I have noticed lately a larger number of breweries doing some beers on nitro only. Is this just a way of "fixing" a thin beer? Most of these are not bottled/canned, and bars will not fill growlers of nitro beers. What is the point of severely limiting the availability of your beer? These are not special releases or anything like that where manufactured rarity would be beneficial to the brewer.
A good Nitro Stout has it place. The smooth texture created by the 80/20 nitro is a nice compliment to the bitterness of the dark malt. If brewers are trying to experiment with other styles on Nitro only in house then go for it. If it sells it will become a trend, if not it will go away.
Breweries do nitro only beers the same reason they do special one-offs that aren't bottled or canned. Just experimenting and having something different. I can't really see how a growler filled with nitro beer would work anyway.
Noble Ale works makes a killer blonde coffee stout that is superior to any other version of that style I've had. It's only served on nitro at the brewery or the rare occasional bar. For this style it works and no they aren't try to "fix" a thin beer. The brewery thinks it tastes best on nitro and won't release it any other way. They also said they use so much coffee that the price for a bottle would be too much. Since its the beer they sell most of and what they are most popular for I don't think they plan on changing that. Plus, it drives customers to their brewery because that's pretty much the only place you can get it.
If and when I *ever* have a brewery or taproom of my own, you best believe I will have at least two nitro taps! Nitro stouts/porters are incredible... I also really like nitro IPA's as well. When I eventually start kegging my homebrew I plan to have a nitro tap, no doubt!
NO. Some styles that are typically served at lower carbonation volumes really lend themselves well to being served on Nitro. You don't want the spritzyness of c02 pushing, nor coating the tongue with them, just a nice gentle nudge. Brits and real ale enthusiasts might consider them fakery, and a pale imitation of the natural carbonation of cask. They're partially right, but real ale is its own special kind of pain to keep and serve. manufactured rarity? Go back into the brewery and look at how many tanks they have and what size they are. It's called a production capacity. It's a tank capacity. If you see it's 7 bbls. That's what they are capable of manufacturing. I'm getting angsty at the number of posts on this board that put tin foil hats on where beer is involved.
