Thoughts on Nitro.

"Draft" over "draught"? What's this mean?

"Export version" - < this one? It is not routinely exported to the US, where we get Guinness Draught, Guinness Extra Stout and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout as their standard stout line, with occasional one-offs in mixed packs like the 200th Anniversary box from a few years back.

Why? Recycling rules?

 

while I do enjoy the occasional nitro beer (particularly stouts), nitro Old Rasputin being my favorite example, I have yet to find a nitro beer that I didn't enjoy the regular version of better.

 

Oh, hell, no. I just heard something rattling around in the can and I wanted to see what it was.

 

Oh, OK. I figured most BA's who've been around for a decade or so had already done that long before the IPA was released.

I wonder if regular canned Guinness Draught drinkers save them all and have the kids string them together for Christmas tree decorations, like people used to do with popcorn? OK, you'd need one of those big for-leather needles and maybe Dad has to make the holes ahead of time for the younger kids...

I forget now - which nitro brands have the plastic balls and which had he little "flying saucers" stuck in the bottom?

 

Personally, whenever I’ve compared a “nitro” version of a beer to a “standard” version, the nitro version was clearly a less appealing drink. I have no trouble enjoying a good nitro beer though. I avoid craft beer in nitro cans (particularly from brewers who don’t specialize in it) because I don’t trust their QC with it and some cans have confirmed that suspicion for me. I don't want a local brewer pretending they are Diageo at higher prices.

All of the comparisons to cask beer in this thread are off for me. I don’t think nitro beer was an attempt to emulate regular English cask beer (despite all of the claims that paint this picture). It was an attempt to emulate the Irish high and low system. Here’s a description of the practice from Martyn Cornell:

The system was obviously very labor intensive. You needed two casks of different ages and pressures… and it took a long time to pour a beer. In addition, it was strictly a draught experience with a limited market size. Guinness had a lot of motivation to develop something much easier, even though it would clearly result in a different product.

Here’s a great video (ignoring the claim that Irish brewers developed porter) that demonstrates the pouring method. @Crusader and @steveh , you might enjoy this video.

 

Martyn stated: “Publicans would fill glasses three-quarters full from the ‘low cask’ and then top them up with foaming beer from the ‘high cask.’”

But the video demonstrates the opposite: the high one is poured first and the low beer is poured second.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I noticed that too. I heard/read different pourers had different techniques.

 

I think I need to do a side by side of Guinness Draught vs Extra Stout to see if I can tell differences, I’m not sure I’ve really been able to distinguish much a difference in the past. Export Stout is definitely another animal however.

 

Please post your thoughts in the side-by-side thread.

Conducting a blind triangle test is the best way to determine if you notice a difference.

Cheers!

 

I agree cask and nitro are different experiences, and I really enjoy a proper pour via either method. I co-sign @BigIronH 's enjoyment of Rubæus on Nitro, as well as porters, stouts, BA stouts.

A cask conditioned pale ale is really enjoyable if it is served properly. You will get flavor, the carbonation won't be present to enhance the body. I do agree with the take that the lack of carbonation renders both methods "watery", but honestly I prefer beer served this way.

Never liked the bloating of any carbonation, one of the reasons I drank whiskey straight from High School to my mid 40s. I only drink pop at times to pair with pizza, and buy a 2L before hand so I can open and flatten it before I drink it. Ginger ale (and a side water flying) is the only other time I opt for pop, because they don't serve unsweetened ice tea, which is what I drink beyond my primary (water) and secondary (beer).

Enjoyed Jon Tapper's recent video regarding a proper pour and the ravages of carbonation on your stomach.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5Tu3Y7Ydo8Q

 

Nitro ESB sounds absolutely to-die-for

 

"To-die-for" ? Hasn't there been enough death?

I mean, someone already killed the ESB by serving it via nitrogen...

 

Damn man -- I think you've just uncovered documented proof that Porter and Stout ARE different!



Popping corn now...

 

Agree with others that it's mostly for the initial mouthfeel. However, after a few minutes open, the mouthfeel falls flat and worse carbonation than CO2 beers. I tend to drink my beers more slowly and not in one pour so the initial pour/mouthfeel is often lost too quickly.

 

It's not exactly clear to me what the original process was to produce the "smooth" mouthfeeI in some kegs, now provided by the nitrogen/CO2 mix. Possibly, some of the air over the partly empty cask, or air used to "pump" keg beer, dissolved into the beer to provide the distinctive mouthfeel. Obviously this could be a hit or miss process. The new keg or cask wouldn't have any air dissolved. Later in the process when air was introduced, the beer could rapidly deteriorate due to oxidation. Nitrogen (oxygen free) is the component of air that provides the mouthfeel. When nitrogen is put in the package at the brewery, it avoids first draws from the keg/cask having no nitrogen dissolved, and later avoids the oxidation risk. Maybe I'm daydreaming, but I remember the barkeeper at my old nearby bar (late 70s) telling me that his Schaefer kegs were "pushed" with air. I thought that beer had a delicate hoppy character and smooth carbonation (possibly some dissolved air?)

 

The beer looks great but loses so much flavor...it's not an even trade off for me....perhaps with a huge stout I might feel differently? I've never had the opportunity to have one on nitro so...

 

Blind triangle test…does that get me to a level 10 beer nerd? Count me in, Give me a week or so and I’ll report back. Call me out if I forget.

 

Well, Todd is allegedly 'redefining' karma on BA so I suppose the answer here is a definite maybe!?!

Cheers!

 

There is actually very little nitrogen in Guinness. Or any nitro dispense for that matter.

Guinness specifies 75%N 25% CO2 and has about 1.2 vols of dissolved CO2 gas. Half of typical. Less even. The N is really only there to push the beer through the faucet screen. If the required 33 psi were applied with 100% CO2 itwould quickly over carbonate. The fine bubbles are a mix of N and CO2 but primarily CO2. N equilibrates very quickly with atmosphere since, 1, N does not readily dissolve in liquid and 2, air is 78% N after all. The gas wants to be in atmosphere, not beer. Your nitro pour is flat in 5 minutes, correct?

Or,
Nitrogen does not easily dissolve into liquid. CO2 does. The Nitrogen is mainly there to push beer. It is roughly 80x less soluble than CO2.

As for flavor, nitrogen doesn't lift a finger.

Now, pushing beer with air... that's just tragic. Way back when the publican had no opotions, they devised all sorts of strategies to deliver unspoiled beer. Basically, Camra is a bunch of bull shitters yearning for a perfect past that did not really exist. Yeah. I said it. About 0.001% of draft beer should be subject to cask, and a smaller part do it right. But to each there own. Camra is political and cultural. There is a reason cask has been the next thing for 40 friggin years. It's just not all that great

Ok.
Rant over

Cheers

 

To clarify Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is my preferred, followed by the Guinness Extra Stout and finally the Draught but I prefer it on draft vs. the nitro can (muddy water). And when served on draft give me the true pour.