cheapest way to nitro my stout, tap-a-draft?

[workman]

Hello, my first batch ever is in my fermenter and I have been considering putting it on nitrogen. I still dont know what my bottling/kegging plan is going to be but I do enjoy beer on nitrogen. Would the tap-a-draft system work well for this or are there better options? I dont want to break the bank here. If there isnt a good budget system for nitrogen I will probably just bottle it up and enjoy it that way.

 

[workman]

27 views and no replies. Guess no one has an opinion. I am now considering finding a cheap fridge somewhere and just throwing a keg system in it. Have heard lots of leaky stories about the TAD and would love to skip the two week conditioning time.

 

[mendesm]

I have 4 of these

and one of these

on them (but barely use this setup anymore).

If I recall correctly, the setup works so that if the pressure raises above 15psi it will leak out the excess, thus self regulating.

I do not ferment (primary nor secondary) in those. I rack the beer after secondary to the keg and then set it up with the tap + gas.

Anyway, the last time I used one of those 5L mini kegs with a stout, first I cooled the filled keg (you need to leave about 1" of air space in the keg) overnight and then I hooked it up with 2 CO2 cartridges (8gr ones in this setup, the newer one with just 1 gas hook up uses different size cartridges) for 4 or 5 days, then I replaced them with 1 CO2 and 1 NO2 cartridges and left them for another 4 or 5 days. The keg was left in the keezer the whole time. The result of a very good Guinness like head.

I have yet to add NO2 to my keezer, so those come in handy from time to time.

 

[RyboFlav]

It isn't actually serving your beer on nitro, but if you carb it up to about 1.5vol CO2, pour it into a glass (leave some space for the head) then use a syringe and suck up some and squirt it back in, you'll get the same effect.

 

[workman]

what system is that mendesm? do you like it? do you have to let it naturally carb or can you force carb with that?

 

[Headcutter]

It isn't actually serving your beer on nitro, but if you carb it up to about 1.5vol CO2, pour it into a glass (leave some space for the head) then use a syringe and suck up some and squirt it back in, you'll get the same effect.

I do this. It is the ultimate budget way to get the effect. It was developed by Guinness - google search "initiator" if you're interested.

 

[mendesm]

5L mini keg
tap-a-draft regulator <- Mine is actually the older model that allowed the use of 2 cartridges at a time, pictured in my post above.

You can naturally carb or force carb it at the expense of extra cartridges. You can also force carb with a regular CO2 tank like this guy (which is what I use for force carbing non stouts on those 5L kegs) http://www.angelfire.com/planet/brewing/Kegerator.htm

 

[greenthumbed]

It isn't actually serving your beer on nitro, but if you carb it up to about 1.5vol CO2, pour it into a glass (leave some space for the head) then use a syringe and suck up some and squirt it back in, you'll get the same effect.

I use this method as well. It works great! Give it a go before you go spending big cash for the same effect.

 

[workman]

I'll give it a shot, lol

 

[2xbrewing]

Read this article from brew magazine on the cheap way to have guinness stout with that foamy head without spending hundreds on a nitro set up, I've tried it works well.

http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/743-head-games

 

[Idrum6969]

I bought a TAD setup a while back before I built a keezer. I did a Chocolate Stout in the TAD with no N20. I did natural carbonation and used the 16g CO2 to dispense. The first 6 or so glasses of brew were rather foamy. I had to get the CO2 to equalize before I got a good pour. For 60 bucks its not a bad deal. I have the second version of the TAP and have had no issues with it being leaky. I also bottled the same Stout and liked the bottled version better for pour. The TAD will work for Stouts........ you just have to get through the first handful of pours and then it serves a nice glass of beer with a nice head.