RSS

The Plastic Ball In Guinness Cans Explained

December 11, 2008 - 11:30 am By Steve - Seton Hall

widget_guiness After cracking a refreshing can of Guinness, most of you have probably wondered, What is the deal with the little plastic ball floating around in cans of Guinness? Well, today you get your answer.

The little plastic ball called a “Widget” was first patented by the Guinness company years ago to add the right kind of head on their thick and creamy stout, which is less fizzy than regular lager beers like Bud Light.

When Guinness is canned the brewers add a shot of liquid nitrogen to help pressurize the can.

As the pressure in the can rises, compressed nitrogen and beer are forced into the sphere through a tiny pin sized hole.

When you open the can, the beer and compressed nitrogen within the sphere depressurize and are shot out into the beer. This disturbance causes the CO2 to bubble up which creates the foamy head at the top of the glass. The only thing left to do next is drink!

6 Comments		Posted in Daily
		Tags: Bud-Light, guinness, Guinness beer, Guinness widget
		Tags: Bud-Light, guinness, Guinness beer, Guinness widget

Nick says:

December 11, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Thanks for waisting thirty seconds of my life! I’m going to go look at that chick from UM.
TROY says:

December 11, 2008 at 9:07 pm

i like balls
Arthur says:

December 12, 2008 at 3:12 am

Before they invented the widget, you used to get a black plastic “syringe”-type gadget with your cans – you would use it to shoot air into the Guinness after you poured it to help give it a head. Now you know!
And Guinness is a stout, not a larger
spuffler says:

October 25, 2009 at 3:12 pm

nick…. you’ve wasted a lot of your own life – “waist” is not the correct root word for waste.
Oloff says:

October 28, 2009 at 3:40 am

Interesting. I knew why it was in there, but not how it did what it did. Although I would like to point out one tidbit I found out about Guinness. It’s actually the Nitrogen which is the “carbonation” in their standard fare. Though I’m sure there’s some CO2 in there, its the nitrogen which makes that thick head and the tiny bubbles which make that cool rising cloud effect when you pour it into a glass. As cool as this is, it kinda sucks for us homebrewers out there, since we would have to buy a kegging system with nitrogen to make a propper clone!

Tell us what you're thinking by leaving a comment...

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.

COVER STORY

College Football Week Twelve Preview: Cheerleader Edition

The college football season is nearing its end. Conference titles are being handed...

South Park’s (Too Many Minorities) Not My Water Park [Video & Lyrics]

Out of the myriad of things wrong with today’s society, we need to thank Matt...

The 7 Greatest Uniform Numbers in Sports

LeBron James was recently in the news promoting his campaign to retire the #23 in...

Read More Posts From This Category

GIRLS

The 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show & Afterparty (253 Photos)

If sexiness was flammable, NYC would have burned to the ground last night as the...

Naked Sushi Party Girls…a.k.a Nyotaimori [48 Photos]

We pride ourselves here at COED for our ability to take any current event and make...

Thanksgiving Poca-Hotness 2009 [80 Photos]

Thanksgiving’s around the corner, and as we’ve shown in years past, what...

Read More Posts From This Category

Candice Swanepoel Tops The Week In Re-Boob: November 16th – 20th

Hailing from the tumultuous land of South Africa, this blond hottie has more going for her than a midget in a limbo game. Scouted by a modeling agent in a flea market at age 15, Candice Swanepoel was already bringing in over $6,000-per-day by the time she’d turned 16. She’s appeared on the cover of Greek Vogue and has modeled for Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Victoria’s Secret, as well as being listed on of COED’s Emerging Hotties of 2008.