO2 is readily dissolved into solution whereas nitrogen is not, nitrogen really needs to be forced into solution using pressure (and cold temperatures if you wish). CO2 also readily comes out of solution but nitrogen once in solution isn’t too fussed about leaving once it’s got comfy. These points are important because they explain a couple of things - why you need higher pressures and why a restrictor plate is needed (I’ll come back to this).

Regular CO2 gas bottles use a different primary regulator to mixed gas. I know there are adapters but I wouldn’t use those myself because the pressures you’re talking about are very different and the regulators/fittings are designed to suit. Mixed gas comes in two generally available mixes: 60/40 (60% CO2, 40% nitro), and 30/70 (30% CO2). The 60/40 mix is mostly used in pubs where higher pressure is needed to push beer along long runs or up two or three floors but you don’t want to overcarbonate the beer using 100% CO2. 30/70 is used more for nitrogenated beer which is what we’re talking about here.

So far you need a bottle of 30/70 mixed gas and you need a primary regulator for mixed gas. Here’s a picture of my ODL brand mixed regulator attached to my 30/70 mixed gas bottle. I’ve had this bottle for several months but you might see it still holds 2,000psi.

You then need to connect your keg to your tap. You’ll need 2m-3m of 3/16 beer line and the connectors at each end. At the keg end these are a black ball-lock disconnect with a John Guest 3/8 push fit connector, and a 3/8 to 3/16 stem reducer.

There’s then 3m of 3/16 beer line.

At the tap end I have a shank adapter with a 3/8 push fit (you can get 3/16) and into this I’ve plugged a 3/8 to 3/16 elbow stem reducer. I’ve used an elbow here because my beer line feeds up and I don’t want to put strain on the connector.

On the other end of the shank is my tap. I have a selection of Intertaps and Nukataps, both are great but I think the Intertap is far less common these days. On the tap I have a stout spout - you see the outward difference here, the stout spout on the right is longer.

Here you see the regular spout and stout spout. As well as being longer the stout spout is fitted with a restrictor plate which has a few small holes in. The restrictor plate serves two purposes; it restricts the flow of beer so that high nitro pressure doesn’t knock the glass out of your hand and secondly it creates turbulence to encourage the nitrogen to come out of solution (remember I said earlier it’s not so eager to come out of solution).

So now you’re kitted up and ready to go.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

2/2

To use 30/70 you need a higher pressure than for CO2 as mentioned. How high will depend on temperature and how gassy you want the beer. Often nitro is used for stouts and you might be looking for just 1.1 - 1.3 volumes of CO2. This will put you in the range of 35-45 psi for a keg at cellar temperatures. You can use the chart below to work out the pressure for your own requirements.

To gas your beer you don’t need to carbonate first. If you do there’s a good chance you’ll end up with carbonated beer squirted through those tiny holes at high pressure and a glass full of foam. Instead just plug in the mixed gas, your beer will become carbonated over a few days from the 30% CO2. The beer will at this point just be carbonated, over the course of the next 2-4 weeks the nitrogen will be encouraged into solution and that creamy head will develop.

You don’t need to use an aeration stone.

In this picture you see a regular stout carbonated with CO2 and a glass of that Imperial stout gassed with 30/70 mixed gas. See the difference between the loose airy head on the stout and the tight creamy head on the imperial.

One point to note is that nitro is not so good with hoppy beers because it detracts from the hoppiness. I believe this is because CO2 gives off loads of big loose bubbles popping with aroma where nitrogen produces small tight bubbles that don’t burst anything like as much. Aroma is flavour and for hoppiness it makes a big difference.