Nitrogen Vs Co2

[homekegger1]

Had a freind of mine ask me today if he could use nitrogen in place of Co2 for carbonating and serving beer. As I was unsure I thought I would pose the question to the wider community and get better idea. Where he works he has access to industrial nitrogen for free. Would this be safe to use or does he need access to food grade?

Many thanks

HK

 

[Back Yard Brewer]

Had a freind of mine ask me today if he could use nitrogen in place of Co2 for carbonating and serving beer. As I was unsure I thought I would pose the question to the wider community and get better idea. Where he works he has access to industrial nitrogen for free. Would this be safe to use or does he need access to food grade?

Many thanks

HK

You could use it but you would get a pretty fine bubble and yes it would take a lot more to carbonate. When you say industrial what industry are you talking about? Better still what is it being used for? I work in the food industry where we make champagne and we use Co2 for carbonation and N2 for head pressure on the vessels. In my home situation I use cellarmix40.(60% Co2 and 40% N2)
Hope this helps.

 

[peas_and_corn]

NO2 will come out of solution very quick as it doesn't dissolve properly. For beer, you need some CO2 in the gas- whether it's 100% CO2 or a mixture of CO2 and NO2. Guinness uses a CO2/NO2 mix, that gives a good idea of what you will be getting if you go down that road.

You also need a different regulator.