I can't stand Nitrogen

I have had Old Speckled Hen from the bottle a few times.

I was in an Ale House and ordered a glass.

It was carbed with nitro. I have since learned that this is sometimes done, but at the time I was very disappointed.

Is it just me or does the nitro constant foam mask the flavor?

I thought that I hated Guinness, but now I am thinking that maybe it is just the nitro that I hate.

I think certain beers it can mask the flavor, as in Oskar Blues' Dale's Pale Ale. I've had it on tap both regular and on nitro. The nitro was definitely more subdued, but I was very intrigued, and really enjoyed it. In the case of Left Hand's Milk Stout, I definitely prefer the nitro. It's more smooth, creamy, and is almost like chocolate milk. I think the roast and bitterness gets subdued, but the sweetness and chocolate really shine through on nitro. Try a few different beers if you can find them on nitro. It's great when you can find the same beer not on nitro to compare it to.

I've had a lot of different beers on nitro and I have a stout faucet at home. In my experience, that serving method really rounds off any "sharp edges" of a beer. So, if you take something without a lot of flavor and put it through a stout faucet, it's flavor seems even lighter.

Try an IPA through a stout faucet. You'll see exactly what I mean. The sharp bitterness goes away and you're left with smooth hop flavor. At least my taste buds see it that way.

This is why I only put pretty aggressive stuff on my own stout faucet.

Sounds like I am right. OSH is not an "aggressive" beer in my opinion, and so was disapointing on nitro.

Personally, I've never liked it with hoppy beers, but love it on certain styles. I really like Belhaven Scottish Ale in the nitro can. I just put in a nitro setup, but haven't pushed anything with it yet other than mead, through a wine faucet.

OSH is supposed to be a cask real ale, and should be served with out much head at around 55F. It shouldn't have anything other than a thin scum of very loose foam on top. Nitro will produce too much head and kill all the hop flavours and prevent the desirable very slightly oxidised character of a cask real ale. Of course, getting it served this way in the US is pretty unlikely as shipping cask beers across the Atlantic is non-trivial, and there's probably not a huge market for not quite cold, somewhat flat beer...

I think the bottle conditioned version tastes somewhat different to the cask version - it's a little more carbonated, and tends to have more hop aroma as the head is bit bigger, but less hop flavour. Obviously it doesn't have the slight oxidation either. (based on bottles and draught pints bought in Oxford, after Greene King moved the Morland beers from Oxford to Bury St. Edmund).

dyqik said:

OSH is supposed to be a cask real ale, and should be served with out much head at around 55F. It shouldn't have anything other than a thin scum of very loose foam on top. Nitro will produce too much head and kill all the hop flavours and prevent the desirable very slightly oxidised character of a cask real ale.

I think the bottle conditioned version tastes somewhat different to the cask version - it's a little more carbonated, and tends to have more hop aroma as the head is bit bigger, but less hop flavour. Obviously it doesn't have the slight oxidation either. (based on bottles and draught pints bought in Oxford, after Greene King moved the Morland beers from Oxford to Bury St. Edmund).

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I wonder who decided it should be nitro? I am sure that some bar owners have nitro for guinness and are trigger happy to try new brews on it.

I had a pale ale in Maine that was on tap in both gases. I found the nitro one to be a totally muted, uninteresting version of the CO2 one. I think it works for a beer with some malt and specialty grain character, but I found that it killed the hop.

I hate nitro served beers as well. Stouts, ipas, whatever... If you want to ruin it put it on nitro.

I've enjoyed a few nitro beers. Mainly only stouts, though.

The IPAs, etc. I've had on nitro were nowhere near as good as the regular versions IMO. It's not a selling point for me.

And here I thought cheezy hated nitrogen because it makes up ~78% of our atmosphere and NO SINGLE element should have that much market share.



I had a nitro'd IPA at a beer fest a couple years ago. Twas not impressed.

In my experience I think co2 has a raspy feel and definitely increases sharpness, and maybe even adrenaline. I never made beer before but I have made co2 and used it to put fires out and I breath a mix of nitrogen that is four times the amount of o2 i breath everyday. i think the smell as in brain receptors that acknowledge o2 depletion, stop thinking about excess nitrogen and just give you a chance to take another breath before responding.

The co2 instantly makes your body react as if there is a reason to flee or be combative (adrenaline).

Just my take.

AZ_IPA said:

And here I thought cheezy hated nitrogen because it makes up ~78% of our atmosphere and NO SINGLE element should have that much market share.

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Ha I was going to say the same thing! If OP can't stand nitrogen, he must hate breathing

Also you can't really say "carbed with nitrogen." That's like saying "roasted in water"

cheezydemon3 said:

I wonder who decided it should be nitro? I am sure that some bar owners have nitro for guinness and are trigger happy to try new brews on it.

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Every bottled OSH I have tried has been horribly lightstruck. To the point I began to wonder if that is the intent. And then I came across a OSH NitroCan.

Not lightstruck but, not worth trying again.

I don't like the mouthfeel of nitro beers at all. Give me carbonation any day.

I totally agree. The thing that put it over the top was a friend gave me a bottle of Young's double chcolate stout and normally I love this beer but this one had the nitro widget and was not good. To me they all have a certain flavor that is hard to describe but not desirable. Muting I guess would be a good descriptor.

jtejedor said:

I totally agree. The thing that put it over the top was a friend gave me a bottle of Young's double chcolate stout and normally I love this beer but this one had the nitro widget and was not good. To me they all have a certain flavor that is hard to describe but not desirable. Muting I guess would be a good descriptor.

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Young's is an excellent example of the difference. The nitro widgets are pretty neat to a gadget nut like me though...

AZ_IPA said:

And here I thought cheezy hated nitrogen because it makes up ~78% of our atmosphere and NO SINGLE element should have that much market share.



I had a nitro'd IPA at a beer fest a couple years ago. Twas not impressed.

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Had one too. It was... weird. I'm not a huge fan of nitro all around really. Sometimes I'll try a stout on it, but overall, it just doesn't work for me. I prefer carbonated beer over flat.

I usually do not care for nitrogen, but a brewery here does a cream ale on nitro during the summer and it works.

Not carbonated...I see! Nitrated?

Either way, not for my beer.

My OP title was a little harsh.

I had but one beer at the "ale house" and the waitress seemed to not understand my question about which gas was used to carb other beers (Perhaps she grasped that nitro doesn't "carb"? ) so I finished the OSH and left.

Thanks everyone for not taking offense if you are a nitro fan.

Really it started with Guinness. I began to really hate it. Maybe I need some that is c02 carbed?

cheezydemon3 said:

Not carbonated...I see! Nitrated?

Either way, not for my beer.

My OP title was a little harsh.

I had but one beer at the "ale house" and the waitress seemed to not understand my question about which gas was used to carb other beers (Perhaps she grasped that nitro doesn't "carb"? ) so I finished the OSH and left.

Thanks everyone for not taking offense if you are a nitro fan.

Really it started with Guinness. I began to really hate it. Maybe I need some that is c02 carbed?

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Nope not Nitrated. Nitrate is NO3.

Nitrogenated.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Nope not Nitrated. Nitrate is NO3.

Nitrogenated.

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Thanks! I HATE being wrong

I love nitrogen. You guys are definitely the minority here.

http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/good-beer-gas-nitro-beers-explained

m3n00b said:

I love nitrogen. You guys are definitely the minority here.

http://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/good-beer-gas-nitro-beers-explained

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Oh hohohohohoho!

Lol, I see no importance in "Minority/Majority" here, but your respectful claim has opened the gates!!!!

cheezydemon3 said:

Oh hohohohohoho!

Lol, I see no importance in "Minority/Majority" here, but your respectful claim has opened the gates!!!!

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The non-nitro Guinness Extra Stout is definitely better than their draught stout (IMO) but it's also a completely different recipe I believe.

zachattack said:

The non-nitro Guinness Extra Stout is definitely better than their draught stout (IMO) but it's also a completely different recipe I believe.

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I have heard that. I need to give it a try.

cheezydemon3 said:

Not carbonated...I see! Nitrated?

Either way, not for my beer.

My OP title was a little harsh.

I had but one beer at the "ale house" and the waitress seemed to not understand my question about which gas was used to carb other beers (Perhaps she grasped that nitro doesn't "carb"? ) so I finished the OSH and left.

Thanks everyone for not taking offense if you are a nitro fan.

Really it started with Guinness. I began to really hate it. Maybe I need some that is c02 carbed?

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I believe Guinness pioneered the Nitrogen system to give their exported beer a cask-like feel, without the spoilage issues or hassle of shipping casks overseas.

Personally, I enjoy certain beers on Nitro, but I truly love the experience of taking a beer I'm familiar with and trying it with nitrogen. Even if it doesn't work, I'm always intrigued by the different flavors that come through and the difference in mouth-feel. I'm just a nerd that way.

jtejedor said:

I totally agree. The thing that put it over the top was a friend gave me a bottle of Young's double chcolate stout and normally I love this beer but this one had the nitro widget and was not good. To me they all have a certain flavor that is hard to describe but not desirable. Muting I guess would be a good descriptor.

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I had Young's DCS on nitro draft a couple weeks ago and I agree with you. It was VERY muted. It tasted *exactly* like someone added about a half a cup of water and a couple tablespoons of Splenda to a glass of Guinness.

Definitely not the right beer for the ol' nitro treatment.

i am drinking a guinness with nitro now. back in north america one could buy guinness in a non-nitroed bottle and it actually tasted great. i think it was labelled as "guinness extra stout" and was 5% alcohol. nitro is worthless and i have never understood the appeal.

fredthecat said:

i am drinking a guinness with nitro now. back in north america one could buy guinness in a non-nitroed bottle and it actually tasted great. i think it was labelled as "guinness extra stout" and was 5% alcohol. nitro is worthless and i have never understood the appeal.

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Guinness Extra Stout is a different beer. They do not package with nitrogen widgets, true, but it's actually not even the same beer to start with. I mean it's still a stout, but it's somewhat stronger and has more body.

I prefer the FXS a lot more than Guinness Draught.