Beer will get more exciting in the coming months and years. Craft brewers, with their focus on innovation and the discovery of “the next big thing,” will surely adopt the use of nitrogen gas once it starts to pick up.
Traditional beers rely on carbon dioxide for their signature fizz and flavor. When nitro is used, the result is beer with smaller bubbles. This makes for beers that are smoother and creamier than the usual. This is compared the lively and prickly characteristics of carbonated beer, Craft Beer noted.
"Changing from carbon dioxide to nitrogen is absolutely transformative," said Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams beer and chairman of Boston Beer Company. "The two will give you different flavors. It is a much more dramatic change in flavor than changing the hop variety."
There are, however, limitations to using nitrogen in beer. The biggest factor is the sheer difficulty of using nitrogen in bottled and canned beers. For this reason, nitrogenated beers are typically found on tap.
This does not mean that it is impossible. Perhaps the most mainstream example of nitro use in beer is with Diageo's Guinness brand. Their beers have an original patented nitrogen widget that gives their stouts and porters that unmistakable creamy texture.
CNBC reported Samuel Adams will try to add to the exposure of nitrogenated beers. They will be releasing a white ale in draft only. They will also produce an IPA and coffee stout, to be released in cans with nitro widets. The three beers will be available starting February next year.
Many other independent brewers are getting on the nitrogen bandwagon as well. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Sixpoint Brewery, Sly Fox Beer, and Yards Brewing and many others are experimenting and pouring big bucks into research on the technology.
A notable brewery that has nitrogenated beer in its regular lineup is Left Hand Brewing Company in Longmont, Colo. Their milk stout has gained popularity and a solid following ever since the first release in 2011 during the Great American Beer Festival.
“It took a whole lot of trial and error,” said Eric Wallace, Left Hand co-founder. “We started playing with widgets and kept pushing it closer and closer. The push was done by the packaging side of the company—Jake Kolakowski and Mark Sample—and they got it."
