Stout Faucet

[jmward21]

I love to drink stout (Guinness being my go-to bar beer) and I got a stout faucet as a gift. However, after some reading I am now realizing that I probably need a beer gas set up (75% Nitrogen / 25% CO2).

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can you run a standard CO2 10psi home brew stout through a stout faucet? Before I install it and waste a bunch of good beer I want to learn as much as I can.

 

[tally350z]

I recently got mine as well and have only put one beer on tap through my stout faucet. From what I have read is that with the beer gas, since its only 25% CO2 you can run at higher pressure and not over carbonate the beer. The restrictor plate in the stout faucet requires high pressure and low carbonation volumes, so running a regular CO2 carbonated beer at 10*psi will cause a lot of foaming issues. I encountered this when I first used mine. I'm still learning to use mine so someone else may have something else to say.

 

[bcrawfo2]

You need beer gas to 35 or so psi. Don't use long beer lines, that just counteracts the high pressure

 

[jmward21]

Any body else have comments or advice or a link to material?

 

[turkeyjerky214]

Tally350z said it all. You need beergas to use a nitro faucet, plain and simple.

 

[atom]

there's plenty of info in here about beergas setups. what exactly are you looking for? you have the faucet, now you need a beergas tank and nitro regulator (or co2 regulator with an adapter). take a lightly carbed keg (about 1.2 volumes) and dispense it on beergas at 30-40 psi (dial in based on temp and volumes of carbonation.)

 

[ajdelange]

You don't actually need a beer gas setup. You can get a pretty authentic stout pour with just CO2 and the stout faucet. Yes, the nitrogen does help some but as you have CO2 and the faucet might as well try that first and see if you think its adequate.

You carbonate your cold stout to 1 volume. To do this put it in a keg, purge air and set the CO2 pressure to as low as you can (needle just off the pin in the gauge). Leave it for a couple of weeks to take up the gas. When it is time to serve increase the pressure to 20 - 30 psi; enough to give 'the show' and an appropriate amount of head. When finished serving, put the pressure back to 1 atm.

 

[JuanMoore]

The way a nitro/stout faucet works is by forcing the beer through a restrictor plate with tiny holes in it at high pressure to break the gas bubbles up and make them super tiny. The pressure required to do this is usually 30-40 psi, and these faucets typically only work well with beer carbed in the 1.0-2.0 vol range (usually best between 1.2 and 1.8 vol). Typically CO2 is blended with an inert and relatively insoluble gas like nitrogen so that the beer doesn't become severely overcarbed from the high pressure.

No matter what, the first step will be carbing the beer to 1.2-1.8 vol. Once carbed, you can use a beergas blend to serve it (I'd suggest higher than 25% CO2 unless you're serving very cold and carbing to the low end of the range).

Alternatively you can use 100% CO2 to serve as ajdelange suggested, and simply keep the pressure very low except when pouring. If you do this, remember to purge the keg after you serve each time, or you'll end up with overcarbed beer and a foamy mess. You'll end up using a lot of CO2 this way, but you won't have to buy any beergas or a beergas regulator.

The third option is to use an inert and relatively insoluble gas to serve, like argon or nitrogen. The carb level will drop slightly over the life of the keg, but in the experience of others on this forum, the drop isn't hugely significant. This option is probably only worthwhile if you already have an argon or nitro tank and reg laying around for welding and such.