True Brew Irish Stout Nitrogen or Co2?

Purchased a True Brew Irish Stout kit, and now I'm wondering if the fact that it's called an "Irish" stout implies that it's intended to be used with nitrogen a la Guinness? I'm hoping the answer is no, because I'm looking for more of an American stout like Sierra Nevada, etc. I had the owner of the brew store swap out the yeast to one he deemed more applicable for the style I was looking for.

Thanks!

You would need to use CO2 to carbonate it even if you were to serve with beer gas (a nitrogen/CO2 mix). I would go with CO2, at a psi that gives a good CO2 volumes level for the style. I've found that a Perlick Creamer (575SS) faucet can get you pretty damned close to what the stout tap would give you.

Which yeast did you go with and which did it call for? Most of the time, I would suggest going with Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) for an Irish stout. Wyeast 1728 or 1335 would also be solid choices.

Golddiggie said:

You would need to use CO2 to carbonate it even if you were to serve with beer gas (a nitrogen/CO2 mix). I would go with CO2, at a psi that gives a good CO2 volumes level for the style. I've found that a Perlick Creamer (575SS) faucet can get you pretty damned close to what the stout tap would give you.

Which yeast did you go with and which did it call for? Most of the time, I would suggest going with Wyeast 1084 (Irish Ale) for an Irish stout. Wyeast 1728 or 1335 would also be solid choices.

Click to expand...

He gave me Safale US-05 yeast instead of whatever came in the kit. I asked what the difference was but couldn't really understand the answer. Thoughts?

With regard to the tap, I actually have a stout tap on my kegerator right now, as I was tapping Guinness kegs recently. I was under the impression that the tap I've been using was intended for Guinness style beers using Nitrogen, but that if I was dispensing a Sierra Nevada style stout I would want to remove a couple parts from the tap for a more traditional style head, which is what I'm looking for. In other words, I want to dispense an American Stout but the only extract kit they had was an Irish Stout. What would the (unchanged) Guinness style tap do to a non-Guinness style beer with beer gas? (Vs Nitrogen)

With the US yeast strain, it really won't be an Irish stout. US-05 is far better than the Muntons strain the kit appears to default with. I've never used dry beer yeast (other than as food for my good yeast).

I've not owned/used a stout faucet, but I'm pretty sure most of the effect comes from the gas used. Beer gas is most often used due to the small percentage of CO2 keeping some carbonation in the brew. Straight nitrogen won't maintain the carbonation level in the beer. Which is why its not used as much. From what I've heard/read most people say nitrogen (for the beers) but actually have/use/mean beer gas. Typical beer gas is 75% nitrogen, 25% CO2. The percentage/mix can change a little depending on where you get it from.

BTW, I wouldn't blindly start removing parts from the stout tap. If you can't get solid info from someone/someplace, better off leaving it alone.