Tips for nitro tap?

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moti_mo

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OK, so I have my nitro setup almost complete. I have the stout tap installed and my tank is being charged with the N2/CO2 blend as we speak. I'll be racking a stout into a keg to put on that line tomorrow.

After searching on here and looking through some threads, I've found that I should count on serving at a total pressure of ~30 - 40 psi, so that the CO2 pressure is about 7 - 10 psi.

What I haven't found is the best way to prep the keg before serving. I'm assuming I can rack the stout into the keg, pressurize with the blend up to serving pressure (35 psi or so) and wait a week for it to carbonate. Is this a good procedure or is there a better one?

Any other tips from people who have experience with nitro taps would be thoroughly appreciated. Cheers!
 
I haven't used nitrogen [yet], but I've researched it for possible future use.

Most people using pure nitrogen carbonate their keg at a low pressure to provide about 1.7 volumes of CO2. That works out to 4 psi of CO2 pressure at 40F. After that, it's nitrogen at ~30psi through a stout tap.

If you're using beer gas (25% CO2), you could skip the CO2 and serve at ~30 psi. I've read it's cheaper to buy pure nitrogen, though.
 
Yea Ditto I just recieved my nitro regulator yesterday. Yuri has a lot of good advice. My plan is to carb the beer with co2 then use 1oo% nitrogen to serve.
 
I'm using beer gas, so I figure I'm good to set it up at 30 psi, forget about it for the week, and then serve. That should put the CO2 pressure around 7 psi for a pretty decent, but not too high carbonation level.
 
I've just gone through the first keg on my nitro faucet. I think you'll do fine to set and forget. I carbonated with co2 the same you would any other beer. Seal the lid with ~20psi and then carbonate at about 8-10psi. I was too impatient to wait on the first keg, so I used the shake method. It worked pretty well but the cascade effect went pretty quick. Certainly not 119.5 seconds.

After a good week of set and forget on the nitro tank (75/25 blend) I started getting a nice pour, which is usually the case with my co2 served beer too. I found that about 38psi with 42-44ºF beer coming out of the faucet was perfect.

Hope that helps.
 
Wow, you guys use really high pressure! I have a very short line on my stout tap (no point in adding resistance when the whole reason for beergas is to push the beer hard without overcarbing) and I have it set for about 18psi. Even then I get a bigger head of foam than any guinness I've ever been served. Maybe I'll experiment with a little high pressure.
 
Well, looks like you guys have changed my ways. I turned it up to 30, expecting half a glass of foam, but it now pours exactly how I always wanted it to. Go figure.

Furthermore, I kicked my stout in the process, so now I get to try my pumpkin ale. Pumpkin ale on nitrogen...mmm...
 
It is easy to Nitro. Rack to keg. Connect and turn pressure up to 30 pounds (75/25 beer gas). Come back 6 to 7 days later and enjoy. My temp is set to 40 degs. I have done a stout and bitter this way. Next week is my Boddingtons clone. Nitro ROCKS.:rockin:
 
Thanks for all the help guys. It seems like the consensus for my beer gas is 30 psi/set/forget/enjoy. I'm going to pick up the tank now and rack into the keg. I'm really psyched to have one kegerator dedicated to nitro, and now I'm just thinking of what I want on there next after my stout.

Coasterine, glad you provided an immediate case-in-study, enjoy the pumpkin ale.

Cheers!
 
I have only used my Nitro system with kegs of Guinness (store bought)...

But Yuri Rage has posted his experiences with stouts...and says that you can force carb to the 1 vol ( or whatever your beer calls for) of CO2 with pure CO2...then switch over to beer gas. He actually pushes with Argon. You can search for Nitro...and probably get a lot of discussions.

I think the advantage would be faster absorbtion of CO2...thus you'll be drinking more sooner.

I'd hook the CO2 up to the keg...bleed it a couple of times to get most of the air out. Pump up the pressure to 30 psi...give it a good shake, shake, shake. Bleed the keg back down to 7-8 psi...and let it sit for a couple of days.

When you're ready to pour...hook up the Beer Mix...dial in 30-35 psi...and dispense that beautiful malt ambrosia... Yumm... Leave it connected to maintain the conditioning of the stout/cream flow ale.
 
So I poured the first couple of pints this weekend of the nitro milk stout. Let it sit at 30 psi of beer gas for 1 week and then poured. Great pour, nice cascade, not perfect yet, but I think it will be great after another week or so. But perfect creamy one-finger-width head that lasts the entire glass, and it tastes like heaven.

I'm sold on the nitro setup...
 
I have an Imperial Stout that I removed from my refrigerator a month or so ago to age better and I also have an American Stout aging for almost a month. I just put this stout on 30psi, but it is not refrigerated yet. I should have room for it in a few days (unless I hammer the keg that is in it's place right now :drunk: ). I will refrigerate for the proposed week and see how it goes. Looking forward to similar results. I have a 75-25 mix to use.

Salute! :mug:
 
I tapped my Boddingtons clone after a week on Nitro. PERFECT!!!!! Nitro is so darn easy. Next up is my Murphys Stout clone.
 
moti_mo said:
Yeah, my mental brewing calendar has already made a notable shift to planning more nitro-friendly brews...
Click to expand...


Yeah, watch out, it is an addiction. Saves a lot of money over buying the draft cans. So easy.

I brew my British and Irish ales and leave them in the bucket for 4 weeks. Then transfer to the keg for 3 weeks under pressure. Then pressurize and serve at 8 weeks. Easy Squeezy.

Try a cream ale on nitro. Very nice.
 
BYO has an article on Nitro taps but I can't remember what issue it was (it's recent though). They indicated that you can also use Nitro (beer gas) for Ales and other beer styles. Has anyone tried this? Was it worth it?

Salute! :mug:
 
bmckee56 said:
BYO has an article on Nitro taps but I can't remember what issue it was (it's recent though). They indicated that you can also use Nitro (beer gas) for Ales and other beer styles. Has anyone tried this? Was it worth it?

Salute! :mug:
Click to expand...

I haven't tried it personally, but I've had plenty of great non-stout beers off of nitro taps. For example, Mountain Sun brewery in Boulder serves their amazing APA/IPA, the Kind, on nitro often and its delicious. And then of course, there are many commercial examples like Boddingtons, Smithwicks, etc. etc.
 
IrregularPulse said:
I think I've decided to hold off on adding a third faucet to my tap box until I can afford a Stout faucet and beergas tank
Click to expand...

+1! My exact line of thought... When the system is done I will post pics... Going to have 2 CO2 lines running and 1 Beergas line... I think first brew run through the nitro/CO2 will be an altered Smithwick's clone... Getting excited...
 
Is anyone running a 100% nitrogen set up as opposed to beer gas (75% Nitro 25% C02)? I see it mentioned in this thead and on a few other post here and there but I am having trouble getting a true consensus on whether or not this will work. My situation is that I have a WineKeeper (wine on tap) which runs on pure argon or nitro so currently I have a bottle of pure CO2 for beer and soda in addition to a bottle of pure argon (which I could switch to nitro) for my wine. I don't want to add a third bottle of beer gas and therefore would like to be able to use 100% nitro for my stout faucet. I went to the micromatic forum and got this reply from one of their "experts":

You need a gas mix for a nitrogenated stout. You need a mixed gas tank, or your beer will end up completely flat, like wine. You could just pick a stout that uses co2, isntead (most of them).


So does anyone have personal experience using 100% nitro? If so what was the result?

Mike
 
blackcows said:
Is anyone running a 100% nitrogen set up as opposed to beer gas (75% Nitro 25% C02)? I see it mentioned in this thead and on a few other post here and there but I am having trouble getting a true consensus on whether or not this will work. My situation is that I have a WineKeeper (wine on tap) which runs on pure argon or nitro so currently I have a bottle of pure CO2 for beer and soda in addition to a bottle of pure argon (which I could switch to nitro) for my wine. I don't want to add a third bottle of beer gas and therefore would like to be able to use 100% nitro for my stout faucet. I went to the micromatic forum and got this reply from one of their "experts":

You need a gas mix for a nitrogenated stout. You need a mixed gas tank, or your beer will end up completely flat, like wine. You could just pick a stout that uses co2, isntead (most of them).


So does anyone have personal experience using 100% nitro? If so what was the result?

Mike
Click to expand...

Check this thread...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/dispensing-guinness-co2-142100/index2.html#post1622792

Yuri Rage uses Argon...Dontman uses N2...

There may have been others.

They carbonate to a low volume of CO2 first...then PUSH the beer through the stout faucet with the Inert gas...
 
If you run with only nitrogen, your beer MAY get a little flat, but I don't think this would happen very quickly at all. I don't have experience with this personally, but Yuri_rage mentioned he runs his pre-carbed stouts on pure argon for 3 weeks without going flat at all.

Even then, if you've got both CO2 and nitrogen tanks, if you started to notice lower carbonation levels after 4-6 weeks or so, you could always re-carb with your CO2 tank, then throw it back on the nitro setup.
 

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