I am trying to get the foamy head,tast and cascade affect on my stout. I have the temp at 36 degrees for the keezer. Force carb it at 25 psi for 2 days then put the nitrogen on it at 33 psi. Not getting the cascade as much as it should be and getting a lot of head. What do I need to do?
Beer gas
- Thread starter woods2014
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As you didn't mention it, are you using an actual stout faucet?
I'm going to guess the stout is carbed too high for dispensing with beer gas through a stout faucet.
You might try shutting off the beer gas and locking the keg PRV open for a day or so, then give it another try...
Cheers!
I'm going to guess the stout is carbed too high for dispensing with beer gas through a stout faucet.
You might try shutting off the beer gas and locking the keg PRV open for a day or so, then give it another try...
Cheers!
lazarwolf
Well-Known Member
carbonic acid, can mask hoppy goodness. have you considered natural conditioning.
Seems out of place here...
Cheers!
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lazarwolf
Well-Known Member
oh my gosh, your right. I miss read. Thought he said foamy hopps taste. guess I have hops on the brain. Sorry guys.
Set the beergas regulator for 25-35 psi and leave it for a couple of weeks. It is easy to overcarb a beer on nitro. Much easier to just ramp up to the right level right off the bat.
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
Sounds like your stout is overcarbed. 2 days at 25 psi CO2 would likely cause that. For a nitro setup, the beer has to be only slightly carbonated or the result is all foam. I usually go with 25 psi on CO2 for about 24 hours, then put it on the mix gas @ 30 psi. It will still be undercarbed at that point, but usually gets "in the zone" within 3-5 days on the mix.
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
Shut off the gas to the keg. Vent the headspace 5-6 times over the period of a couple days. Put it back on the gas and test the pour. If still foamy, repeat the process. At some point, you will have decarbed the beer enough to pour without excessive foam. You may get lucky and find during a test pour that you've decarbed it just enough to achieve the desired cascading head, but more than likely you'll overshoot your decarbonation process and then have to allow it time on the mix @ 30-ish PSI for the carb level to build back up to where it needs to be (which is lower than it is right now).
K but do u think I left it on the beer gas long enough to get the case case affect? How long should I leave it on there to make sure it's not just me. Another words maybe it's not over carbonated it's just has not been in the beer gas long enough. I am just new to beer gas. What is the best way to use beer gas? Co 2 first how long then beer gas how long? Or just beer gas and how long?
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
Flat (undercarbed) beer pushed with beer gas through a stout faucet will not produce any head. As it becomes more carbonated, it begins to produce a head with the pour. At some point in the process, it will go from no head, to little head, to a little more head, to perfect cascading head, and if you allow it to carbonate further, all head, which is about where you are now. This is because the sweet spot for nitro pours is a very small window between too little and too much carbonation.
Since you are a beginner WRT beer gas, the easiest and safest method would be to do as masonjax recommended by putting it on the mix gas from the start and patiently waiting 2-3 weeks for it to carbonate. Once you have more experience and get a better feel for how the gas works, you can then use CO2 to speed the process along. About 24 hours on CO2 @ 25 PSI, then moving to the mix gas @ 30 PSI should have you getting nice cascading pours within about 1 week. However, right now you need to work on decarbing your beer and then bringing it back up to the sweet spot.
Since you are a beginner WRT beer gas, the easiest and safest method would be to do as masonjax recommended by putting it on the mix gas from the start and patiently waiting 2-3 weeks for it to carbonate. Once you have more experience and get a better feel for how the gas works, you can then use CO2 to speed the process along. About 24 hours on CO2 @ 25 PSI, then moving to the mix gas @ 30 PSI should have you getting nice cascading pours within about 1 week. However, right now you need to work on decarbing your beer and then bringing it back up to the sweet spot.
There's a ton of threads on this.
Carb the stout to a modest level - definitely below 2 volumes - on straight CO2. Once you've achieved that you're ready to go straight to the beer gas.
The beer gas is for pushing at high pressure without adding to the carbonation level. In fact you want to set your nitro reg so the partial CO2 pressure matches the carbonation level. Knowing the gas mix and beer temperature, you can use a standard carb table to set the regulator correctly.
I would not carb on beer gas only because of mixed gas cylinder capacity (this isn't like straight CO2 that transforms from liquid to gas hence had much higher density in the tank). Carb on CO2 first, use nitro just to push, save on refills...
Cheers!
Carb the stout to a modest level - definitely below 2 volumes - on straight CO2. Once you've achieved that you're ready to go straight to the beer gas.
The beer gas is for pushing at high pressure without adding to the carbonation level. In fact you want to set your nitro reg so the partial CO2 pressure matches the carbonation level. Knowing the gas mix and beer temperature, you can use a standard carb table to set the regulator correctly.
I would not carb on beer gas only because of mixed gas cylinder capacity (this isn't like straight CO2 that transforms from liquid to gas hence had much higher density in the tank). Carb on CO2 first, use nitro just to push, save on refills...
Cheers!
LLBeanJ
Well-Known Member
Yes, assuming you are starting with flat or undercarbed beer.
So let us start at 2 volumes just for grins.
At 36°F you would carb the beer on straight CO2 to the equivalent obtained if you used a constant pressure of 5 psi. Yes, that low.
Once the beer is fully carbed (hint: my five gallon cornies filled with stout with an FG around 22 take at least four weeks at constant pressure to reach equilibrium - they're much slower than lighter brews, but then I don't need to rush) and you put it on 75/25 beer gas, you would set the pressure to 20psi to maintain that same 2 volume carbonation level.
20 psi might be a bit low to dispense through your stout faucet, however. You'll need to see how well that works. The issue here is keeping the stout that cold limits the beer gas pressure (refer to this chart) as once the CO2 partial pressure exceeds 5 psi the carbonation level is going to follow the higher pressure.
So, wait 'til you can test the pour. If you don't get a nice cascade, you may want to raise the beer temperature, which will in turn allow a higher beer gas pressure...
Cheers!
At 36°F you would carb the beer on straight CO2 to the equivalent obtained if you used a constant pressure of 5 psi. Yes, that low.
Once the beer is fully carbed (hint: my five gallon cornies filled with stout with an FG around 22 take at least four weeks at constant pressure to reach equilibrium - they're much slower than lighter brews, but then I don't need to rush) and you put it on 75/25 beer gas, you would set the pressure to 20psi to maintain that same 2 volume carbonation level.
20 psi might be a bit low to dispense through your stout faucet, however. You'll need to see how well that works. The issue here is keeping the stout that cold limits the beer gas pressure (refer to this chart) as once the CO2 partial pressure exceeds 5 psi the carbonation level is going to follow the higher pressure.
So, wait 'til you can test the pour. If you don't get a nice cascade, you may want to raise the beer temperature, which will in turn allow a higher beer gas pressure...
Cheers!
