[coombre]

What is the recommended C02 carbonation length/level for IPA to push with nitro?  My beer gas blend is 60 CO2 / 40% Nitrogen.

Cheers

[BrodyR]

What is the recommended C02 carbonation length/level for IPA to push with nitro?  My beer gas blend is 60 CO2 / 40% Nitrogen.

Cheers

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/presentations/pdf/2015/2015%20AHA%20Nitro%20Draught%20for%20the%20Homebrewer.pdf

[coombre]

thanks Brody!

[coombre]

The attachment says to carbonate at @40psi for 5 days.  Is this with the blended (CO2/Nitro:75/25) mix or just straight CO2?  I assume that if you use straight CO2 to carb, you can adjust the psi/length based off of the 75/25 blend and then push with my nitro set up of 60/40.  Or it may be easier to just hook up my 60/40 blend to carb?

 

[BrodyR]

The attachment says to carbonate at @40psi for 5 days.  Is this with the blended (CO2/Nitro:75/25) mix or just straight CO2?  I assume that if you use straight CO2 to carb, you can adjust the psi/length based off of the 75/25 blend and then push with my nitro set up of 60/40.  Or it may be easier to just hook up my 60/40 blend to carb?

 

That is with the blend. If you have more C02 in your mix could always drop the PSI to serving a little sooner or reduce the carbonating PSI. It's very easy to overcarb nitro beers with the restricter faucet.

[beersk]

So if one were to carbonate with co2 then switch to no2 to serve, what would you want to do - 10 PSI for like 5 days, then switch to nitro? I've heard you want to carbonate it a bit lower when serving on nitro.

[coombre]

I don't see an issue with either carbing with straight cO2 or the. Less mix.  I just want to be able to "semi-"accurately " carb withoutnover carbing.  I tried to just switch taps once with a fully carbed brew to nitro and it wasn't a mess but obviously over carbed. 

So if one were to carbonate with co2 then switch to no2 to serve, what would you want to do - 10 PSI for like 5 days, then switch to nitro? I've heard you want to carbonate it a bit lower when serving on nitro.

10 sounds like something I would try for maybe 4 days and then switch over to try to see if carb is to your liking.  If not, switch back and carb longer.

[Stevie]

Beergas is more expensive than co2, so I would carb with co2 and then push with the mix. The idea is the same amount of co2 should be used l, but with the mix you need to adjust for the fraction.

While one would want to carb lower, that is mostly due to the reason nitro was created. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but nitro beers were created to mimic real ale while having a more shelf stable product. The higher pressure is needed to push through the plate which knocks almost all of the co2 out of solution. This creates a similar effect to a beer engine when pumped by a person that knows what he or she is doing. If straight co2 was used the beer would be crazy acidic and messy.

[swampale]

I carb with CO2 @ 5 psi for a few days and then push with Nitro at around 22 - 25 psi. I used to just use Nitro for a few days @ 30 psi but the nitro tank emptied too fast. This seems to work out okay.

[coombre]

Cheers for all the replies.  I should have posted the topic before I kegged the brew but it all turned out okay.

I went with straight CO2 at 30psi for 2 days, checked the taste and carbonation on the nitro side and it seemed like it needed a tad more carbonation but decided to leave it on the nitro side to finish up.  It poured beautifully and tasted great on the third day. 

I think I got lucky but I'll take it and learn from this experiment.

[Stevie]

Awesome