Stout Faucet, Do I understand this?

After doing a search and some reading,
a stout faucet
1. requires beer gas
2. does nothing else other than give you that "creamy" head

is that it, or am i missing something?
does it add some creaminess to the whole glass or just the head?

erkwist said:

After doing a search and some reading,
a stout faucet
1. requires beer gas
2. does nothing else other than give you that "creamy" head

is that it, or am i missing something?
does it add some creaminess to the whole glass or just the head?

Click to expand...

Stout faucets don't require anything. BUT...if you're looking for the authentic stout creaminess, you'll need a beergas/nitrous setup. Nitrous carbonates a beer just like CO2, only it creates smaller bubbles. The smaller bubbles give the beer a creamier feel. Not just the head, but the entire beer. Creamer faucets are the ones that only need CO2 and give you a creamy head.

Awesome, thanks.
Now to figure out how to convince SWMBO that i really need one.

well, not exactly.. a stout faucet requires a higher pressure to force the beer through a restrictor plate, which is what produces the creamy head. beergas, which is co2+nitrogen (not nitrous oxide..) is used so that at the higher dispense pressure the beer will not over-carbonate.

marzsit said:

well, not exactly.. a stout faucet requires a higher pressure to force the beer through a restrictor plate, which is what produces the creamy head. beergas, which is co2+nitrogen (not nitrous oxide..) is used so that at the higher dispense pressure the beer will not over-carbonate.

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I had drank a few at the point of writing my last comment. I meant nitrogen. I have used stout taps without the nitro setup though.

O.K., I do not keg my beers, but have been reading up and studying the subject for the future.

I thought that a stout faucet also degasses the beer as it passes the restrictor disc???

The result is the creamy head and a relatively "flat" beer?

Pez.

If you pull the restrictor plate out of the removable tip, you have a regular tap faucet at your fingertips. It's a mutitasking faucet so to speak. I use mine solely for Stout dispensing. I have two others in place for my Ales and Lagers.

Salute!

Pezman1 said:

O.K., I do not keg my beers, but have been reading up and studying the subject for the future.

I thought that a stout faucet also degasses the beer as it passes the restrictor disc???

The result is the creamy head and a relatively "flat" beer?

Pez.

Click to expand...

Correct, traditionally stouts are not highly carbonated. The stout head makes for a controlled release of the aroma.

I'm currently looking for a nitro/stout faucet setup. My wife loves Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal stout. We have it on two taps here, she has literally drank almost 200 gallons of the stuff over the last couple of years. We went out to a restaurant that had it on beer gas with a stout faucet and it seemed like a different beer. It was carbed up, but the mouthfeel was much richer and creamier and the head was like a dollop of whipped cream. Hence my current search. Does anyone know if I have to order the Barney Flats from Anderson on beer gas or can I just get the regular and put it on beer gas here?

Well that answers my questions, thanks guys!

Ricand said:

I'm currently looking for a nitro/stout faucet setup. My wife loves Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal stout. We have it on two taps here, she has literally drank almost 200 gallons of the stuff over the last couple of years. We went out to a restaurant that had it on beer gas with a stout faucet and it seemed like a different beer. It was carbed up, but the mouthfeel was much richer and creamier and the head was like a dollop of whipped cream. Hence my current search. Does anyone know if I have to order the Barney Flats from Anderson on beer gas or can I just get the regular and put it on beer gas here?

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You can use the regular kegs you have been getting all along. CO2 is what carbs the beer. "Beergas" (usually 75% nitrogen 25% CO2) just allows you to dispense that carbed beer at higher pressures (around 30psi) than you could with straight CO2 without overcarbing it. The nitrogen in "beergas" does nothing but push the beer through the lines. That capability to serve at 30psi and not worry about overcarbing is what "beergas" allows. The stout faucet than forces that beer through a restrictor plate at high pressure and releases the CO2 from the beer, giving it the creamy head and waterfall similar to what Guinness is famous for.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure you'll need a separate tank and regulator intended for nitrogen/beergas. Hope this helps.. I've been reading a lot on the subject and believe I have a grasp on the basics.

You are correct Dap. I just finished setting up my stout system at my house. You will need a tank specifically used for nitrogen as well as a nitrogen regulator. Also, before buying all of this make sure you can get the thing filled somewhere. Most of the time this is a welding supply shop. I am waiting (with baited breath) for the one I dropped of on saturday so i can try the thing out. I have a 5 gallon keg of homade stout in the fridge just waiting for consumption.

True but, not entirely. You can get a "beermix" as well.

the whole issue become convoluted because CO2 is filled by weight and Nitrogen is filled by pressure. Each type of tank is rated to a certain pressure, thus in beer mix you are limited by that tank rating. CO2 tanks are rated at a lower pressure than Nitro tanks however, Nitro tank usually carry a lower total volume than typical CO2 tanks (IIRC). So, you have to choose between the two. Nitrogen can be past through a CO2 regulator.But I do not recall that CO2 can be passed through a Nitro reg.

Nitrogen has about half of the subility of CO2.

Argon is often used as a Nitorgen substitute due to some brewers availability and has a similar solubility.