[rjharper]

Has anyone kegged wine and/or still mead, and pushed with straight nitrogen. I'm toying with the idea of having white wine on tap for SWMBO. I've read that more wine bars are doing this. I already have CO2 and Blend tanks, and I have more regulators. I was tempted to swap out the Blend tank for N2 then use a blender to have CO2, Blend and N2 available but in reality its probably just cheaper easier to add a third tank (I have space and a tank to switch).

Or should I just bottle it in 12oz beer bottles and keep some in the fridge?

[kramerog]

Can't you use low pressure to dispense the wine using a gas blend?  Still wine typically has high, but subatmospheric levels of CO2. 

[rjharper]

Can't you use low pressure to dispense the wine using a gas blend?  Still wine typically has high, but subatmospheric levels of CO2.

I could but I'd be concerned about the C02 dissolving over time. You also assume I properly degass the wine to begin with 

[Jimmy K]

My lhbs does this and dispenses with low pressure co2. Use the shortest possible serving line and the lowest pressure that will push it through. Some will dissolve in but at a few psi it will equalize at very low volumes. Of course if you want to, nitrogen will work as well.

[rjharper]

Maybe I'm over thinking this, and a couple of psi of Beer blend through 2' of hose shouldn't give me much heartache.

[denny]

All the places that have wine on tap around here use nitrogen.

[rjharper]

All the places that have wine on tap around here use nitrogen.

and back to my original thinking lol

[kramerog]

Blends are also used with wine.  Private Preserve, a gas for purging the headspace of wine bottles, contains a "custom blend of pure nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and argon (AR)." One of the drawbacks of vacuum preserving wine is that CO2 is removed stripping out aromas. 

http://www.amazon.com/Enthusiast-Private-Preserve-Preservation-Spray/dp/B0000DCS18

[kramerog]

http://www.winewisdom.com/articles/techie/role-of-carbon-dioxide-in-still-wines/

Based on the linked article, the desired amount of CO2 in white wine varies based on variety, but can be pretty high.  Using blended gas seems like a better way to get to or to maintain the desired CO2 level than using nitrogen.  Then and again I don't make wine.

I think that applying what wine bars do with bottles of wine to what you do with homemade kegged wine makes as much sense as home brewers following what commercial brewers do.  I'm assuming you are talking about kegging.

[Jimmy K]

All the places that have wine on tap around here use nitrogen.

and back to my original thinking lol

Well if I had to go get a canister, I'd get nitrogen. I'm just saying if I had CO2 or blend on hand, I'd try that first.

[Joe Sr.]

Someone gave me one of these jobs: http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/napa7993.shtml?CAWELAID=320012430000101153&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=320012430000188528&cadevice=c&gclid=CNPuhdrQ-sACFQGqaQodx1cAEw

It comes with a nitrogen canister.  I have never used it, but if I were to dispense wine I would use nitrogen.

FWIW, I believe that a nitro regulator has different threading though I may be incorrect.  Faced with those costs, maybe beer mix isn't a bad thing to try.

[rjharper]

Great input thanks. I have CO2 and Beer Mix already. The nitrogen tanks share the same threading as beer mix. Nitrogen / beer mix regulators also have to go to 3000 psi or more since its a tryue compressed gas not a liquid.

From a wine dispensing perspective argon is best; it's inert, doesnt dissolve, and is denser than air so it displaces any residual oxygen with an Ar blanket on the liquid surface. Nitrogen is a close second best save for the density. CO2 is denser so it blankets but it dissolves.  Beer mix at low pressure would address the density issue of nitrogen, but over time the CO2 will dissolve. I've seen suggestion of initial purging with beer mix or CO2, then pushing with nitrogen after that, since argon is rather spendy.

I have all the hardware for nitrogen, it's just a question of whether it's worth the effort and cost of a third gas cylinder, or if I'm just getting carried away and forgetting that I'm just a lowly homebrewer!

[Joe Sr.]

The nitrogen tanks share the same threading as beer mix. Nitrogen / beer mix regulators also have to go to 3000 psi or more since its a tryue compressed gas not a liquid.

I'm pretty sure I have a tank marked "beer mix" that has standard threading. Not certain, but pretty sure.  I have always heard that beer mix requires a different regulator, so maybe the marking on the tank is just incorrect.

I've never checked the little nitro cylinder.  I have no intentions of ever using the wine dispenser and need to figure out how to get rid of it.