Quick question!

[bigmant]

Hey all,

I am relatively new to the home brew scene, although I've been drinking for quite some time Right now I am in the process of making an Irish Stout, which I can only hope is close to Guinness, and so I have a few questions for you all.

First, after I finish putting the newly brewed beer in the keg, should I attach it to the beer gas mixture or will plain CO2 be sufficient to carbonate the beer for the week or two that it needs and then I hook up the beer gas when I'm ready to serve?

Second, can the nitrogen/CO2 mixture go in the C02 canister that came with my keganator? I understand that a nitrogen tank is needed for nitrogen, but this tank will have C02 in it as well so whats the deal?

Third, does the Guinness tap that has the restrictor plate in it work with all stouts and give it that cascade look?

Thanks all. You guys are the best!

 

[Braufessor]

Nitrogen/mix is a whole other set up. It is fine to serve your stout as you would other beers. If you have the money, love stouts, and are looking for something to buy . . . .I had a homebrewed stout last week and the brewer has a nitrogen setup - it was great. Definitely a worthwhile purchase if you are really into stouts and have them on tap all the time.
Personally, I just serve them as other beers.

 

[microbusbrewery]

First, after I finish putting the newly brewed beer in the keg, should I attach it to the beer gas mixture or will plain CO2 be sufficient to carbonate the beer for the week or two that it needs and then I hook up the beer gas when I'm ready to serve?

I'd go with the second option. I've heard of people just putting it on beergas, but my understanding is it takes a really long time to carb that way versus putting it on CO2, then on beergas. Or a third option, add priming sugar to the keg and let it condition before putting it on beergas.

Second, can the nitrogen/CO2 mixture go in the C02 canister that came with my keganator? I understand that a nitrogen tank is needed for nitrogen, but this tank will have C02 in it as well so whats the deal?

Yes and my understanding is a standard CO2 regulator works fine on beergas...at least that's what one of the local gas suppliers told me. The problem is nitrogen won't be in a liquid state at those pressures, so a bigger bottle is usually used for beergas compared to straight CO2 (because you're getting less gas). So you'll run out of beergas a lot quicker than CO2 if they're in the same volume bottle.

Third, does the Guinness tap that has the restrictor plate in it work with all stouts and give it that cascade look?

It should work on all beers provided the beer is carb'd properly and served on beergas.

 

[Braufessor]

Here is a link to another discussion on this topic. Some good info in the thread, as well as links to other information.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/nitrogen-86896/index2.html