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Bottling Force Nitrogenated Coffee

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  • Bottling Force Nitrogenated Coffee

    Hello,

    Our company is wanting to bottle force nitrogenated flash chilled coffee (Coffee thats brewed hot and then rapidly cooled using a heat exchanger). We will be launching this on a small scale ( bottling from 5 gallon kegs), so neither widgets nor liquid N2 would be feasible. I understand that the classic nitro pour is typically only attainable when also using the nitro/stout faucet. I imagine the consumer would turn bottle upside down, then upright, then open to achieve the cascading effect. We don't necessarily care for there to be a crazy thick head on top, but we definitely want it to taste nitrogenated. Since this is coffee, we will be using pure N2 gas because CO2 significantly taints the taste of coffee.

    Here is the process that I have in mind:
    - Nitrogenate at a high enough psi (maybe 60ish)
    - Purge out remaining O2 (using nitrogen?)
    - Shake the hell out of it
    - Let it sit for a week and shake it from time to time
    - Dispense it at a low psi into bottles and cap on foam

    Any thoughts or advice or insults would be greatly appreciated

    Thanks

  • #2
    Interesting concept.

    According to a calculator I have, at one bar pressure, about 55 ppm nitrogen will be dissolved at 4 deg C. Some of the beers like Guinness have 45 to 50 ppm N2 in the beer, but along with CO2, the nitrogen enhancing the creamy head and mouthfeel. I'm not convinced that simply dissolving this amount of nitrogen alone will make any difference to the liquid - coffee in this case as I don't believe you would be able to identify such a low level - but am happy to be proven wrong.
    dick

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    • #3
      Originally posted by dick murton View Post
      Interesting concept.

      According to a calculator I have, at one bar pressure, about 55 ppm nitrogen will be dissolved at 4 deg C. Some of the beers like Guinness have 45 to 50 ppm N2 in the beer, but along with CO2, the nitrogen enhancing the creamy head and mouthfeel. I'm not convinced that simply dissolving this amount of nitrogen alone will make any difference to the liquid - coffee in this case as I don't believe you would be able to identify such a low level - but am happy to be proven wrong.
      Thanks, Dick! The consensus in the specialty coffee industry is that pure N2 works best. Any amount of CO2 is likely to taint and flatten the taste of the coffee. Pure N2 works, it just takes a few days to infuse with the coffee. The pure N2 vs beer gas debate isn't really my concern though. I'm really just interested in the effectiveness of filling bottles with nitrogenated coffee. Does this seem feasible? Or am I likely to run into issues with excessive foaming, losing nitrogen during filling, etc.?

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      • #4
        your job is to make beer, and more beer for those that love beer. Let people who know and are passionate about coffee make coffee for you and your clients. Buy it from them.
        My boss asked me to make cold nitro coffee, and after messing around with it, I realized that job is for someone else--someone who is passionate about it. I am passionate about making great beer. I will buy nitro coffee from the coffee guy.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by onsgaard View Post
          your job is to make beer, and more beer for those that love beer. Let people who know and are passionate about coffee make coffee for you and your clients. Buy it from them.
          My boss asked me to make cold nitro coffee, and after messing around with it, I realized that job is for someone else--someone who is passionate about it. I am passionate about making great beer. I will buy nitro coffee from the coffee guy.
          I am that someone else. I work in coffee, but I reach out to the beer industry with these types of questions.

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          • #6
            Since people fill cans and kegs, and have filled bottles with nitrogenated beer in the past, it should physically be possible. However, one of the key aspects of filling any package is to eliminate oxygen - which is, form your earlier comments, also critical. The presence of CO2 as well as the nitrogen in beer is useful as it helps create foam, which drives out any airspace in the bottle or can.

            Kegs are not a problem as you simply purge out with inert gas - in the case of beer, pure CO2, or a mix of CO2 & nitrogen, or pure nitrogen in a few cases. So in your case, if you were to fill kegs, I don't anticipate this would be a problem, but you might need to introduce another gas purge step.

            When filling cans, the cans are purged, normally twice with CO2 or CO2/nitrogen mix, filled, and then transferred to the seamer in a tunnel of inert gas -in this case it would be pure nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen is sometimes dropped into the headspace just before the can end is fitted and seamed on.

            In the case of bottles, I would expect you would have to use a filler fitted with double pre-evacuation and purge, with top pressure being nitrogen. Because you will not have the advantage of using a jetter or tapper to created foam from the carbonated product, which fills the headspace, you will probably need to create a blowdown of nitrogen into the headspace just before the crowner, and also perhaps have a nitrogen filled environment around that area.

            You will be better off with an in-line nitrogen injection system than simply relying on top pressure in a tank - much faster and consistent. If going big scale, you might consider using a gas transfer system across a semi-permeable membrane (Centec supplied one we used for carbonation / de-oxygenation - but this was big brewery stuff - 10,000 litre + batches - but I am sure there are others who can supply, and supply smaller units). The in-line gas injection systems are comparatively simple and could be set up recirculating around a tank.
            dick

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