Something missing in my dry stout.

I am a big fan of dry stouts especially Murphy's and Guinness and would love to have a keg of this on tap as my house beer, my recipes are good but seem to be missing something, I think its the nitro. Tax refund in hand I would love to get a nitro setup I would just hate to spend 250$ and still not be satisfied, my question is how much of a difference does it make? Nitro no nitro. Or is guinness just uncloneable. Anyone in Mass with a nitro setup? Would love to trade a few beers!

My Murphys recipe is 7LBS 2-row
2LBS Flaked Barley
1LBS roasted barley

Guinness is the same except a little acid malt.

Beer Gods, any one?

One method for getting a good guinness clone is to open a can of the storebought stuff, and pour it into a pot and let it sit out until it goes sour - usually about the time it takes to make a full batch of you stout recipe there (which is almost identical to my house stout, and turns out awesome.) Then once the beer is finished fermenting, add small amounts of the soured guinness until the entire batch has that tang, then carb and serve.

I've had excellent results using Northern Brewer hops exclusively in my stout recipes to nail that minty taste that Murphy's seems to have. Works a treat guv'

Personally, I am with you. The nitro is really a key element in the presentation of that beer. Not saying you can't make a good dry Stout without using nitro. But I am saying that it adds a dimension of perceived taste and texture that really puts the icing on the cake, so to speak. I myself would love to have a nitro tap just for this reason.

Yea Cheyco I used Northern brewer in the Murphy's and EKG in the Guinness. about 42 IBU's. After the first racking it tasted right on, after kegging and chilling It tastes a little more mellow. The acid malt seemed to work, maybe a little more next time, but I think the nitro would really do the trick. Thanks

I never understood that whole, "open a can and let it go sour"


The only bacteria that will potentially inoculate that stale beer is acetobacter.

lactobacillus won't inoculate it because guiness has too much hops
pediococcus could but it still doesn't like hops and usually takes months to get going, and I seriously doubt anyone outside of the sine river valley has pediococcus living all over their house.
enterobacteria won't as they won't live in alcohol solutions over 2 or 3 percent.







Dave