I’ve only used CO2 in my beers. I’m interested in the effects of beer gas and Nitro on the beer. Seems like nitrogen is recommended more for porters or stouts. What are the pros and cons of using nitrogen or beer gas? All information is greatly appreciated.
I can’t imagine why nitro alone us recommended. Seems like it would cause the beer to go flat.
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Could be, I really don’t know a lot about the other gasses used. I’m just trying to do some research to see if it improves the beer in anyway. Thanks, appreciate the reply.
IMO, nitro/beer gas ruins most beers. Knocks the carbonation and aroma out. You can use a syringe to simulate the effect. That’s what Guinness did before nitro.
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Nitrogen is not very soluble in beer, almost 0. Most beers that contain nitrogen are carbonated with CO2 and then served with a mixture on Nitrogen and CO2 (commonly known as beer gas). The solubility issue with Nitrogen is why Guinness puts a widget in the bottle which depressurizes when the bottle is opened and makes the beer taste creamy before all the nitrogen escapes from the glass. Left Hand developed a proprietary method to mix nitrogen and CO2 in their Nitro Milk Stout without using a widget to give the beer the creamy texture when poured.
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You beat me to it, Goose!
There is a bit of a misconception about N2 and beer gas (which is a 75/25 blend of N2/CO2).
N2 gas really, really does not like to dissolve in liquid. It is ~40 times less soluble than CO2. This is easily shown by trying to force “carbonate” a beer, or even nitro coffee, with N2. It’s almost impossible.
Although some N2 dissolves, much of the fine bubbles of a “nitro” beer are actually CO2. CO2 bubbles become finer when the beer is forced through a narrow aperture at high pressure. Hence the syringe trick.
The only thing special about a nitro faucet is a small disc at the base of the faucet that contains numerous small holes. It is called a restrictor plate. It’s this plate, plus high pressure, that creates the magic, not so much the nitrogen itself. You can use a nitro faucet for a regular CO2 beer and get much the same effect as a nitro pour.
The reason for using beer gas on a nitro beer is so that the beer can be dispensed at high pressure (25-30 psi) while maintaining its ~2 vol carbonation. If you dispensed the beer at 30 psi with just CO2, the beer would quickly become overcarbonated. If you used just N2, it will go flat.
Using just N2 on a beer makes no sense. But N2 can be used for purging kegs just like CO2.
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This helps a lot. Thanks for this info.
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Thank you all for these replys. They shed a lot more light on the reasoning for the beer gas. At this time, I’m sticking to the one I know more about. CO2. thanks again.
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The only additional item I did not see mentioned above is Nitrogen’s effect on flavor. Using Nitrogen reduces the perception of bitterness, making the product seem smoother and creamier, which is why it’s also used for coffee. So not all beer improves with the use of Nitrogen.
Nitrogen is not a greenhouse gas, so ‘better for the planet’.
Also, since Nitrogen is inert, it doesn’t add that carbonic bite on the palate. And because Nitrogen is not soluble, I don’t know if it’s possible to ‘over nitrogenate’ a beer, though you can definitely ‘over carbonate’.
The whole point of using nitrogen was to try to make bottled (and canned) beers taste a bit more like traditional cask ales, which use a similar perforated disc in the beer engine (serving system) called a sparkler. It’s like a mini shower head that creates that creamy foam and fine bubbles in naturally carbonated beer.
Just additional aspects to consider.
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I would only add that in all beer engines sold in the US have a swan or northern pour neck where you can use a sparkler. BUT you don’t have to use a sparkler The swan neck also disrupts the beer lending to that Guinness sheeting effect while retaining a more CO2 in solution
I know this was about beer gas but wanted to point out since the sparkler came up
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I had a personal brewery tour of a wonderful small brewery in the Czech Republic (SLAVKOVSKÉHO PIVOVARU). The head brewer mentioned they use a CO2N2 beer gas to serve all their beers and how this is the standard in the Czech Republic. Straight CO2 gives too much carbonation and straight N2 not enough. The beers are all very flavorful but with a softer carbonation.
I learned so much and had a couple right out of the lagering tanks!
They use floor malted barley and do single to triple decoctions depending on the beer.
Flame suit on but this is the reason you should have to have to travel before being recognized as some sort of high ranking beer judge. I have had a lot of European lagers in the US but none have come close to the beers this brewery made.
They were taping casks for their bi weekly cask tapping event and the beer was incredibly fresh and flavorful. Ironic that the beers tapped were NE IPA’s
Top pick is the malt they use. Middle pic is a European 10 plato lager Bottom pic is a cask of NE IPA (first time they put a cask of NE IPA out)
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