Beer and Wine Weekly Update, February 23, 2015

By Joey Bowling, Beer and Wine Manager

Greetings all! We continue to try to bring you all of the latest and exciting beer and wine available to us, and this week we have some particularly interesting additions: nitrogenated beers! Left Hand Brewing Company and Oskar Blues Brewing Company have both come up with proprietary methods of using nitrogen carbonation in place of the more traditional carbon dioxide gas. Previously, this was solely the domain of Guinness Stouts, but the creative minds of the craft beer folks in the good ol’ U.S. of A. have run an end-around on Guinness’ widget patent.

What does this mean for you stout lovers? The usual carbonation method using carbon dioxide gas tends to bring a sharpness on the tongue, which can hide some malt-forward characteristics and highlight hoppiness. Nitrogen carbonated beers are a little softer on the palate, allowing for more subtle flavors to shine through, though some of the hops may be muted. If you’re interested in this type of stout, I urge you to grab up some of the Left Hand Brewing Company’s Milk Stout Nitro. When you’re ready to drink this brew, open the bottle and turn it completely upside down over a pint glass and let it all chug out. The 12 ounce bottle should fill up the glass entirely with its creamy head.

But now nitrogen carbonation is not just for stouts! Oskar Blues has produced a Wee Heavy (a thicker, slightly sweeter Scottish Ale) using nitrogen carbonation called Old Chub. I am very interested in hearing your feedback regarding this brew, so pick some up and let me know what you think!

Until next time, Qapla’!                   
-jb.