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Guinness floating widget
Guinness floating widget

A widget is a device placed in a container of beer to manage the characteristics of the beer's head. The Foam on top of Beer is called a head. It is caused by bubbles of Carbon dioxide rising to the surface The original widget was patented in Ireland by Guinness. Guinness (ˈɡɪnɪs is a popular Dry stout that originated in Arthur Guinness ' brewery at St The "floating widget" found in cans of beer is a hollow sphere, 3 cm in diameter. Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed Alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea

Contents

Background

Draught Guinness, as it is known today, was first produced in 1964. With Guinness keen to produce Draught in package for consumers to drink at home, Bottled Draught Guinness was fomulated in 1978 and launched into the Irish market in 1979. It was never actively marketed internationally as it required an initiator which looked rather like a syringe to make it work.

How It Works

A can of beer is pressurised by adding liquid nitrogen, which vaporises and expands in volume after the can is sealed, forcing gas and beer into the widget's hollow interior through a tiny hole—the less beer the better for subsequent head quality. Liquid nitrogen (liquid density at the Triple point is 0707 g/mL is the liquid produced industrially in large quantities by Fractional distillation of In addition, some nitrogen dissolves in the beer which also contains dissolved carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide ( Chemical formula:) is a Chemical compound composed of two Oxygen Atoms covalently bonded to a single

The presence of dissolved nitrogen allows smaller bubbles to be formed with consequent greater creaminess of the subsequent head. Soda bubbles macrojpg|right|thumb|Bubbles of Gas in a Soft drink]] A bubble is a globule of one substance in another usually Gas in a Liquid This is because the smaller bubbles need a higher internal pressure to balance the greater surface tension, which is inversely proportional to the radius of the bubbles. For the work of fiction see Surface Tension (short story. Surface tension is a property of the surface of a Liquid that causes it to This article is about proportionality the mathematical relation Remote Authentication Dial In User Service ( RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized access authorization and accounting management for people or computers Achieving this higher pressure would not be possible with just dissolved carbon dioxide, as the greater solubility of this gas compared to nitrogen would create an unacceptably large head.

When the can is opened, the pressure in the can quickly drops, causing the pressurised gas and beer inside the widget to jet out from the hole. This agitation on the surrounding beer causes a chain reaction of bubble formation throughout the beer. The result, when the can is then poured out, is a surging mixture in the glass of very small gas bubbles and liquid.

This is the case with certain types of draught beer such as draught stouts. Draught beer (also known as draft beer or tap beer) has several related though slightly different understandings Stout and porter are dark Beers made using roasted Malts or roast Barley. In the case of these draught beers, which before dispensing also contain a mixture of dissolved nitrogen and carbon dioxide, the agitation is caused by forcing the beer under pressure through small holes in a restrictor in the tap. The surging mixture gradually settles to produce a very creamy head.

Development

Expired British Patent No 1266351, filed 1969-01-27
Expired British Patent No 1266351, filed 1969-01-27

The inventors of generating 'draught' Guinness from cans or bottles - by means of 'sudden gas discharge from an internal compartment' when the can/bottle is opened were: Tony Carey and Sammy Hildebrand, brewers with Guinness in Dublin, in 1968. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.

This invention was patented by them in British Patent No 1266351, filed 1969-01-27, complete specification published 1972-03-08. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.

Development work on a can system under Project ACORN focused on an arrangement whereby a false lid underneath the main lid formed the gas chamber. Technical difficulties led to a decision to put the can route on hold and concentrate on bottles using external initiators. Subsequently, Guinness allowed this patent to lapse and it was not until Ernest Saunders centralised R&D in 1984 that work re-started on this invention under the direction of Alan Forage. The phrase research and development (also R and D or more often R&D) according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers

The design of an internal compartment that could be readily inserted during the canning process was devised by Alan Forage and William Byrne, and work started on the widget during the period 1984–85. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar)

The plan was to introduce a plastic capsule into the can, pressurise it during the filling process and then allow it to release this pressure in a controlled manner when the can was being opened. This would be sufficient to initiate the product and give it the characteristic creamy head. However, it was pointed out by Tony Carey that this resulted in beer being forced into the widget during pasteurisation with consequent very poor head quality. He suggested overcoming this by rapidly inverting the can after the lid was seamed on. This extra innovation was successful.

It is important that oxygen be eliminated from any process developed as this can cause flavour deterioration when present. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the

The first samples sent to Dublin were labelled "Project Dynamite", which caused some delay before customs and excise would release the samples. Because of this the name was changed to Oaktree. Another name that changed was "inserts"; the operators called them "widgets" almost immediately after they arrived on site, a name that has now stuck with the industry.

The development of ideas continued. In fact over 100 alternatives were considered. The blow-moulded widget was to be pierced with a laser and a blower was then necessary to blow away the plume created by the laser burning through the polypropylene. This was abandoned and instead it was decided to gas-exchange air for nitrogen on the filler, and produce the inserts with a hole in place using straightforward and cheaper injection-moulding techniques.

Commissioning began January 1988, with a national launch date of March 1989. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar)

This first-generation widget was a plastic disc held by friction in the bottom of the can. This method worked fine if the beer was served cold; when served warm the can would overflow when opened. The floating widget, which was launched in 1997, does not have this problem. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar

As the widget is a plastic material it can cause problems when the can is recycled. Users of cans containing widgets are often requested to remove them before recycling the can.

Other beers with widgets

References

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