Nitro vs Non-Nitro

had plenty both ways but only one side by side. a couple weekends ago in Marquette MI, I was at Blackrocks. ordered their stout on nitro and my friend got it normal. i preferred the nitro. this could be due to the style but i felt the nitro gave the stout that creamy mouthfeel and smooth drinkability i was looking for. both were great. Blackrocks is an up and comer in the mich brew scene and they haev just started canning as well.

 

What do you mean by nitro vs non-nitro? In the UK nitro means filtered, pasteurised and force-carbonated/nitrogenated. If the same beer is available in another way the draught version is normally cask conditioned (i.e. much better). The alternative packaged version would usually be pretty much the same except 100% carbonated rather than carbonated/nitrogenated.

Are these American nitro beers filtered and pasteurised?

 

obv cask is a thing of its own. beers here are typically either gassed w CO2 or nitro. typically they are pasteurised but not all filtered.

 

I know I'm crazy here, but to me Nitro fill just seems smoother in texture and I don't know if it is all in my mush pot I call a head or if it is indeed a feelable difference.

 

I had an IPA side-by-side on nitro once. Don't remember which one. Non-nitro was clearly the more flavorful and intense.

 

Left Hand Milk Stout vs. Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout is a huge difference in my opinion. I much prefer the Nitro Milk Stout over the regular one. It's in the texture and smoothness that makes it better.

 

ud be mostly correct. nitro is more or less insoluable in liquid and i believe forms smaller bubbles which rise to the top giving u that tight creamy texture head. im sure there are some people around with some chemistry backgrounds that could give us a hand in the matter.

 

FBS on Nitro is out-of-this-world!

 

Stronger/Bolder Beer Flavor + Nitro = Goodness

Milder/Subtler Beer Flavor + Nitro = Meh

 

I had Barrier Money IPA both ways this past weekend and the nitro version was not an improvement on the original (to say the least).

 

Same here .. more hop flavor on the nitro pour.

 

GF + I had Hardywood GBS on regular and nitro at the Sidamo release "party" as our first beverages...and I do get nitro Rasputin anytime I see it...

Purely opinion, but nitro feels like the carbonation is part of the body of the beer (fluffy), where as normal draft feels like the bubbles are concentrated at the bottom. I definitely think nitro goes flat in the glass way faster.

 

Nitro is an abomination.

 

I did a write-up on Victory HopDevil side-by-side-by-side here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hopdevil-vs-hopdevil-vs-hopdevil.155574/

 

I think that nitro can be ok on lighter stouts (Guinness) but I hate it on most everything else. IPA's are aweful when on nitro. Zero aroma and the hops taste dull. I also have had Old Rasputin on nitro and I much prefer it on Co2.

 

You flatter it.

 

My experience was the opposite: the nitro pour was muted and creamy, severely diluting the hop character.

 

Nitro just makes beer taste flat. Give me those big ass CO2 bubbles all day.

 

old resputin is outstanding on nitro. I find it co2 to be a bit thinner bodied.
sculpin on nitro was fun to try and would again but it felt muted.