#259672 - 02/07/2005 20:32
Beer can technology
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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I am sitting here feeling unhappy about travelling tomorrow to Athens instead of Amersfoort, and trying to put myself to sleep reading Iain Banks' Raw Spirit (OK, it is not that boring) and drinking canned Guinness. Does anyone know what is the plasticky sounding thingie left inside the can when one drains it and what is its purpose?
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Q#5196
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#259673 - 02/07/2005 20:37
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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It's a widget and it produces the head. It's nothing actually amazing from a construction point of view. It's just an oddly shaped piece of plastic with a hole in the middle but they spent a lot of money and time coming up with that. The way it works if I remember correctly is that during canning, they inject the drink with a small charge of CO2 which pressurises the can and forces some of the drink inside the widget. When you open the can, you release the pressure and it squirts back out through the hole and produces the head.
The widget is explained here and here. There are other widget types as well.
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#259674 - 02/07/2005 21:28
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
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Be warned that if you drink "widget" beer out of the can (surprised you didn't notice the mess on the floor) that there may be errrr.... various unexplained "side effects" later on involving copious quantities of wind.....
Moral of the story - RTFM. Sorry, RTFIOTC.
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#259675 - 02/07/2005 23:18
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: schofiel]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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Quote:
RTFIOTC.
Read
The
Fscking
Instructions
On
The
Can?
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Andy M
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#259676 - 02/07/2005 23:25
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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I'll say it again, it's a shame you can't make it to Amersfoort, but I suppose there are worse places to be than Athens.
You'll have to stick Amersfoort 2006 in your diary in pen!
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Andy M
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#259677 - 03/07/2005 02:16
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: bonzi]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I think it's the thing that makes canned Guinness taste almost, but not quite, entirely unlike Guinness.
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#259678 - 03/07/2005 03:03
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: schofiel]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Hm, haven't noticed any side effects...
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
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#259679 - 03/07/2005 03:06
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Ah, that explains it!  (Actually, I am not much of a beer drinker, so finer points are lost on me. But I do prefer anything stronger, more complex, less usual etc to ordinary lagers, so Guinness (or some vaguelly similar local brews) is a kind of default beer.)
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
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#259680 - 03/07/2005 03:11
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
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Quote:
I'll say it again, it's a shame you can't make it to Amersfoort, but I suppose there are worse places to be than Athens.
You'll have to stick Amersfoort 2006 in your diary in pen!
Thank you again. Athens is an interesting place, and the only time I was there was some 25 years ago, so a refresher is called for, but I will be stuck most of the time in a conference facility in the middle of nowhere. Besides, no tourist attraction is replacement for the company of empeggers.
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
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#259681 - 03/07/2005 05:43
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: bonzi]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Before they thought of the widget, they sold six packs in Ireland with a large plastic syringe and you poured the Guinness and then sucked some out with the syringe and put it back to make a head!
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#259682 - 03/07/2005 14:28
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: boxer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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...and the widgets have changed quite a bit since they were first introduced. The first ones tended to be fairly explosive if you had bumped the can or if it wasn't very cold. It lend to much rushing rapidly to the kitchen sink, with the glass in one hand and the erupting fountain of canned Guinness in the other. Or perhaps I am just better at chilling the can now  When I was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed the other week, Murphys were there selling their stout. They were making a selling point about the fact that they could pour you a pint in seconds rather than minutes.
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#259683 - 03/07/2005 15:00
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Quote:
the other week, Murphys were there selling their stout. They were making a selling point about the fact that they could pour you a pint in seconds rather than minutes.
So I guess Guiness takes minutes to pour or something?
I'm not much of a beer drinker...
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#259684 - 03/07/2005 15:07
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: Daria]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Why does the concept of jet propulsion (the widget) and alcohol make me a bit nervous???
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#259685 - 03/07/2005 15:15
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: Daria]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Quote:
So I guess Guiness takes minutes to pour or something?
Ah yes
http://www.ivo.se/guinness/beginner.html
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#259687 - 03/07/2005 17:02
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: Daria]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Quote:
So I guess Guiness takes minutes to pour or something?
When I first went to Ireland regularly 25 years ago, any publican worth his salt, and with the trade to justify it, had 4 or 5 pints settling for 10 minutes, so as not to keep the customers waiting.
It used to be that draught Guinness came from Park Royal in North London, and it was only in the North West that you could get the (much superior) Dublin product, only four pubs in London had Irish Guinness: The Globe, near to Baker Street station, The Tipperary in Fleet Street and one in Notting Hill and the Kilburn Road.
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#259688 - 03/07/2005 19:00
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: boxer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Quote:
It used to be that draught Guinness came from Park Royal in North London, and it was only in the North West that you could get the (much superior) Dublin product,
Looks like they "solved" that problem, didn't they...
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#259689 - 03/07/2005 19:06
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: Daria]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Quote:
Looks like they "solved" that problem, didn't they...
Not to my taste, they didn't!
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#259690 - 03/07/2005 19:23
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: boxer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Quote:
Quote:
Looks like they "solved" that problem, didn't they...
Not to my taste, they didn't!
Well, the beer isn't coming from Park Royal anymore, and they shifted the production to Dublin, so... ?
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#259691 - 03/07/2005 19:33
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: Daria]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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I understand the point that you're making, but the fact is that now draught Guinness is served, like every other beer, with no care and attention by part time and temporary staff in ersatz, theme pubs, where food is the only profit motivation, the results are, often, unacceptable.
Perhaps, it would focus on the point to say that Dublin/Irish bar staff have to have a qualification.
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#259692 - 04/07/2005 00:26
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: boxer]
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/02/2002
Posts: 3411
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Quote:
I understand the point that you're making, but the fact is that now draught Guinness is served, like every other beer, with no care and attention by part time and temporary staff in ersatz, theme pubs, where food is the only profit motivation, the results are, often, unacceptable.
Ha. You should count your blessings. I rarely had a really bad pint in the UK. Sometimes a rushed pour, but usually the beer itself was kept well enough.
Over on this side of the pond you'll be lucky to get Guinness outside of New England or New York. And you'll only get a decent pint in a truely Irish pub which are few and far between if you're not in an Irish enclave. Everywhere else treats it the same as they would any of the Nascar 'beer's.
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#259693 - 04/07/2005 01:59
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: genixia]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 16/04/2002
Posts: 2011
Loc: Yorkshire UK
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Quote:
you'll be lucky to get Guinness outside of New England or New York
Had some in a bar in Coral Gables, South of Miami, but it was a real locals bar that a relative of mine took me to, run by an Irishman from Wexford, so it's not typical.
What I noticed in a number of places is that you get Harp lager, which was always my favourite: Brewed by Guinness. We don't seem to have it any more in the UK.
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Politics and Ideology: Not my bag
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#259694 - 04/07/2005 02:15
Re: Beer can technology
[Re: genixia]
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addict
Registered: 10/01/2001
Posts: 630
Loc: Windsor, Ontario Canada
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Draught Guinness is pretty accessable here in Canada...and the servers usually top it off with the classic shamrock mark on the head....
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