I just kegged an IPA yesterday, left it out of the fridge to warm the dryhops into infusion.
I just pulled a little. Man, it is so good; I am calling it hoppy bread. And it is flat.
Lately I have been enjoying flat IPA, or ones with little to much less carbonation.
So, the question is this: Anybody else enjoy beer that is significantly under- or lightly carbed?
I mean, I don’t think I need to even add much gas to this for it to be a totally enjoyable meal for me.
The hops are popping!
I can relate.
I don’t know about “flat” but I do like AIPA (and other hoppy brews) with very low carbonation. Most American commercial beers are very overcarbonated to my taste. Seems like a real waste when a beer is brewed to perfection and then robbed of so much character with too much fizz (or served practically frozen).
Mmmm… I certainly see you point about a lot of commercial beers being overcarbonated. But I just can’t get behing a full on flat beer. It’s got to have some bubbles, head (even if ephemeral) and lacing or else it’s just very underwelming IMHO.
I had an issue with one of my kegs a couple weeks ago. it had scottish 60/- in it and there was a problem with the beer out post/poppit ( I think the post wa just to tight so the poppit sat a little to high) anyway the result was that the beer turned to foam as it left the post and I got a big glass full of creamy wonderful nitro like foam that settled down into a delicious barely carbed brew that I really enjoyed. I have noticed that even if I leave a glass of sparkly (RO) water out over night the flavour of the co2 is still there even if the bubbles really aren’t I think it’s tasty.
I just bottled my APA (not sure it has the requisite gravity to make it an AIPA) and definitely enjoyed my test jar of room temperature flat ale. Maybe there’s something about those nice citrusy hops flavors that makes it work?
I agree with the lower carb and higher temp. Kegged a Rye IPA a couple of weeks ago and did the old shake method cause I had people coming over. I let it sit for a while then poured a pint and noticed it hadn’t absorbed as much volume as I was shooting for but reallly really liked it. I left the gas on it and tried a few days later and it was definitely better with the lower volume.
While I always carbonate, I don’t mind it flat and warm at all. I will sample whenever I can, and almost always “test” for carbonation every couple days. It is interesting to see how carbonation changes a beer. I don’t remember when I started liking it, but it must have been after a trip to Europe. I love guiness at room temp.
I agree under-carbed makes the hop flavor really pop! I have a properly carbed APA in the keezer right now and it seems like it definetly loses some hop aroma and flavor.
Hey! A couple years have passed, and I am still finding myself really enjoying undercarbed (somewhere>12psi) hoppy beer.
I really enjoy the hops much more in that first week after kegging, whilst the beer is still carbing up.
Even when I bottled, I would start opening them up a couple days later and start testing. :-[. YUM!
OK
My next question is this:
Is there a way to maintain different carbonation levels in only certain kegs or do I have to get a whole new regulator?
Is there another way to do it?
exact control would require a second regulator but you can just close the valve to the kegs you want lower carb on. kinda hit or miss though.
I think you can get single regulators (just the low pressure side) that can go inline so you can have ~15 psi coming out of the tank and then step that down for english beers to ~8 or whatever.
hmm, thanks. I will look into that in-line regulator.
I might not mind the hit and miss thing either…if you turn off the gas, will the beer eventually loose all CO2 and go flat?
yeah, eventually but it’ll just stop pouring first. when that happens pop the valve open for a second and then close it again. or pop the QD back on for second.
I definitely think you can charge up selectively your dispensing kegs to maintain your desired carb levels.
I could never find the last leak in my system with its hundred points of contact and I got really tired of finding my tank empty. Two regulators each with gas lines split to each fridge, always connected and valve-open to 9+ kegs seemed more hassle than it was worth.
Finally I just shut off the gas and let the existing pressure dispense my pours. When a line began to slow or carbonation began to lesson I would open the valve for an appropriate charge.
This sanity and money saving change came with a surprise benefit. I began to experience different beers styles through different carbonation levels and just as importantly, the same beer at different carbonation levels.
You get a keen sense of how much and how often you need to carb up for what it is you’re after in each beer.
+1 to lightly carbed IPAs. I prefer mine carbed to ~ English bitter levels (or many beers for that matter, with obviously Belgian styles, hefeweizen excluded). I tried a couple commercial examples recently that were excellent otherwise, but way overcarbonated for my tastes.
I think you guys aren’t pouring hard enough. I’m not a huge fan of excess fizz in my hoppy brews, but that carbonation does a world of good when it comes to releasing hop aroma. I just pour it extra hard to kick out the extra carbonation.
I do pour pretty hard , to release aromas (part of what it’s all about for me with IPA) and get a nice head, but the 2 examples I mentioned were Belgian-like in their carbonation, even after doing that.
Agreed. I usually keep a lower carb level in my ipa keg, but dispense it after a CO2 feed so that it comes galloping out, leaving a creamy head sitting on top. Lovely.