Nitro Beer - carb with CO2 or Mixed Gas?

[baltobrewer]

I have a dry Irish stout cranking along in the fermenter for a party we're having on St Patty's day. I have a restrictor faucet and nitro regulator already, and want to revive my nitro draft system (need to pick up a tank of beer gas). However, I have read two basic schools of thought on the forum here and elsewhere:

1) Carb the beer to about 8 psi with straight CO2. When ready to dispense, hook that bitch up with the beer gas at 35 psi and pour.

2) Carb and dispense with beer gas at 35 psi. No messing about.

Seeing as I'm starting off with a blank slate, carb wise, what do people who have nitro systems recommend? For reference, I'm currently using a beer fridge at about 38 degrees, 6.5 ft of 3/16" line and 12.5 psi. This is what I use for all my beers. Obviously I'd have to replumb one of the 5 taps to take the nitro. I'd like to make it a permanent fixture of the bar, so I'd like to do this once and get it right. Last time I tried to do a nitro tap was about 10 years ago and I screwed it all up; glass after glass full of foam, and I said fuck it.

I've read a lot of the posts by AJ DeLange, and he really seems to know what he's talking about, but he makes my head hurt, so please try to dumb it down for me when talking about atmospheric this and partial pressures that...

Thx all,

[12stones]

I had this same problem and here's how my math came out. 68 psi to carb at 38F with 75/25 beer gas. 20ft of 3/16 line to balance.

See my post here: viewtopic.php?t=30062

[baltobrewer]

I had this same problem and here's how my math came out. 68 psi to carb at 38F with 75/25 beer gas. 20ft of 3/16 line to balance.

How did the pour/overall draft turn out?

[McDougal]

Northern Brewer's Nitro system instructions used to have you attach a carbonation stone to a long piece of tubing and attach it to your gas in line to help get the gas into solution. I've done it that way a few times but its a pain. Its ready to serve pretty quick which is nice but next time I use beergas I'm just going to carb with co2 first.

Here is Norther Brewer's new instructions that have you carb with co2 first:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/Nitro-System.pdf

[McDougal]

Also some people are just using co2 at low pressures with a stout faucet and getting good results. No Beergas.
I recently tried an imperial stout that was served this way and I think I preferred it to stouts on nitro. Nice mouth feel without the dulling effect you get with nitro. Just food for thought. When I was looking into it a few months back there was even some YouTube videos demonstrating the cascading bubbles without beergas.

[12stones]

I had this same problem and here's how my math came out. 68 psi to carb at 38F with 75/25 beer gas. 20ft of 3/16 line to balance.

How did the pour/overall draft turn out?

It turned out a little foamy, but mainly because in my calculation I accounted for additional restriction on the line which isn't in place yet. So, I backed the psi some until I got the pour I was looking for and now it's creamy thick head all the time. That's what she said.

[Ozwald]

now it's creamy thick head all the time

Can I get her number?

[cybersplice]

Can I get her number?

888-401-BEER. Ask for Juanita Petros.