Beer Gas for English Pale Ale

[siouxalumn]

I've been running Co2 in my system for years. One of my favorite beers is Old Speckled Hen which is an English Pale Ale or Bitter. OSH can be served with Co2, however the traditional beer from and English pub is on beer gas and has a much creamier head. So, I decided to venture into beer gas for the first time. I got the beer gas (70%N/30%Co2) and the proper regulator. I also got a stout faucet although my Perlick Flow Control facet probably would have worked as well. What I'm struggling with is what psi to serve it at. All the literature I can find says 35-38 psi for stout, which this isn't, but I'm using a stout facet. Or it says run it at 7-13 psi.
Do any of you have experience with this?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Snuffy]

This chart shows serving pressure for a stout with beer gas to indeed be 35 - 38 psi.

https://content.kegworks.com/blog/determine-right-pressure-for-your-draft-beer-system/

I would have thought that might give you a foam facial, but maybe that stout faucet is the sauce.

Love Old Speckled Hen and Hen's Tooth btw.

 

[PCABrewing]

... the traditional beer from and English pub is on beer gas and has a much creamier head.

I thought the "traditional" beer at an English pub was served by drawing a pint with a beer engine. No gas involved.

 

[DuncB]

OSH on cask is served with a beer engine or direct from cask via a tap.

Bottle format and keg aren't quite the same formulation and faux beer engine effect with beer gas is not the same as a cask beer engine pour as they are different beers.

Save the beer gas setup for stout.

Boddingtons is served on beer gas these days I think. I haven't come across OSH on beer gas, but things change ( not always for the better).

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I've been running Co2 in my system for years. One of my favorite beers is Old Speckled Hen which is an English Pale Ale or Bitter. OSH can be served with Co2, however the traditional beer from and English pub is on beer gas and has a much creamier head. So, I decided to venture into beer gas for the first time. I got the beer gas (70%N/30%Co2) and the proper regulator. I also got a stout faucet although my Perlick Flow Control facet probably would have worked as well. What I'm struggling with is what psi to serve it at. All the literature I can find says 35-38 psi for stout, which this isn't, but I'm using a stout facet. Or it says run it at 7-13 psi.
Do any of you have experience with this?
Thanks for the advice.

Yes. Tons of experience with this.

After carbing to ~1.5 volumes, I serve Old Specked Hen at 35 psi using beer gas through a stout faucet. At times I will serve with normy CO2 at normy pressure, but it's not quite as good.

 

[siouxalumn]

I thought the "traditional" beer at an English pub was served by drawing a pint with a beer engine. No gas involved.

I. England it is, yes pretty much everywhere else is in kegs on Beer gas.

 

[PCABrewing]

I. England it is, yes pretty much everywhere else is in kegs on Beer gas.

I've only had OSH in a bottle here in the states and it's been many years. Now I want one.
I've had plenty of local brew from a beer engine while in England but I never asked what it was called. It was probably just called "a pint", at least that was what I called it.

 

[siouxalumn]

I got it figured out. Thanks for all your help! Ended up purging the gas in the keg and tried a much lower pressure...no luck. Purged the gas again an let the temp warm up to 38 degrees, set the pressure at about 6-7psi. voila! perfection. Thanks again!

 

[Peebee]

I. England it is, yes pretty much everywhere else is in kegs on Beer gas.

"Britain" please! I take it North Dakota is in Mexico?

If you serve with "mixed-gas" you are at the mercy of physics when it comes to serving pressure. Hence the literature you've been reading suggests the very specific "35-38PSI(G)" with 30/70 gas. That'll be about zero PSI(G) with regard to CO2 at the low temperatures you prefer ("stout" isn't very nice with a lot of CO2). @FloppyKnockers has the right idea (though I'd be looking for 1.1-1.2 volumes CO2, and cool, not cold, temperature - which will also discourage nitrogen dissolving so "quickly").

Over here we get 60/40 (60% CO2) which won't require such high serving pressure. The nitrogen takes many times longer than CO2 to dissolve, but dissolve it will, eventually, and if using 30/70 gas you'll end up with foam you can shape creatures out of. At 6-7PSI(G) you'd be carbonating to about zero psi(g) and the rest will be nitrogen.


[EDIT: The "G" after PSI indicates relative pressure ... relative to atmospheric pressure. When calculating with "mixed gas" you must refer to absolute pressure ... no "G"!]

 

[Cheshire Cat]

"Britian" please! I take it North Dakota is in Mexico?

If you serve with "mixed-gas" you are at the mercy of physics when it comes to serving pressure. Hence the literature you've been reading suggests the very specific "35-38PSI(G)" with 30/70 gas. That'll be about zero PSI(G) with regard to CO2 at the low temperatures you prefer ("stout" isn't very nice with a lot of CO2). @FloppyKnockers has the right idea (though I'd be looking for 1.1-1.2 volumes CO2, and cool, not cold, temperature - which will also discourage nitrogen dissolving so "quickly").

Over here we get 60/40 (60% CO2) which won't require such high serving pressure. The nitrogen takes many times longer than CO2 to dissolve, but dissolve it will, eventually, and if using 30/70 gas you'll end up with foam you can shape creatures out of. At 6-7PSI(G) you'd be carbonating to about zero psi(g) and the rest will be nitrogen.


[EDIT: The "G" after PSI indicates relative pressure ... relative to atmospheric pressure. When calculating with "mixed gas" you must refer to absolute pressure ... no "G"!]

Britain please.

 

[DuncB]

Great Britain I suggest.

 

[siouxalumn]

"Britain" please! I take it North Dakota is in Mexico?

If you serve with "mixed-gas" you are at the mercy of physics when it comes to serving pressure. Hence the literature you've been reading suggests the very specific "35-38PSI(G)" with 30/70 gas. That'll be about zero PSI(G) with regard to CO2 at the low temperatures you prefer ("stout" isn't very nice with a lot of CO2). @FloppyKnockers has the right idea (though I'd be looking for 1.1-1.2 volumes CO2, and cool, not cold, temperature - which will also discourage nitrogen dissolving so "quickly").

Over here we get 60/40 (60% CO2) which won't require such high serving pressure. The nitrogen takes many times longer than CO2 to dissolve, but dissolve it will, eventually, and if using 30/70 gas you'll end up with foam you can shape creatures out of. At 6-7PSI(G) you'd be carbonating to about zero psi(g) and the rest will be nitrogen.


[EDIT: The "G" after PSI indicates relative pressure ... relative to atmospheric pressure. When calculating with "mixed gas" you must refer to absolute pressure ... no "G"!]

Sorry! When I was at the Hung Drawn and Quartered pub in London, I could have sworn I was in England? Who knew?

I can only assume these tasty beverages are served similarly in Wales and Scotland. However, not having visited those regions personally, I can’t describe firsthand how they are presented across all of Great Britain. Therefore, I focused on what I know to be the case: how they are served in England. Thanks for the clarification though.

No North Dakota isn't in Mexico, but you are on the right continent at least.

 

[Peebee]

Sorry! When I was at the Hung Drawn and Quartered pub in London, I could have sworn I was in England? Who knew?

I can only assume these tasty beverages are served similarly in Wales and Scotland. However, not having visited those regions personally, I can’t describe firsthand how they are presented across all of Great Britain. Therefore, I focused on what I know to be the case: how they are served in England. Thanks for the clarification though.

No North Dakota isn't in Mexico, but you are on the right continent at least.

Aye, "Morland", the brewery, is in the heart of England (Oxfordshire). But I'm in Wales, not England, and we most certainly do have "traditional" British beer (without any sort of gas as you have been "reminded" by many on this forum). And just like the Canadians don't like being called "Americans", us "Welsh" don't like being called "English". And I'm well over 65 now, so like to moan at every opportunity.

Perversely, us "traditional" British beer drinking homebrewers are a bit wise to CO2 (even nitrogen) gas handling 'cos it requires careful handling of CO2, etc. to achieve anything like we drink in the Pub (which has no extraneous gas added).