Nitro carbing for the first time

[Cider123]

I'm a bit excited about my first nitro pour at home.

I read a bunch of posts on how best to carb up with nitro. Wonder if this sounds good to you?

I have a mild ale that I want to try and mimic a cask conditioned feel.

I set it on the regular CO2 at 5 psi for 36 hours, then purged and hooked up the beer gas. I set it to about 27 psi and I'll leave it for a week before trying a pour. Will this get me in the range I want?

I hope I can wait that long

 

[Cider123]

Bump

anyone?

 

[doug293cz]

With the method you propose, you have no way of knowing what your CO2 volumes will be before you put it on beer gas. You may or may not get what you are expecting.

To get the carb level you want you should carb completely to the volumes you want with pure CO2. You can do this at room temp or serving temp. If you are going for very low CO2 volumes, you may need to do the initial carb above serving temp, as at low volumes the CO2 pressure required at serving temps may be negative (gauge pressure.)

Here is one way to do it:

1. Start at room temperature.
2. Pressurize the keg to 15 psi, vent, and repeat 5 times to get the air "completely" (actually it gets out about 97% of the air & O2) out of the keg.
3. After the final venting, set at the room temp pressure needed for the volumes of CO2 you desire.
4. Let the keg sit for two to three weeks to carb, or accelerate by rolling the keg on the floor until you don't hear gas flowing. Repeat every couple of hours until no more gas flows.
5. Disconnect the CO2 line, and cool the keg to serving temperature.
6. Connect the beer gas line to the keg at the pressure appropriate for your serving temp, carb level, and gas mixture.
7. Enjoy

I have a spreadsheet that calculates pressure required based on desired volumes and temperature for both pure CO2 and also beer gas (N2/CO2 mixture.) It allows you to specify the N2/CO2 ratio for the beer gas. All of the carbonation calculators I have seen only work for pure CO2. I have confirmed that my calculator gives the same results as the BrewersFriend on-line calculator. PM me if you want a copy of the spreadsheet.

Brew on

 

[Cider123]

Thanks,
one thing I want to do this summer is run my CO2 and beer gas tanks outside my kegerator for more space. In your method, I imagine it's better to have the tanks at room temp too.

 

[tjpfeister]

Tank temperature does not matter, the regulator will do its job.

 

[doug293cz]

^^^^ Correct.

Brew on