A big thank you to all the people that came out for a few pints with us and a big thank you to Tomlinson Tap Room for hosting us, and to Circle City Soups for staying open to serve up some fantastic food for the evening.
We were hoping to highlight how the way a beer is served can have significant effects on the the flavor of the beer. Neither good or bad, but seeing how flavors can either be highlighted or muted based on how the beer came out of the tap using a different gas to pour your pint.
Nitrogen in beer is most commonly associated with Guinness. It is gaining in popularity at more and more places across the US across a wide variety of styles. The original reason that nitrogen was first used was to try and make a beer mimic the body and flavor of traditional cask conditioned ales.
Nitrogen is largely insoluble in liquid, which is what contributes to the thick mouth feel. You can always spot the Nitro tap at a bar due to the restrictor plate that forces the beer through tiny holes on its way to your glass.
Carbon Dioxide or CO2 is the more common way of serving beer in the United States. The vast majority of draft beer in the US is going to be served via forced carbonation.
The process can have a dramatic effect on a beer and will produce different flavors and will mute other flavors. Nitro beers tend to really help malt forward beers, but it will mute brighter hop flavors.
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| Nitro pour on the right and the CO2 pour on the left. |
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| Nitro pour with restrictor plate |
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| A pint of their 10 Speed hoppy wheat. A very nice example of an American pale wheat ale |
Cheers!
HBG
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