Home kegging, Stouts and Nitrous wippets?
Greg Howard
was
wondering what the opinions on home kegging are. Mostly I see
cornelious(sp)
being discussed. But in stores I've seen 50-$80 5l mini kegs with a CO2 tap.
I have to admit the small kegs look intruiging to me, are they good? Anyway
I
haven't bottled yet but I've decided to make an outmeal stout for my next
batch already anyway. These contain mini nitrous caps in the cans(so Ive
been
told) and at bars they say they pump there stouts with nitrous, so does
anyone
outhere have a homebrew solutions. It seems that the gas companies aren't
offering food grade nitrous with CO2 tanks, will whippets sold for whipping
cream fit onto the little pumps?
Ty in aadvance
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Greg Howard
was
wondering what the opinions on home kegging are. Mostly I see
cornelious(sp)
being discussed. But in stores I've seen 50-$80 5l mini kegs with a CO2 tap.
I have to admit the small kegs look intruiging to me, are they good? Anyway
I
haven't bottled yet but I've decided to make an outmeal stout for my next
batch already anyway. These contain mini nitrous caps in the cans(so Ive
been
told) and at bars they say they pump there stouts with nitrous, so does
anyone
outhere have a homebrew solutions. It seems that the gas companies aren't
offering food grade nitrous with CO2 tanks, will whippets sold for whipping
cream fit onto the little pumps?
Looked up the subject on a search is it N2 or N2O in guiness and how do I
get
the correct one, to be either minikegged or what?
Ty in aadvance
GMH
Dan Listermann
Some bars use a nitrogen - CO2 blend to push their beer so the beer does not
over carbonate. None, to my knowlege, use nitrous oxide - it may well be
illegal.
Don't think that you are going to get the Guinness head with nitrous oxide.
--
Dan Listermann
Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com
Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby!
"Greg Howard" <god...@MailAndNews.com> wrote in message
news:3B66...@MailAndNews.com...
Greg Howard
>Nitrous oxide, AKA laughing gas, and Nitrogen are two different things.
>Some bars use a nitrogen - CO2 blend to push their beer so the beer does not
>over carbonate.
OK where do you get that? The foam in Stouts are definitely different. A
local brewery would not sell me the stout in a Growler because they said it
would go flat due to the nitrous oxide gas used as effervesence. N2 would I
guess make more sense since it is more inert, and is used in winemaking, But
Nitrous is used in many pressurized consumer goods, perhaps as a short term
pressurizer it would work. But I want the creamy bubbles not a chemical.
So
where do I get N2 N2o., or whatever makes guinnesse head? Williamsbrewing
has
creme nitrogen. Anyway Im suprised if homebrewers haven't figured this one
out yet since stouts seem like a worthy endevor.
> None, to my knowlege, use nitrous oxide - it may well be
>illegal.
I don't think so. Only some European Nations have purity laws with regards
to
Beer. US. microbrewers and homebrewers aren't subject to these laws anyway,
and American beer purity has fewer regulations than regular food does.
Regular food products can contain Nitrous hence it should be legal unless
there is a specific law, which there wouldn't be since if you are right they
use N2. Microbes in beer form acetone, ethyl ether, and numerous other
hazardous solvents which in pure form would be deadly explosive etc, and are
in pure form tentatively illegal.
Im pretty sure that drinking nitrous (or eating it) wont get you high
either.
Nitrous breaks down quickly, and blood from the lungs goes through to the
heart and directly to the brain where it would at first concentrate, whereas
blood from the stomach gets pumped to the liver, drinking would dilute it.
I
also think that the volume of huffed nitrous to produce a high would
probably
do about 5 beers. So instead of sipping a beer over 5 minutes(which wont
work
since nitrouw wears off in about 30 seconds) youd have to slam at least
five,
make that 15 to accomidate for blood flow, then in 30 seconds after the
nitrous high wears off you'd be pretty damn drunk.
Dan Listermann
that make the head. These taps require higher pressures to perform. If you
were to try to do that with CO2, the beer would wildly over carbonate. The
N2 does not go into solution to any degree comparable to CO2.
bregent
>
>>===== Original Message From "Dan Listermann" <d...@listermann.com> =====
>>Nitrous oxide, AKA laughing gas, and Nitrogen are two different things.
>>Some bars use a nitrogen - CO2 blend to push their beer so the beer does not
>>over carbonate.
>
>OK where do you get that? The foam in Stouts are definitely different. A
>local brewery would not sell me the stout in a Growler because they said it
>would go flat due to the nitrous oxide gas used as effervesence. N2 would I
>guess make more sense since it is more inert, and is used in winemaking, But
>Nitrous is used in many pressurized consumer goods, perhaps as a short term
>pressurizer it would work. But I want the creamy bubbles not a chemical.
>So
>where do I get N2 N2o., or whatever makes guinnesse head? Williamsbrewing
>has
>creme nitrogen.
Well, you're both correct. As Dan mentioned, many pubs do use a n2, co2 mix so
they can push the beer over long runs without overcarbonating. But, Guinness
also uses N2 dissolved in the beer to create a creamier head. It is also
dispensed with a special tap that has foaming disks. Here's some info:
http://byo.com/byo/BrewPub/97mar/craftbrewer.html
>Anyway Im suprised if homebrewers haven't figured this one
>out yet since stouts seem like a worthy endevor.
They have. I know plenty of homebrewers that use both mixed gas and Guinness
taps to dispense Stouts and other beers. It's also a fairly common topic in this
forum.
Mike McGillivray
>
<snip> will whippets sold for whipping cream fit onto the little
pumps?
>
I don't know much about whippets, except what I learned from Dr.
Dennis Leary. Aren't you supposed to sniff whippits? After that, the
beer is not needed :)
Mike
JeffMo
It's more of a "breath" than a "sniff."
JeffMo
The Spaceman Quote Collection
"you are just too stupid to see light has nothing to do with energy."
"Then try getting something from the Bible instead of hearsay."
jpstod
for non-medical use ..dentist office ...surgical team
You can get a Nitrogen set up from a beer supplier if you want to go to the
expense..Check with the bars in the area..its commonly called beer gas..some
suppliers will blend the gas into one container others will not in which
case you will need a " air blender "..most Nitrogen mixes are commonly a
70/30 mix.
To truly get a rich creamy head first you have to make sure your beer is
brewed that way second the tap must have a restrictor disk inside them to
cause the beer to foam..by the way some of use homebrewers have figured out
how to have a creamy head without all that trouble its called a
syringe..just fill it full of air and push it into the beer
Astrologer
unlikely. It has been the propellant in Reddi Whip since I was a kid (oh
those college days), and still is as far as I know.
"Dan Listermann" <d...@listermann.com> wrote in message
news:tkjs7h5...@corp.supernews.com...
Trevor Hyde
of the NO. Those little minikegs are great for dispensing a lot of
foam, since you don't have very fine controls over the pressure.
You just need to buy a little adaptor to use the NO whippets (it
cost less than a buck at my brewstore). It is just a plastic shim
that compensates for the smaller size; the nozzles are identical
to those on the CO2 cartridges.
If you slightly undercarbonate your beer, then dispense at high
pressure, it foams without significant loss of volume when settling
out (that Guinness cascade). The reason why nitrogen is used in
bars is that the beer sits under pressure for an extended period
of time. If CO2 were used, it would gain carbonation. However,
those little 5L minikegs aren't very good for artificial carbonation
(they tend to go flat after tapping, not increase as the pressure
is left on), so it doesn't matter much whether CO2 or NO is used.
Now, in a full sized tapping setup I am sure that NO would produce
different results from NO2.
Just a historical note: the reason why Guinness uses nitrogen is
that they noticed certain bars with poorer tap setups actually
produced a creamier head. The key was that those bars were bleeding
air into the tapping system, and the single largest component of
air is nitrogen. The upshot is that you will also get a nice
creamy dispense if you use a hand pump (but you will have to use
it all up within a couple days, as the oxygen in the air will
cause the beer to go stale).
Trevor
Dan Listermann
news:Xns90DA45909F987Tr...@144.92.9.24...
However,
> those little 5L minikegs aren't very good for artificial carbonation
> (they tend to go flat after tapping, not increase as the pressure
> is left on), so it doesn't matter much whether CO2 or NO is used.
I am not sure what you mean by this. Can you clarify? I don't notice my 5L
kegs getting flat toward the end.
--
Dan Listermann
Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com
Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby!
>
JeffMo
I thought I'd help clear up the terminology here a bit (all numbers
should be read as subscripted):
C02 = carbon dioxide; we all know this one, hopefully
N = elemental nitrogen; free nitrogen primarily occurs only in the
diatomic form listed below
N2 = diatomic nitrogen; yields the creamy Guinness head, used in
conjunction with carbon dioxide
N2O = nitrous oxide; "laughing gas" (anesthetic), whipped cream
dispensing
NO2 = nitrogen dioxide; pollutant, combustion by-product
HTH,
JeffMo
"You're all wanking sissies if you even think about using a grain mill,
teeth, or ball-peen hammer. A real brewer uses 17 vestal virgins
stomping on the grain in a large wooden vat. And yeast is for losers.
True brewers just dip one end of their dog into the wort to get things
going." -- Drew Avis
Trevor Hyde
> "Trevor Hyde" <Trevo...@mu.edu> wrote in message
> news:Xns90DA45909F987Tr...@144.92.9.24...
> However,
>> those little 5L minikegs aren't very good for artificial carbonation
>> (they tend to go flat after tapping, not increase as the pressure is
>> left on), so it doesn't matter much whether CO2 or NO is used.
>
> I am not sure what you mean by this. Can you clarify? I don't notice
> my 5L kegs getting flat toward the end.
My 5L kegs tended to lose carbonation over time. Not much, but my main
point is that they certainly did not increase in carbonation as a result
of being under constant pressure. Leaving the pressure valve open would
result in the CO cartridge being used up rather quickly, so either the
system was not 100% sealed or the beer could easily absorb the CO in the
cartridge once it was refridgerated.
Trevor
Dan Listermann
threads. A little keg lube helps stop this.
Interestingly, I use Philtaps :) mostly old prototypes that I didn't sell.
They use an "O" ring to seal the cartridge and the dip tube is permanently
soldered. Further the CO2 dispenser is only manually activated so it cannot
allow increasing amounts of CO2 to dissolve into the beer.
--
Dan Listermann
Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com
Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby!
"Trevor Hyde" <Trevo...@mu.edu> wrote in message
news:Xns90DB47712399BTr...@144.92.9.24...
Trevor Hyde
> The German taps can leak CO2 at the tip of the cartridge and at the dip
> tube threads. A little keg lube helps stop this.
>
> Interestingly, I use Philtaps :) mostly old prototypes that I didn't
> sell. They use an "O" ring to seal the cartridge and the dip tube is
> permanently soldered. Further the CO2 dispenser is only manually
> activated so it cannot allow increasing amounts of CO2 to dissolve into
> the beer.
Had your Philtap been available when I started using minikegs I would
have purchased it. I especially like how it can dispense in a cask-like
position. However, I moved on to corny kegs about a year ago.
While I have you here, my wife purchased a counterphil for me, which
I used once successfully. The second time I tried using it I noticed
that the little ball in the check valve is missing (it must have
dropped out when I was taking it apart to clean it). What can I use
as a substitute? If I can't find anyting, do you have parts?
Thanks,
Trevor Hyde
Trevo...@mu.edu
Dan Listermann
to a flapper valve. It is much better and, if not disassembled, easier to
keep track of. Give me your snailmail address and we will send one to you.
--
Dan Listermann
Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com
Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby!
"Trevor Hyde" <Trevo...@mu.edu> wrote in message
news:Xns90DC4022CE3A2Tr...@144.92.9.24...
Prof. Richard E. Hawkins
Dan Listermann <d...@listermann.com> wrote:
>Don't think that you are going to get the Guinness head with nitrous oxide.
yeah, but think of how fast it will go . . .
:)
hawk
--
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