Nitro Beer Altitude Question

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JayhawkCWE

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Hey Guys,

Sorry for the newbness of this post but I did a lot of searching and y'all seem to be the most knowledgeable. I also apologize in advance, I'm not a home brewer (although I'm thinking about starting), I just know you guys can answer my question.

Left Handed brewing company, here in Colorado, recently released a bottled beer called Milk Stout Nitro. LH has a secret proprietary method of infusing the beer with nitrogen without a widget. The beer itself is fantastic and works up a milky head in 30 seconds flat... I just have a question about shipping/transporting it.

I have found a lot of info on CO2 carbonation and altitude change, but not with Nitro. I want to take the beer from Approx 5500 feet, to about 1200 feet. I realize that with normal beer, the carbonation would be decreased due to the increased atmospheric pressure. Does anybody have any idea if it would affect the Milk Stout Nitro the same way? Nitro doesn't provide for much "carbonation" anyway, is it just going to be flat at low altitude?

Thanks in advance!
 
Not knowing anything about the secret process I can only speculate. Widgets rely on high nitrogen pressure to force beer out a small hole in the widget with some force thus disturbing the dissolved CO2 causing it to form tiny bubbles. Whatever the process here the relief of nitrogen pressure to the atmosphere must be responsible. In coming down from 5500 ft to 1200 ft the atmospheric pressure will change by about 4 in Hg or 2 psig. As the atmosphere is 80% nitrogen that would amount to about 1.6 psi. Given that the process probably involves an atmosphere or 2 (15 - 30 psi) I wouldn't think the increase in nitrogen pressure would have a very large effect. Some yes, but probably not much.
 
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