Tiny Bubbles
Moderator: slothrob
Tiny Bubbles
I was wondering if any one knew how to duplicate the tiny bubbles in some styles like guiness?
Nitrogen
Guinness uses a combination of nitrogen and CO2, called "Beer Gas". I think it's 75% Nitrogen, 25% CO2, or close to it. Nitrogen isn't soluble, so the CO2 goes into the beer. Less CO2 means less filling and therefore less burping. The nitrogen helps give it that creamy texture. Additionally, draught Guinness uses a special faucet to further aid the creamy texture. You could simulate the effect by using a creamer faucet which would whip the head up but still use your standard CO2 setup. Of course, it wouldn't be "exactly" the same thing, and you might want to lower the carbonation level for effect.
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- Pale Ale
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 7:01 pm
- Location: Lincoln, NE, US
Tiny bubbles in my beer, keeps me happy through the year
I have tried, with some success generous portions of flaked barley, dextrine malt, and hops combined with low-carbonation. The flaked barley will help with giving the creamy head, the dextrine malt increases mouthfeel and head-retention, retaining good head is something everyone worries about. The hops will also help with the head retention. I think I read somewhere that wheat malt would help with the retention as well. Also low-carbonation seems to do the trick as well for small bubbles.