Muss

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Does anyone know the techniques and ingredients used to give kilkenny (and similar beers) that thick and creamy texture?

I'd like to make an ale with that same texture, but with more flavour and aroma then kilkenny.

Thanks.

Orfy

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Beer gas.

Nitrogen and CO2 Mix.
I could be cynical and suggest additives (But I won't because I don't know)

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Muss

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Ahh yes so is that why Guinness and Kilkenny are poured from their own special taps.

Hmmm I wonder how I can get the same effect in my bottles.

Muss

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After a bit of googling I now know what the 'widget's is for. What a amrvelous invention.
So If I were to make some thick and creamy beers in bottles I'd need a whole lot of widgets, inject some liquid nitrogen in them, stuff them in the bottles and cap them fast.
That sounds like fun, but I don't have the setup to do that and it would probably skyrocket the cost price of my HB's considerably.



All this talk about thick creamy beers makes me want to get some kilkenny and guinness on the way home

Foreigner

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I have no first hand experience on the subject, but I bet liquid nitrogen would kill live yeast and probably freeze your beer!

Raffie

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Could be something that would add mouth feel in beers... like malto dextrin maybe.

runhard

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Yup, liquid nitrogen is quite cold. It's at -196°C right out of the cryo-cylinder or for us none metric Americans that about -320°F , this temp is also it's boiling point so it will begin to vaporize as soon as you open the valve. I use liquid nitrogen at work in the lab and you definitely don't want to get it on you or have an explosion since one milliliter of liquid nitrogen equals ~700 milliliters of gaseous nitrogen. That's some serious differences in volume. Based on the gas laws we could determine how much liquid nitrogen to add to reach a certain safe pressure in the beer bottle and force fill the widget with beer. I don't think you care about killing the yeast in the bottle since you're wanting the widget's expansion valve to cause the foam in the beer, right or do I not understand how a widget really works? I should just bring some liquid nitrogen home from work and give it a try..........behind an explosion shield of plexiglass and plywood just in case my math is wrong or maybe someone has already done the experiment?

Barley-Davidson

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I don't think you can get your hands on widgets, anyhow.
You can buy beer gas, so you'll need to switch to kegging if you want to replicate the effects of nitrogen.

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North Jersey Homebrewers Organization of Practicing Zymurgists

Fingers

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The widget isn't filled with Nitrogen, it's filled with beer. When the pressure is released in the can, the pressurized beer squeezes out of the widget and creates the head. The nitrogen is in solution under pressure just like to CO2. So you just need to buy some widgets and put them in the bottle.

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If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

Muss

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Kegging sounds like the way to go then to replicate the kilkenny-factor