Nitro Virgin

[timperkins]

20 years brewing and I'm prep'ing for my first keg on Nitro. I've read online that I should force carbonate CO2, then serve on Nitro Blend/Beer Gas. But what's the right technique? Everything I read says to (under)carbonate with CO2. Need a little help, please. This is a 5 gal batch. Thanks in advance.

 

[day_trippr]

I run 75/25 beer gas at 35 psi through a Micromatic stout faucet. I carbonate my stouts to 1.2-1.4 volumes of CO2 before they go on tap. I found 1.4 volumes blasted through the faucet at that pressure is pretty much the limit before the cascade turns into too much head.

So, use any carbonation table/chart/calculator you like and dial the temperature vs pressure to a low volumes of CO2 and you should do fine...

Cheers!

 

[timperkins]

Thanks... so 1.2 at 50F shows 1.1 PSI? That seems really low. Should I pull it out of the fridge to force carbonate it at room temperature? 1.2 at 72F shows 8.6 PSI.

 

[day_trippr]

Dealer's choice, either will work at the same rate...

Cheers!

 

[timperkins]

Dealer's choice, either will work at the same rate...

Cheers!

Thanks again, about how long will it take to reach 1.2

 

[day_trippr]

Depends on gravity, the higher the slower. My imperial stout OG is 1.107, FG is 1.028 consistently, and it takes a good week just to gain a handful of volume points. I figure beer naturally finishes around .7-.8 volumes give or take (as long as it wasn't warmed from the upper 60s fermentation temperature) so all I'm really trying to do is get from there to 1.2 and it still takes a solid week at 11-12 psi - and that's already chilled to ~38°F.

Meanwhile I can take my ales (FG 1.012-1.015) from the same .7-.8 volumes to 2.5 in two weeks , so gravity definitely plays a role...

Cheers!

 

[timperkins]

... I figure beer naturally finishes around .7-.8 volumes give or take (as long as it wasn't warmed from the upper 60s fermentation temperature) so all I'm really trying to do is get from there to 1.2 and it still takes a solid week at 11-12 psi - and that's already chilled to ~38°F.

Is there a way to measure it along the way or when it's finished?

 

[day_trippr]

When I want to check carbonation level on a keg I remove the gas feed, pop the prv ever so quickly, let it sit for at least 5 minutes, then put my spunding valve/pressure gauge on it and see what the head space pressure is. Then I plug that pressure reading plugged back into the carbonation table along with the temperature and see what volumes of CO2 should be present.

I believe this is fairly accurate - it's mostly about the recovery time after relieving the head space pressure induced by the gas bottle. If you're too quick taking a pressure reading I believe the calculation will be low...

Cheers!

 

[ehk089]

35 psi for the nitro regulator??? I actually just got my nitro stuff to add a tap today also. I just assumed that after carving on co2 that the nitro regulator would push around 10 psi, but it should be set at 35?

 

[day_trippr]

If you use an actual stout faucet there's a restrictor plate with a handful of tiny holes in it that need some significant pressure to shove beer through. I'd say 35 psi beer gas is fairly typical...

Cheers!

 

[ehk089]

Wow...really glad I caught this thread, thanks trippr!....also I’ve never poured from nitro admittedly...I know the stout faucet is a “creamer”...do you pour any differently?

 

[day_trippr]

Pretty sure I use all the same motions pouring my stout as my ales and lagers. The Micromatic faucet purports to have a "push back creamer" but tbh I don't see any difference in what comes out of the spout so I don't use it...

Cheers!

[edit/ps] Here's what a restrictor plate looks like...

 

[ehk089]

Nice, yeah I was wondering about the push back creamer function, I’ve seen Guinness and other nitro poured in bars but never noticed a push back on the tap...

 

[ehk089]

Dumb question...keg and tank have male ends....is that normal? I guess I can go to hd to get a male male coupler, but my co2 reg had female and hooked right up. Just want to make sure I didn’t miss something.

 

[day_trippr]

Ah, well, if you got yourself a mixed gas cylinder of beer gas it likely sports a cga580 valve where co2 cylinders usually have cga320.
I have a dedicated Micromatic regulator with a cga580 stem for beer gas...

Chers!

 

[Jag75]

I had my choc milk stout on Co2 at 2psi for 4 days . Temp was 38*f. That wasnt enough . I then set it to 12 psi rolled it then let it sit for about 12 hrs . Hooked it back up to nitro and it was looking a lot better . I noticed after a few more days on the nitro blend the cascade really started coming in and holding nicely . You just have to test it and learn on the fly to what your looking for. Stout on nitro is where it's at. I also have found 35psi on nitro is perfect .

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

Pretty sure I use all the same motions pouring my stout as my ales and lagers. The Micromatic faucet purports to have a "push back creamer" but tbh I don't see any difference in what comes out of the spout so I don't use it...

[edit/ps] Here's what a restrictor plate looks like...
UOTE]


I have the Perlick creamer faucet I don't notice a difference either maybe it's all a scam to get our money

 

[ehk089]

So I fudged up...I burst carb on co2 so I put my keg at room temp for ~12 hours on co2 then on nitro at 35 psi....it was great but I wanted a bit more bubble...so I put in fridge for 24 hours (~40 degrees) on 30 psi co2 abd put back on nitro. I got a metallic astringent taste I’ve never experienced before. Does this sound like over carb?...typically I burst carb co2 for 24-48 hours in fridge and don’t experience this.

 

[Jag75]

So I fudged up...I burst carb on co2 so I put my keg at room temp for ~12 hours on co2 then on nitro at 35 psi....it was great but I wanted a bit more bubble...so I put in fridge for 24 hours (~40 degrees) on 30 psi co2 abd put back on nitro. I got a metallic astringent taste I’ve never experienced before. Does this sound like over carb?...typically I burst carb co2 for 24-48 hours in fridge and don’t experience this.

Is it a stout ? Not sure about the taste . Did it taste fine before you increased the psi for 24hrs? Can overly carbed beer have a metallic taste?

 

[ehk089]

Yes, it’s a stout, abd yes it tasted fantastic at first....I took it off gas and purged for the last two days. Just hooked it back up to nitro and it’s good again.... I’ve heard of carb bite before but that’s my first time experiencing it.

 

[Jag75]

Yes, it’s a stout, abd yes it tasted fantastic at first....I took it off gas and purged for the last two days. Just hooked it back up to nitro and it’s good again.... I’ve heard of carb bite before but that’s my first time experiencing it.

Good deal , glad it's good to go

 

[day_trippr]

Carbonation causes carbonic acid (h2c03) as a matter of course. I have read of cases where initial sampling of a burst-carb'd keg had a nasty carbonic acid bite, but pours drawn over time showed it eventually dissipated. It seems to be a phenomenon related to burst carbing as always do the "set and forget" carb thing and I've never experienced that bite...

Cheers!