Thoughts on Nitro.

Now I have to find some non-nitro Tahoe Mountain Auld Bitch BBA Barleywine…

 

Nitro? When I see that, typically, I move on to the next option. I suppose it might work well somewhere, but in my experience it tends to deaden the taste. Mouthfeel might be slightly softer and lush, but I am not generally driven by texture when picking my brew. Once in a while I get turned off by something odd in the feel, but mostly it is a baseline expectation, nothing more. I'm all about flavor, and nitro tends to be a net loser for me.

 

I understand what you're saying. In Edinburgh I had a cask ale that was absolutely delicious and the next day it was sour and almost undrinkable (well, for me, it was undrinkable). But, for me, I have to take what I can get. The look and feel of nitro reminds me of cask ales

 

Totally depends on the beer & the style.
I would never order or buy a nitro Belgian.
To me, that would be like drinking a nitro champagne, just wrong.
A Brit style pale ale, bitter or ESB, yes.
Stout, definitely.
Scottish ale might work as well.

 

Carbon dioxide is the not mentioned fifth beer ingredient. Nitro dispense beer has much less CO2. Nitrogen otoh is inert, it brings nothing to the table. The missing carbonic acid is of course quite noticeable, and usually kills the hop brightness, mutes hop bitterness and increases perception of malt sweetness.

For me, if it's not a decent Stout, nitro dispense is a mistake. Turns out I'm not alone. Nitro IPA's time in the spotlight lasted a bit less than a week.

Cheers

 

I have consumed a lot of cask ale in the UK (including Edinburgh) and on a handful of occasions they were 'off' due to oxidation.

I am curious to learn more about your soured beer experience. Did you mention to the server that the beer went 'bad'? If so, how did they respond.

FWIW I personally attribute my beer drinking experiences in the UK of infrequently tasting 'off' cask beers as a testament to the care they were given when the cask got too old; the pub owner would stop serving the beer went it went 'off'. Needless to say this costs the pub owner money since there is unsold beer but in the long run it is a benefit since the regulars will continue coming back to drink beers there.

Cheers!

@champ103

 

Are we talking more about draft Nitro or bottled/canned beers?

I like beers on Nitro, but I find it more enjoyable if I know the beer NOT on Nitro first.
I think it's more enjoyable that way.

I really enjoyed the Left Hand Nitro series beers. The Wake Up Dead RIS Nitro was really good, imo.
That Guinness blonde was a total miss.

 

I keep some Guinness 0.0 in my fridge and have one maybe once per week. The nitro helps to minimize the watery character, but doesn't come close to overcoming it.

Other than the Guinness I drink only 1-2 regular beers per year that are on nitro. I never see any taste enhancement ('unique' mouthfeel is no big deal to me), so I'll probably start avoiding them in the future.

 

I have been to many pubs around Aberdeen and Edinburgh. I ran into a couple of CAMRA members at a pub in Aberdeen and had a conversation. They had mentioned they could tell how old an cask was when they could detect a bit of cherry, which is slight oxidation. In their conversations with pub owners, they figured it was usually around three days. While, for them, it wasn't the main flavor characteristic at that point, it just gave another little layer. If the oxidation was more noticeable, they would stop drinking that particular beer, but wasn't normal to get large amounts of oxidation in the better pubs as they would either be gone or the owner would take it off. After that, maybe cause of power of persuasion, I began to notice a little cherry flavor in some casks as well.

I did come across some "sour" casks, and didn't frequent those pubs after. I specifically went out of my way once to a pub to try Bass on cask. That was pretty bad and sour, it was the only place I found to serve it, so I don't know if that is how it normally tastes now on cask, or if it was old. I ran into those same CAMRA guys later and mentioned that, they laughed and said that particular pub is known for the worst cask in Aberdeen ha.

 

IMO the main 'benefit' of a nitro serving is the creaminess it can provide to the beer's mouthfeel so if mouthfeel is unimportant than drinking regular CO2 beers is your best choice.

There is also the consideration that @billandsuz mentioned above that nitro can for some beers enhance "malt sweetness". For example, I have in the past had North Coast Old Rasputin (a RIS) served via nitro and that beer was quite tasty so there is that.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, a conscientious and attentive pub owner is needed when drinking quality cask beer.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, that's the main reason that I haven't gone exclusively to NA beers. In my effort to cut back on alcohol I've found 4 NA beers that I like and I rotate them every other day with regular beers. So the Guinness is in my rotation because it's palatable and similar to the real beer. I'm stuck with it, nitro included.

 

wait till i use helium to pour my beers

 

FWIW while visiting over the holidays the host had some NA beers from Athletic Brewing (a regular IPA and a Hazy IPA) and I had some small sample pours of those beers and given the context I thought they were pretty good. Maybe give them a try (if you haven't already).

Cheers!

 

Half Acre has done some incredible Nitro draft pours with barrel aged beers. I am a huge fan!

 

Except for their Oktoberfest beer all of Athletic's regular rotation beers have been around 8 months old when I tried them and they were terrible. Others in the NA thread have said the beers that you mention are good, so freshness appears to be especially important with NA beers and I'll continue to look for fresh versions.

 

I didn't think to check the dates on the cans. The story is that the person who brought the beer (her name is Colleen) is from Connecticut and is very good friends with a person who is an Ambassador for Athletic Brewing so I would presume those six-packs were fresh.

Hopefully someday you might luck out and find these beers fresh.

Cheers!

 

I've had a few nitro beers. Count me among those who don't get it. I haven't detected a noticably silky mouthfeel from any I've tried; on the contrary, they've seemed rather watery. That was my only knock on Nitro Merlin, which was otherwise very good.

That Nitro IPA was so bad I didn't even review it. I just dumped it and cut the can open to take the widget out.

 

I think Left Hand really nailed it as far as nitro in the can goes. Guinness draught has always been akin to muddy water for me and I'd prefer the draft or the export version.
As far as style keep it dark, any other nitro's I've had that aren't dark, IPA, etc just have no business in that state as it just takes away from the style.
Speaking of Left Hand's milk stout I hope the OG bottle version never gets retired as it's fantastic before the nitro. The nitro is probably my favorite nitro that's easily accessible.