Cellarmix Gas

[danman]

hi all,had a mate approach me with a cylinder of cellarmix gas he wants to offload.
as im not up to the stage of keggin yet i dont need it but was wondering if thats the gas to use as ive read people use food grade co2.
the only thing i could think of was that it may have nitrogen in it to help kilkenny style beers with their head retention and tight bubbles.

any help appreciated,cheers Dan

 

[goatherder]

I don't have all the answers Dan but you are on the right track. There are a number of different cellarmix products with different ratios of C02 to N2. The higher N2 ratio gasses are used for Kilkenny and Guinness. Cellarmix is different to the food grade C02 most brewers use - it's all C02. There's nothing stopping you using Cellarmix though - I'm sure it will work perfectly with a keg setup.

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

hi all,had a mate approach me with a cylinder of cellarmix gas he wants to offload.
as im not up to the stage of keggin yet i dont need it but was wondering if thats the gas to use as ive read people use food grade co2.
the only thing i could think of was that it may have nitrogen in it to help kilkenny style beers with their head retention and tight bubbles.

any help appreciated,cheers Dan

I am currently using the cellarmix 40. Fantastic gas for english ales. It gives me the spitting image of a guinness, killkenny etc after pouring. Remember that guinness comercial some years back where the bloke had to wait for the head to settle.Bloody bewdifull.. :super:

BYB

 

[hockadays]

I was thinking a while ago of getting an old whip cream machine that takes the nitrogen bulbs and rigging it up to some beer line and a disconnect and pushing a few nitrogen bulbs into a keg and wulla you have your own cellar mix...any thoughts ????

 

[Adamt]

Just a thought on the keg fluid statics hocka... If you carbonate as normal then put N2 in it, you may find it sits on the top of the keg and does pretty much bugger all.

Best way is the dispense the N2 into the keg, then rock and roll the keg around a bit. The agitation will force some CO2 out of solution, and when it resettles the N2 (or at least more of it than before) will dissolve.

 

[hockadays]

sounds like a plan

 

[Gulf Brewery]

I was thinking a while ago of getting an old whip cream machine that takes the nitrogen bulbs and rigging it up to some beer line and a disconnect and pushing a few nitrogen bulbs into a keg and wulla you have your own cellar mix...any thoughts ????

Hi hockadays

I did try this with a tap-a-draft and the beer was good. The only problem is the bulbs had N2 and O2 in them, so it staled very quickly

Cheers
Pedro

 

[DWC]

RSL I worked at many years ago changed from co2 to cellarmix to stop overcarbonation
of kegs if they weren't de-gassed overnight due to VERY long runs from cellar to bars.
Don't think it would be all that good for home kegging (except for Guinness etc.)

Dave

 

[Wasabi]

My Tap-A-Draft blew itself to pieces....quite spectacularly I might add.

Re the gasses

Here are the three gasses that we order in when we run the Australian International Beer Awards

For Lagers, pilseners etc
Composition: 100% CO2
BOC NAME: Beer Gas
ALIgal NAME:Aligal 2

For Ales
Composition: 55% CO2 / 45% N
BOC NAME: Cellar Mix 55
ALIgal NAME:Aligal 15

For Stouts and Irish Reds etc (With a creamer attached to the tap)
Composition: 30% CO2 / 70%N mix.
BOC NAME: Multi Mix
ALIgal NAME:Aligal 13

The Cellar Mix works pretty damn well for most beers though.

 

[Gulf Brewery]

Off topic, but......

My Tap-A-Draft blew itself to pieces....quite spectacularly I might add.

My tap-a-draft went to a party with my son early this year - it is still missing in action.

Pedro

 

[Randall the Enamel Animal]

RSL I worked at many years ago changed from co2 to cellarmix to stop overcarbonation
of kegs if they weren't de-gassed overnight due to VERY long runs from cellar to bars.
Don't think it would be all that good for home kegging (except for Guinness etc.)

Dave

This is often the reason Cellarmix or Aligal are used. When using gas pressure rather than beer pumps to push beer over long runs or up from deep cellars, mixed gasses allow you to screw the pressure up without over carbonation due to old Henry's law of partial pressures in mixed gasses. 3 bar of 30/70 is the carbonation equivalent of 90 kpa of straight CO2.

 

[MHB]

I have used mixed gas in the past with great results; the only drawback was the cost.

Now that MyKegOnLegs has 70/30 on offer I am heading back there.

For Stouts I found 200 kPa worked well for me, I gave the beer a month or so to carbonate and mature, cold under constant pressure.
I got just the right balance for my taste; the right pressure will depend on personal taste and storage temperature.

One thing I found to be really important was to take the stout restrictor out and clean the little holes, regularly - and dont forget to put it in then try to pour a beer - at 200 kPa it hits the bottom of the glass, chucks a 180 and for some reason always gets you in the face. No doubt very amusing for any spectators, but it plays hob with the sinuses.

Re the cream bulbs; they contain NO2 (Nitrous Oxide or laughing gas) not the same as Nitrogen, or Nitrogen and Oxygen. Tho there are blended gas bulbs available, I think G&G had some.

Mixed gas gives a beer like no other - at a price.

MHB

 

[danman]

thanks for everyones input,i have decided since i make alot more dark ales that a blend of nitrogen/oxy is the way to go.

cheers,dan