I am just curious about those of you that have and use stout/nitrogen taps. Do you keep beer on tap continously and what else besides stout do you use them for? I am considering adding one (currently have 2 Perlicks also), I am just looking for some input from those of you that have and use them. I am a fan of nitrogen beer in a commercial setting, I have just never tried them in a homebrew setting. Thanks for your input.
I don’t have a nitrogen faucet (stout faucet) on my tap tower. There is quite a bit of cost involved to purchase a mixed gas cylinder and mixed gas gauge just to carb and push a stout to get a true Guiness pour from the tap. One would also need to make sure someone in your area can fill the tank with the 75%-25% nitrogen-carbon dioxide mix needed. Without the mixed gas the nitrogen tap using just CO2 would perform no better than a creamer faucet which is cheaper. As far as nitrogen goes I only know of it being used on stouts, but I assume you could use it on porters as well but I wonder what the results would be on other beers. My guess is that if it worked well on other beers then you would see that example used in the bars which I don’t. The creamer faucet would be better than the standard faucet for the stout without the expensive mixed gas setup and of course any nitrogen just to pour one style of beer, IMHO, unless money and tank filling are not a problem.
I have stout faucet with Beer Gas setup, but only hook it up when I have a beer I want to push it through.
I use it for stouts, porters, milds, brown ales, and scottish ales.
Not every style tastes better on nitro, so be careful.
Thanks for the replies. Cost is always a factor but I do have access to a beer gas supplier. I love porters and stouts which is why I am considering the addition. I stopped ordering stouts at most places years ago because most places would serve stale stouts. I also used to like Caffery’s on nitrogen back when you could get it. I do have the two tap setup so I am not reliant on the stout faucet for my only draught option. I’d be happy to keep an appropriate style ready for the tap but am curious to hear from those who use them regularly. Thanks as always.
I’m kind of debating on putting in a nitro system as well. I found that you can do it fairly cheap tho. I’ve read that most gas suppliers will use co2 tanks instead of nitro tanks for beer gas. I also found a portable nitro tap that a guy built (my parts are on the way). It costs about $15. That keeps the price down quite a bit since you don’t have to buy a nitro tank and a stout faucet. Thats what im’ doing until i decide i like having a nitro beer on tap enough to spend the money and put a real stout faucet in.
This is the link to the portable nitro tap:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/under-1 ... on-233151/I’ve had a stout faucet and gas cylinder for a few years now. I’ve had stouts and bitters and lots of cream ales (in Canada) served commercially with a stout faucet and N2/CO2 mix. I serve just about anything out of mine. Even lagers can be interesting. I don’t seem to put high gravity beers on the stout faucet ever, though…don’t know why. I particularly enjoy brewing 10 gallons and serving one keg regularly and one keg on the nitro tap at the same time.
Also, since I don’t carb the beer with the mixed gas cylinder, it seems to last forever. My original fill came in a 15lb CO2 cylinder and I’ve run through a couple dozen kegs with it. I’ve even moved and don’t know if I’ll be able to get it refilled around here.
I love my nitro set. Wife got it for me a few years ago. I currently have an English Ordinary Bitter on and it goes very well with it. I too throw on stouts and cream ales for that extra smoothness. I close off the cylinder when not in use, the higher pressure seems to find those darn leaks.
Does anyone else have any info to lend regarding longevity of a tank fill?
I recently bought a kit, and I’ve only served one keg (at about 35 psi), and the 5 pound tank is damn near empty already. I don’t suspect I have a leak, because it’s been on tap for quite some time. I just figured a 5 pound tank would serve more than one keg.
FWIW, I did pre carb to low volumes with straight co2.
How do you know that it’s low? Keep in mind that, when full, the CO2 in the beergas mix is only about 25% of the tank’s content. If you can somehow tell how much (liquid) CO2 is in the tank, realize that it’s only ~25% full to begin with.
My other thought is that you looked at the high pressure gauge when the tank was warm…or you were using a CO2 regulator that doesn’t have a gauge able to report the true pressure/content. Once you put the tank in a cold fridge, that pressure reading will drop (even though you don’t “lose” any gas…it’s just physics.)
You should be able to carb and serve at least 4-5 kegs with 5 lb tank, probably more
I know it’s low because I’ve been watching the regulator (tank side, not keg side) gradually drop as I dispense. It’s a nitrogen tank filled with beer gas with the appropriate regulator sitting which has been sitting on my basement floor since I connected it - No temperature changes.
I’m not sure what the problem is, but I appreciate the confirmation that it seems a bit abrupt to be empty already. Maybe it’s a verrrrrrrrrry slow leak.
brewkid167-
you should be able to get more than one keg but if your kit was like mine(from NB), the guages were not put on all the way. I was losing pressure and had to tighten down both gauges almost a full turn then I stopped losing pressure. I went and bought the commercial size tank because the 5# size was unique (inert gas fitting) and had to get shipped off to be refilled and that took over a month for it to return. So now I use it as my backup but do the simple exchange on the larger tank. $119 deposit and $25 refill/exchange.
We have one and use it for stouts and English bitters. I’ve not tried any others. I imagine English hopped beers of lower gravity would do well as a rule, but in your opinion, what styles taste BAD on a stout faucet / nitro setup? My gut yells Belgian Golden Strong would not be a good idea. 
[quote=“Central WA Brewing”]brewkid167-
you should be able to get more than one keg but if your kit was like mine(from NB), the guages were not put on all the way. I was losing pressure and had to tighten down both gauges almost a full turn then I stopped losing pressure. I went and bought the commercial size tank because the 5# size was unique (inert gas fitting) and had to get shipped off to be refilled and that took over a month for it to return. So now I use it as my backup but do the simple exchange on the larger tank. $119 deposit and $25 refill/exchange.[/quote]
Thanks for this - I did get my kit from NB. I checked the gauges on the regulator, they seem quite tight. Like, to the point that I might break them if I try to force them tighter. There is no teflon tape on any of the threads though - Do you think that might help?
I live right by a NB retail store, and they swap tanks out, but it’s amazingly expensive (~$45 per swap). I might have to look for other options.
I also bought a commercial beer gas tank (20 lb) - Brewkid it was from a compressed gas supplier, in case you haven’t checked into that option. The initial output was high, IIRC $160 for the tank, and got a good high pressure regulator same place.
I leave the pressure on all the time. Good tight fittings, and of course with a gasket/washer seal in place where the regulator connects to the tank. For my hoses I use oetiker clamps except for any connections I feel I may need to loosen occasionally, in which case I use a hose clamp in a couple places.
I use a tiny bit of keg lube on my keg lid o-ring, which is sometimes a leak waiting to happen otherwise, and occasionally on dipt tube and gas in o-ring.
No leaks in recent memory.
I ended up finding where the leak was - It was at the tank / regulator union. The style kit that NB sells has male threads on a flare coupling that slides around on the regulator shaft. The leak was between the shaft of the regulator and the coupling that threads into the female port on the tank. So I’m pretty sure the male/female flare fitting was sealed (no leak detected around the exposed threads), but where it’s metal on metal between the regulator shaft and the coupling is where it was leaking.
Kind of analogous to a keg lid not sealing (you put it in, it doesn’t seal, but take it out and put it back in and it seals for no reason at all), I just unthreaded it and put it back together, no leak.
One other solution I may implement in the future is, because the leak is at such low pressure, sealing that gap with some seal ‘n’ peal caulk, which should hold it back no problem, and is easily removable.
Just wanted to share in case someone else has the same issue.
I had a hoppy, robust stout (Sierra Nevada Stout clone) on beer gas/stout faucet and that was great. However, after that I brewed a pretty mild Scottish 80 shilling and the nitro stripped out too much of its flavor so I put back a regular faucet hooked up to co2 on that tap and the beer tastes great that way! Luckily I had a spare matching Perlick faucet.
In the future I plan only to hook up the beer gas/stout faucet for robust flavored beers… maybe a dry Irish stout next time.
