Ga( set, dimension1, 3838 ); Guinness
Contrary to speculation, these widgets are not filled with nitrogen. So, what does the widget in Guinness do? At the time of manufacturing, an empty widget is placed inside each can. As the cans are filled with beer and sealed, so are the widgets. As soon as the can is opened, a combination of chemical reactions and ingenious product design forces the beer that’s inside the widget out of it, producing highly nitrogenated beer.
The Widget In Your Guinness Can Isn’t Filled With Gas: Here’s How It Actually Works
Listen closely when you pop open a can of Guinness Draught Stout, and you’ll hear a peculiar rattling sound. No, your can is not defective. In fact, that tiny ball — or widget — is doing the work to give your brew its signature creamy head, akin to the two-part pour you’ll get at a pub.
Contrary to speculation, these widgets are not filled with nitrogen. So, what does the widget in Guinness do? At the time of manufacturing, an empty widget is placed inside each can. As the cans are filled with beer and sealed, so are the widgets. As soon as the can is opened, a combination of chemical reactions and ingenious product design forces the beer that’s inside the widget out of it, producing highly nitrogenated beer.
Soon after debuting the widget, Guinness snagged the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement in 1991.
Don’t Miss A Drop Get the latest in beer, wine, and cocktail culture sent straight to your inbox.Ryan Wagner, interim marketing manager at Guinness Open Gate Brewery told Hop Culture that the process is time sensitive, meaning you should pour immediately or risk losing that creamy white head.
“Once you lose that initial rush from the can being opened, you can’t recreate it,” he said.
Published: March 17, 2022
Why Is There A Plastic Ball In Guinness Cans?
Every wonder why there is a plastic ball in your Guinness can?
Nitrogenisation is the key to making a beer that’s rich and creamy, with a smooth texture. Guinness pairs nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide when the beer is poured in pubs on draught, to balance out the texture.
In order to replicate this effect for a Guinness served in a can, little white balls called widgets are used, to blast the stout with nitrogen gas.
In cans, widgets are spherical, while in bottles they’re shaped like rockets.
How does the Guinness ball work?
The Guinness ball is a hollow, spherical piece of plastic with a tiny hole in it and it looks a little like a mini ping pong ball.
Brewers add pressurized nitrogen to the beer during the canning process, which trickles into the widget’s hole – along with a little bit of beer.
The whole can is then pressurized. The pressure inside the can drops when it is opened, to equalise with the pressure in the room. But the pressure inside the widget remains higher than the pressure in the beer around it – due to the tiny hole which allows gas to escape.
This process makes the nitrogen inside the widget squirt into the beer, creating a burst of tiny nitrogen bubbles that rise to the top of the beer.
This creates the thick, creamy head like the one on a Guinness you’d be served in the pub.
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