Velvet Beer and other "creamy" beers

anyone here ever had Velvet? I had it a couple of times in Prague. What gives beer like this its smooth silky charecter? low carbonation coupled with something else? Is it nitrogen? Other similar creamy beers might include Guisness or Bodingtons.

NEPABREWER said:

Is it nitrogen?

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never had a velvet, but the other two you mentioned get the creaminess from nitrogen, a hard thing to do as a homebrewer unless you've a kegerator with a stout faucet.

oh I see

Oats also make the beer smooth and are a welcome addition to porters and stouts especially. I think what you're thinking of though is nitrogen carbed beer - that's what gives it that soft, thick, creamy head. Carapils also thickens the beer and tends to give it a better, fuller mouth feel.

Basically, as a homebrewer without a kegging setup (plus nitrogen tank and stout faucet) all you can do is use some oats and carapils to simulate the effect.