Nitro Setup

[LLBeanJ]

Leave it on the beergas for another week, though I'd probably dial it down to 30 PSI while you wait it out. It's just not carbed up enough, but it's probably close since you can detect some carbonation.

 

[masonsjax]

Many beer regulators are not very accurate at their minimal settings. Also, it takes longer to carb on beergas because the nitrogen will not absorb. You can purge the headspace once in a while to let out the nitrogen and replace it with more blended gas, then there will be more co2 to absorb.

 

[pigroaster]

Thanks for posting all these great tips. I am ready to pull the trigger and just needed this info to get another adventure started. Keep posting!!

 

[Brewgirl84]

Thanks. If I put it on CO2 at low PSI for a bit longer would that work?

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yes, that will work. Just be careful. It doesn't take much carbonation to be overcarbed for a nitro setup and then you'll have the opposite problem... an entire glass full of foam. It's best to sneak up on it gradually until you figure out where "the zone" is for your system.

 

[FredTheNuke]

Or carb with CO2 at room temp and then drop down to nitro temps.

 

[masonsjax]

+1 what LLbeanJ said. It sucks to overshoot, and is easy to do accidentally. Patience is a virtue.

 

[TAK]

I don't disagree at all with the above posts, but I thought I'd say I just had the same issue and did something different. So far, my nitro beers have carbed well after a week on CO2 at a low PSI, with a bit higher pressure the first two days. I had a rye stout that wasn't done after about 9 days. So, I bumped up the pressure to 18 just overnight, like 6-8 hours. Put it back on beer gas in the AM, and after work it was perfect. You do really need to be careful though, and you have to know your system.

Patience is certainly a virtue, though.

 

[FredTheNuke]

You can tinker with your system and keep your fingers crossed OR raise the temp to room temperature where there is a much wider control band and force carbonate to exactly how many vols you want and then reduce to serving temp and push with beer gas knowing exactly what you'll get as the CO2 will already be at equilibrium...

 

[day_trippr]

What?

This isn't a space shuttle launch. You can carb to a desired level at pretty much any temperature you like - cold, warm, stupid hot, whatever, you just need to set the pressure accordingly to nail the volumes of CO2 spot on...

Cheers!

 

[FredTheNuke]

True but do you want a clean pour or a bunch of head pissing away all that time you invested in your brew?

A Guinness stout type beer should have roughly 1.5 vols of CO2 in solution at steady state. Once at this level you put it on beer gas at either 25/75 or at most 40/60 at 32-35 psi. And then the magic happens...

 

[day_trippr]

True but do you want a clean pour or a bunch of head pissing away all that time you invested in your brew?[...]

No clue at all how you got there...

Cheers!

 

[sabitu]

I got my cylinder filled with a 75/25% beergas mix and I just installed my new Taprite stout faucet today. I hooked the gas up to a keg of Deception Cream Stout that I brewed and set the regulator at 30 PSI.

My first impression is WOW! This took the mouthfeel of the beer from being a tad thin to being super creamy and full bodied. I will be putting all of my milk stouts and lighter bodied stouts on nitro from this point forward.

 

[day_trippr]

Stout on nitro is a wonderful treat.
And the best bed-time snack ever

Cheers!