can you switch a beer from nitrogen back to C02?

[RachelS]

All,


I brewed a robust porter and carbonated it with c02. I wanted to taste what it would be like on nitrogen so i hooked it up to nitrogen for about 3 days. I tried it this morning and did not like the taste. It was definitely over carbonated and foamy when I poured it because I obviously didn't plan on hooking it up to Nitrogen. My question is, can I put it back on C02 and get the original flavor? Or have I ruined it? It changed the flavor of the porter significantly and I am wondering if I purge all of the nitrogen out of it (since beer doesn't absorb nitrogen) that it will go back to it's flavor.Thanks.

 

[Remmy]

I've done it before. I've over-carbed a beer with CO2 that were intended to go on nitrogen. I had this specific beer on nitrogen for about a week. I brought the keg inside to warm up and I purged as much CO2 out of it as possible. Then carbed that same beer with nothing but CO2 since I had another beer I put on the nitro side. I did not notice any differences in flavor.

 

[BBBF]

Nitrogen doesn't dissolve into solution like CO2, so it really shouldn't be affecting the flavor much. I think it does have an impact because of things like finer nitrogen bubbles insulating aroma vs. co2 bubbles helping release aroma, but that should easily be fixed by hooking the keg back up to CO2.

 

[Remmy]

Nitrogen doesn't dissolve into solution like CO2, so it really shouldn't be affecting the flavor much. I think it does have an impact because of things like finer nitrogen bubbles insulating aroma vs. co2 bubbles helping release aroma, but that should easily be fixed by hooking the keg back up to CO2.

I've read that hoppy beers lose some of their aroma when dispensed using nitrogen/co2 (beer gas). I had a black IPA on CO2 for 2 weeks that I had 8-10 pints of before I put it on nitro. I did not pick-up a difference in aroma or flavor from when it was on straight CO2. It still smelled like an IPA with chocolate in it.

 

[BBBF]

I've read that hoppy beers lose some of their aroma when dispensed using nitrogen/co2 (beer gas). I had a black IPA on CO2 for 2 weeks that I had 8-10 pints of before I put it on nitro. I did not pick-up a difference in aroma or flavor from when it was on straight CO2. It still smelled like an IPA with chocolate in it.

I belive it in IPAs.

I have a bunch of 3 gallon kegs. Someday I will start making bigger batches that are divisible by 3 and experiment with the same beer on nitro and co2, run half through a hop back and do a hop stand on the other half, different yeast, etc.