Carb issues for a sweet porter

[jwbeard]

Hey all -

I brewed BierMuncher's excellent Black Pearl Porter, which ended up a touch on the sugary side (1.024, about .004 of which came from maltodextrin and lactose by my math). Typically I carbonate my beers by putting them under 3x pressure for a day, and then setting it to the serving pressure to finish off. This was to be served on nitro, so I calculated the applied pressure for 1.2 volumes (~12psi), multiplied by three and subtracted 14 (to get the PSIg, or pressure on the gauge). After a day at 3x, however, there wasn't a trace of carbonation. Left it another day (nada), turned it up to 6x (nada). Finally, after 4 days with nary a bubble, I tried the rolling method.

That worked. Kind of. It is generating copious amounts of head now, but it generates 95% of a glass worth of head now when served on nitro at only 10psi. Generates a ton of head on CO2, also. Notably, the beer itself still tastes flat. Just super heady. The lines should be balanced, as I've served stouts on the nitro faucet before and have the beergas pressure dialed in (the gauge has a bolt that screws down).

Question is - will a high FG/thick beer be unsuitable for nitro? I was thinking maybe the increased viscosity of the beer might cause the ridiculous foaming...

Any suggestions or advice? I'd serve it on CO2, except I seem to be getting too much foam on that faucet too...

 

[johnsnownw]

Maybe I'm misinformed, but aren't you supposed to carb with C02, and serve with nitro?

 

[jwbeard]

Sorry if that was unclear, I did carbonate with CO2. You can definitely carbonate with beergas, but CO2 is cheaper (and you dont have to refill a CO2 canister as often, since it can be stored in liquid form). The numbers given for the carbonation part were all applied-pressure of CO2, the 10PSI serving pressure was in beergas (though, it also foamed excessively when served with 12psi of CO2 on a normal faucet).

Edit: I realize I never gave the pressure gauge values... Suffice to say, the beer has very slight carbonation, but even on 1/3 the beergas serving pressure through a nitro faucet it's still foaming uncontrollably.

 

[johnsnownw]

Ahh, thanks for the clarification. I don't really know enough about beergas/Nitro to help much. I will say that my Wee Heavy took longer to carbonate than my other beers. Usually boost carb at 35 PSI for 36 hrs, then serving pressure for the next 12. I'm usually at a good carb level by then...but my Wee Heavy took longer. So, I'd say it's a possibility, but couldn't say definitively.