Beer Journal #11: I Learn How to "Hard Pour" Beer

The instructions for pouring a Nitro Milk Stout (6% alc/volume) are unusual. Both the bottle label and the clerk where I bought my bottle, told me to do a "hard pour." In other words, tip the bottle completely upside down and fill the glass. I did and that's what you see above. After a few minutes, the foam settled to about half an inch.

Left Hand Brewing Company on the banks of the mighty St. Vrain in Longmont, Colorado, has stepped outside the box to brew beers with nitrogen rather than normal CO2.

From their website:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CO2 & A NITROGEN BEER

All of our Nitro beers both contain the same ingredients as their classic CO2 equivalents and are meant to be highly similar. The main difference is mouthfeel. Traditional CO2 beers have a much greater carbonic bite compared to the much smoother Nitro series. The addition of Nitrogen to a beer gives way to much smaller bubbles, creating a smoother, creamier experience. Beyond mouthfeel, there are variances in appearance and smell as well. Take Classic Milk Stout and Milk Stout Nitro. Visually, you will notice that as you pour Classic Milk Stout, it behaves like a normal beer with an instantaneous mahogany body and receding taupe head. As you hard pour Milk Stout Nitro, the beer will immediately begin to cascade, settling to reveal the body and developing a thick, billowy, off white head on top. In regards to smell and taste, Classic Milk Stout overall has a greater nose, as well as a more roasty character and a very slight hop bitterness. Milk Stout Nitro has a more creamy mocha essence throughout the beer, with no noticeable hop element.

Which is the best? That is entirely up to you and we encourage everyone to try Sawtooth Nitro and Wake Up Dead Nitro alongside their CO2 editions as well! As our VP of Brewing Operations, Joe Schiraldi says, “It’s a great exercise in how changing one parameter can affect the flavor of the beer.” Cheers and enjoy!

- See more at: http://lefthandbrewing.com/about/nitro/#sthash.9ciLXnkU.dpuf

I complete this journal entry with this:

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."--Ben Franklin
 
CHEERS!