Everything I’ve read about nitro says nitrogen quickly escapes. But how quickly? If it’s within a minute or so, isn’t the creamier mouthfeel really just a result of lower co2 carbonation? I can’t seem to find more detailed information other than nitro is 100 times less soluble, and it makes the beer creamy.
Nitrogen does not quickly escape because it never dissolves into the beer in the first place. The creaminess and foam is from CO2. The fine CO2 bubbles are created when the beer is forced at high pressure through the tiny holes of the restrictor plate in the tap.
If you used CO2 at that high pressure to dispense, the beer will quickly become overcarbed. Thus, we use an insoluble (and inert) gas for dispensing, i.e. nitrogen.
You are correct. The higher nitro pressure knocks out carbonati9n, resulting in the creamy mouthfeel. That’s why you can create the same effect using a syringe.
So are you telling me I can buy the Intertap Nitro Fitting and just serve my stouts that way with the same effect? I thought about buying it but didn’t because I don’t want to mess with hooking up nitro.
Edit: Google is telling me that fitting needs a nitro hookup… what does Google know… Everything [emoji1787]
Or spend less than a buck for a syringe and get the same result. That’s what Guinness did before they started using nitro.
The faucet is essential IMO. It forces the beer through the “sparkler” head with lots of pressure. I’m not saying Denny’s method doesn’t work but you need a nitro faucet to do the draft properly
I have a stout tap, but no nitro or beer gas - I will give Denny’s approach a try tonight using the syringe (post stout tap dispense). If I don’t have to buy a nitro tank, etc…that would be a great thing. I was about to bite the bullet, since I love my bitters on beer engine and was hoping to be able to get a similar result.
I made a device once to do what the syringe does. I took a threaded brass rod and capped one end, then drilled several tiny holes in the cap. The other end got a barb fitting to attach to the beer-out hose of the keg. It made the beer creamy without Nitro.
Cool - it worked, sort of - after the head died down, a bit of a swirl of the glass brought out the similar texture of the beer, itself, as well as a fair amount of fine bubbles. I “syringed” the beer four times for a 12 oz pour.
I did it once and I even got the cool cascading effect. I pulled 10ml’s and slammed it… Maybe I should have done it a bit slower…