Poor man's (maybe imitation) nitro tap

Please don't shoot this down too quickly. I have a feeling it may not work very well and have some issues, but this popped into my head today, and I'd like to know what you all think.

After messing around with a broken shift selector for a vehicle I was working on at work today (one with an overdrive cancel button on the end), this idea came to my head about making it into a tap handle, with the overdrive button serving the possible function of nitro tap, or maybe an imitation one.

I tried searching for related threads, but I wasn't really sure what to search for, and couldn't find anything related. Maybe this has been asked over 9000 times, if so, I'm sorry.



Here's an awesome, high-quality image for you to help understand where I'm going with this.

Basically, it's a regular stout (or whatever it may be) on tap with regular CO2, but with a Tee fitting near the end of the serving line, and an electric solenoid that will open when the button is pressed, causing a blast of CO2 (or nitrogen, depending on what you all may think) at a slightly higher pressure, so it makes a nice foamy head.

I think the pouring would take a little bit of a learning curve to serve properly, but basically you would serve it like a normal beer, and press the button to blast the CO2(nitrogen) into the line near the end of the pour, then go back to pouring normally for a split second just to help purge out the rest of the CO2(nitrogen) from the line.

I have maybe 8 of these electric solenoids at work that I could use. I also have a separate regulator for soda that sits at 25 psi that I could possibly Tee into for the CO2 blaster, if I choose to go with CO2. If I go with the nitro choice, at work we have a nitrogen machine that generates N2 (or maybe it separates N2 from the air, but either way, the output is very close to pure N2) that we use for inflating vehicle tires with nitrogen. The max output pressure I think is only around 80 psi, but I'm thinking of maybe getting a small portable air tank to fill with the N2 at maybe 30 psi or so to use for the N2 blaster. Since each dispense of beer will only have a quick blast of nitrogen, I'm thinking that a small tank at 30 psi would last for quite a few pours, and if I needed to refill it, I can do so at work quickly and for free.

Yes? No? Did I waste my time? Did I waste your time?

 

interesting...

i understand what you;re trying to do, but i thought that the nitrogen worked out of SUSPENSION faster than the c02. not sure that spankin a pour on the ass with gas will lead to similar results.

i say do it. after your friends have had a few pints, point out the button, and stand back!

edit: you know that you need check valves on each side, if you're trying this?

 

I thought about the check valve thing, and I'm not sure if it will be needed as long as it's poured correctly. It would just be a quick blast of the "blasting gas", like maybe only 1/4 to 1/2 of a second, and you would have to make sure the beer is flowing while the "blasting" is happening, to influence the "blasting gas" to follow the flowing direction of the beer, followed by a little bit of normal pouring to purge out the rest of the gas from the line. As for a check valve on the gas side, that's why I would be using a higher pressure gas, so the beer wouldn't be forced into the gas line when the solenoid is open.

 

Take a hose with a T. Fill with water. Leave 2 ends "empty". This will act like the lower pressure beer. Blow on the other end. What do ya end up with? A HELL of a gas bubble!

That said, this COULD work if you had a check valve on the beer line, a reservoir of about 1 beer worth upstream of the gas blaster, and a restrictor plate of some type on the tap. Push button, beer upstream of check valve gets super-carbonated, open tap - beer fills and reservoir is replenished once upstream beer is under 10 psi.

I Loooove the squiggly lines on firefox. I cant spell worth a crap when im druk

 

TXCurtis, would a restrictor plate really be necessary? The beer isn't going to be served at a high pressure, and I'm not quite sure I understand the whole purpose of the reservoir. I think what I was going for, is a way to "froth" it up a bit for low carbed stouts, by injecting a bit of CO2/N2 into the serving line.

And yes, the squiggly lines nice, except mine always want to translate things to European English (I spell it "color", but FF wants it to be "colour")

 

'twas drunk speak....

Your way wont work, pretty sure of that. Not sure if my way would... thought was that you'd be supercarbonating a "beers worth" of beer and then serving - thus allowing the co2 or n2 to escape quickly. The way that nitrogen froths beer is by quickly coming out of suspension - the restrictor plate keeps the beer from coming out too quickly.

 

ok

good luck with it.

 

I think it's an interesting idea, but...

I tend to agree with the others, w/o a check valve of some sort, you might put an air bubble in your line @ or right behind the solenoid, which is probably going to make the start of your next pour kinda rough...

w/o a restrictor plate (which... if you need one, you might as well get a stout tap), I think you're going to have to be really careful about the difference between your two different serving pressures. More than a few PSI difference and I bet you'll have a mess on your hands - like for instance serving at 12 PSI, then blasting it momentarily with 30+ PSI - that much pressure through a normal tap can make a pretty big mess...

That said, I might not be understanding exactly how you're thinking of using it. Very interesting idea... IMO - I'd experiment with it!! what do you have to lose??

 

i did not read the post, because I have been drinking, so pardon the response as I only read the thread title. If you open the tap up barely, it will make the beer have a creamier mouthfeel, in my experience.

 

1. Could you use the Perlick creamer faucet for a restrictor plate.
2 Why not just use a perlick creamer facuet for adding some extra head.

 

Don't you also carb the 'stout' with beergas, not just CO2?

 

I kinda like the idea too..... x3 on the check valve in the beer line-ya won't need it in the higher pressure gas line except for maybe reassurance......
What about some sort of accumulator ie: a way to separate the "nitro'd" beer from the "supply" beer to let it settle down a bit just ahead of the pour ,I too believe you'll have beer in yer face if you don't...... looks like this one is gettin complicated.....

ROCK ON FREAKY BEER DUDE !!