aligal vs Co2

[Eric65]

Just started kegging third batch in keg now. I should mention this is the second and a half batch that remains flat. I'm using aligal ( nitrogen and Co2 mix) primarily used in pubs for their draft systems. I'm finding I'm not getting much if any carbonation in my beer is this due to the aligal that I'm using ? Also is there a difference in regulators between aligal and co2 tanks ? Any input anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

 

[JuanMoore]

It takes longer to carb using beer gas, but will eventually do it. What pressure are you using? What blend of gas are you using? What temp are you serving at? What carb level are you going for? You are using a nitro faucet with the restrictor plate right?

 

[skibumdc]

Beergas/Aligal mixture is 75% Nitrogen and 25% CO2, meaning if you set your regulator to 10psi, you're only putting 2.5psi of CO2 into the beer=Undercarbing.

Pubs and restaurants use Beergas because they NEED to push beer over long distances WITHOUT overcarbing the beer. Since there is only 25% CO2 in the beergas, they can set their regulator to 40psi and still only be carbing/serving @ 10psi. 40Psi can push beer a LOT farther than 10psi.

Your regulator can either be a regular CO2 or a specialized Nitrogen regulator. It all depends on the tank that you use. Around NoVa, Roberts Oxygen gives Beergas tanks with CO2 style threaded connections, so I didn't need the Nitrogen regulator. Beside3s, you can always just buy the CO2 regulator to Nitrogen tank adapter and save a bunch of cash.
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-parts-pid-NA-1.html

 

[JuanMoore]

Beergas/Aligal mixture is 75% Nitrogen and 25% CO2, meaning if you set your regulator to 10psi, you're only putting 2.5psi of CO2 into the beer=Undercarbing.

Pubs and restaurants use Beergas because they NEED to push beer over long distances WITHOUT overcarbing the beer. Since there is only 25% CO2 in the beergas, they can set their regulator to 40psi and still only be carbing/serving @ 10psi. 40Psi can push beer a LOT farther than 10psi.

Your regulator can either be a regular CO2 or a specialized Nitrogen regulator. It all depends on the tank that you use. Around NoVa, Roberts Oxygen gives Beergas tanks with CO2 style threaded connections, so I didn't need the Nitrogen regulator. Beside3s, you can always just buy the CO2 regulator to Nitrogen tank adapter and save a bunch of cash.
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/regulators-parts-pid-NA-1.html

Correct, but there are actually several common beergas blends, including 60/40, 70/30, 75/25, and 80/20. There are also blenders which allow any ratio and require a tank of each gas. And the more common use for beergas is nitro faucets, which require high pressure because of the restrictor plate.

 

[Eric65]

Thankyou for the input. Very helpful. So now its up to me to change over from aligal to Co2.

 

[JuanMoore]

Yep. Unless you have a nitro faucet (also called a stout faucet), or are running lines 50+ feet away from the kegs, there's no reason to use anything other than 100% CO2.

 

[skibumdc]

FYI, you can use a Stout faucet for any beer, you just have to take out the restrictor disc which normally agitates the beer to break the Nitrogen out of the solution.
Looks cool too.

 

[carlisle_bob]

Hi

One big disadvantage of gas mix over CO2:

CO2 is a liquid in the tank, there's a *lot* of it in there. The mix is all gas, even at the higher pressure, there's not a lot per bottle. Some claim the ratio to be 20:1, others come up with different numbers. They all agree that it's a major difference. Around here I pay more for the gas mix than for CO2.....

Bob