temp for conditioning and Nitro questions

[Sidman]

Have two questions for anyone that can help.

First has to do with temperature for conditioning beer for kegging. I had been transferring my beer from secondary to a corny and then placing into my keezer and waiting several weeks before drinking. I would cold crash coming out of the secondary and then just place in the keezer. I noticed in my directions from beersmith that the recommendation was 30 days at 65 degrees for conditioning. Am I short circuiting the yeast by going straight to 38? Any adverse effects? I could keep it at 65 but its difficult here in TX with the temp fluctuations.

Secondly I was thinking about adding a nitro tap since I make a lot of porters and Irish red ales. I have seen some conflicting guidance on the necessary equipment. The main question is do I need a nitrogen regulator? I plan on using a beer gas mix (75/25) and hopefully using an existing co2 tank. Would my normal co2 regulator work ok?
Found a good black Friday deal for a half price nitro tap and was hoping to take advantage of it.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[day_trippr]

Moving a fresh keg of crash-cooled and primed beer directly to a keezer seems counterproductive wrt "time to ready" as you'd expect the yeast metabolism to be greatly slowed.

I'd prime the keg, put enough pressure on it to seal it up tight, then find a way to keep it in the range that the yeast are happiest. Should speed up the process.

As for the nitro, iirc CO2 cylinders use CGA320 valves while mixed gas tanks usually sport CGA580 valves.
While I don't think there's a physical issue with using a certified CO2 cylinder for beer gas, I'd make sure you can actually get the CO2 tank filled with beer gas before you commit any $$$...

Cheers!

 

[spittybug]

You cannot use a CO2 tank for nitrogen. CO2 has a male fitting, nitro a female. Nitro tanks are also pressurized to much greater levels and it's never a liquid in the tank.

That said, GET ONE!!!!! I'm enjoying my Guinness clone on nitro as we speak. I just ordered another tap so that I can have more beers on nitro.

 

[Sidman]

Moving a fresh keg of crash-cooled and primed beer directly to a keezer seems counterproductive wrt "time to ready" as you'd expect the yeast metabolism to be greatly slowed.

I'd prime the keg, put enough pressure on it to seal it up tight, then find a way to keep it in the range that the yeast are happiest. Should speed up the process.

I guess this is where I am confused. I thought after two weeks in a fermenter and I hit my final Gravity I cold crash to reduce sediment. I force carb over a several week period at serving temp to make sure the co2 is dissolved properly. I was under the impression that most yeast activity would be finished and that cold maturation was preferable for green beers. Should I be sealing and keeping at room temp for 3 to 4 weeks then an additional several weeks to carb?

 

[Sidman]

You cannot use a CO2 tank for nitrogen. CO2 has a male fitting, nitro a female. Nitro tanks are also pressurized to much greater levels and it's never a liquid in the tank.

That said, GET ONE!!!!! I'm enjoying my Guinness clone on nitro as we speak. I just ordered another tap so that I can have more beers on nitro.

Yes I definitely am. I found this adapter on AIH.
http://www.homebrewing.org/CGA-320-x-580-Nitrogen-Regulator-to-CO2-Tank-Adapter_p_1424.html

I have quite a few tanks - one of them was an Oxygen that was converted to co2. It's a steel tank. Perhaps that would handle the higher pressure ok?

So looks like I def would need a nitro regulator as well at a minimum?

 

[day_trippr]

I guess this is where I am confused. I thought after two weeks in a fermenter and I hit my final Gravity I cold crash to reduce sediment. I force carb over a several week period at serving temp to make sure the co2 is dissolved properly. I was under the impression that most yeast activity would be finished and that cold maturation was preferable for green beers. Should I be sealing and keeping at room temp for 3 to 4 weeks then an additional several weeks to carb?

Ok, you left the impression that you were "naturally carbonating" the keg, as that's where the 30 day recommendation came from.
None of that applies if you're force-carbonating. Cold crash and start carbing...

Cheers!

 

[bassmang4]

You cannot use a CO2 tank for nitrogen. CO2 has a male fitting, nitro a female. Nitro tanks are also pressurized to much greater levels and it's never a liquid in the tank.

Not really true. While you can't just use a co2 tank as you would a higher pressure tank, you can use a co2 tank w beergas. ASSUMING you go to a tank filler that knows what they're doing. They have to put some tube in but not sure exactly how it works. It's due to co2 being liquid and N being gas. The big thing is that they can only fill close to the rating of the tank. So lower pressure than a N tank and good for less kegs. And you can use a standard regulator. I have a 15lb tank w beergas that I've only used for wine so far. Need to build the keezer collar and set up the nitro faucets.

I was going to get that adaptor but the people selling it said they don't really work all that well. May not have been AIH. Said they usually leak and drain your tank. They recommended just using my standard regulator and go the lower pressure co2 tank route.