How do guinness widgets work

This little piece of plastic did its job well when serving the beer cold, but when served warm, the beer exploded everywhere after the can was cracked open. In , Guinness released the floating, spherical widget you can see in cans today — which they call the "Smoothifier" — to fix this problem.

Breweries typically use carbon dioxide to give a beer its quintessential bitter fizz, but when a drink calls for a sweeter, silkier experience — such as the experience you get when drinking a Guinness — brewers infuse the ale with nitrogen rather than with carbon dioxide.

Nitrogen bubbles are smaller than CO 2 bubbles, so the resulting head and taste is smoother and more delicate. Nitrogen gas also doesn't easily dissolve in water , so when you crack open a beer, most of the gas is released into the air but the foamy bubbles in the head still remain.

This — along with the smaller bubbles — gives the brew a thicker, more velvety "mouthfeel" without the acidic bite of carbonation with CO 2. Because of the fleeting nature of nitrogen gas in liquid, it's really hard to maintain tasty levels of the gas in packaged beers once you open them. The popularity of widgets have caught on since Guinness introduced them in the late 80s.

So go crack a cold one and thank that little plastic sphere for delivering your delicious, velvety brew. Follow Tech Insider on Facebook and Twitter. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. The widget was invented after years of development by two brewers, Tony Carey and Sammy Hildebrand, of Guinness in Dublin, in It was granted a patent in the UK in and in the United States It was introduced commercially by Guinness in cans in and in bottles in Tim Hampson.

Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Updated: Feb 18, The Guinness Widget. Note the cavity near the center of the ball, the tiny hole is located within the cavity.

Who invented the beer widget? The beer widget didn't appear in the United States until around Does Guinness still use a widget? Yes, though what kind of widget has changed a bit.

Guinness has been using a floating widget since , but switched back to a fixed widget system in due to supply issues caused by COVID They have plans to bring back the floating widget in , barring any further challenges. What does a widget accomplish?