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The Science of Stout Beer
An AC writes "Mathematicians invented a new method to can and bottle stout beers like Guinness while still getting that satisfying head. From the article: '... a crack group of mathematicians from the University of Limerick, led by William Lee, has modeled bubble formation in stout beers in detail. Their work suggests that lining the rims of cans and bottles with a material similar to an ordinary coffee filter would be a simpler, cheaper alternative to the widget. The team’s calculations show that a copious number of bubbles would form from air trapped inside the hollow fibers making up this lining. They have just submitted their work for publication in Physical Review E and are hoping that industry will soon begin testing their proposal.'"
Now that's science I'll raise my drink to!
I'll take a chance for the betterment of mankind. Put me on the list of test subjects :)
Hell Ill test Guinness for free :D
Stout Shako for 2 refined.
The science of liquid bread?
Get me a pilsner, please. It goes well with this pudding.
a *practical* use for mathematics.
I got distracted right about here:
"Mathematicians invented a new method to can and bottle stout beers like Guinness while still getting that satisfying head."
That's appropriate. Canned and bottled beer has always helped me get satisfying head.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I was hoping they re-discovered how to split the beer atom.
This is the type of science that wins an Ig Noble.
Ascii artist &
Dammit, and I was so close too after years of research. "Line the rims of cans and bottles with a material similar to an ordinary coffee filter" was next on my list, right after "Call up ex and ask why she doesn't love me anymore".
My GF gives satisfying head to my stout!
The good people at Guinness have already figured out the widgetless bottle; as of early this year, their draught bottles no longer contain a floating widget (at least in the US).
rage, rage against the dying of the light
I can only assume the post is talking solely about stouts like Guinness Draught in a nitro-can that has a widget to release nitrogen. There is more to what that widget does than just give the beer a nice creamy head. It gives the entire beer a different mouthfeel, and that's because of the nitrogen, not carbon dioxide (though the beer does already contain carbon dioxide. So, if they want the same effect, you'll still need a widget (or in the case of the bottled Guinness Draught, the proper mix of the gases). However, nitrogen dulls the flavor of the beer. So the effect this story talks about would not leave the beer the same...
please me, have no regrets.
I look forward to researching this further at about 5pm at
a local neighborhood laboratory.
Is this a "public domain" type invention, or "by license" type invention?
(The widget is patented.)
http://home.comcast.net/~tabco/widget.htm
And, of course, a keg of stout from your better supplied liquor outlet.
Stout nirvana awaits.
this article right here is enfough proff for me that THERE IS A GOD!!!!! CHEERS MATES!!!!!!
The only head many on here would be getting
They've "invented" nothing more than the same concept behind the Mentos/Coke thing, nucleation. If you give enough surface area for the bubbles you can vary the amount from the average can/bottle opening to the geyser. A few trial and errors would get you there for something trivial like beer, not complex math and modeling and academic journals.
This is also the reason why super new mugs/glasses can "superheat" water in a microwave for the opposite reason, they are too smooth.
Oh, and Nitrogen is what does the trick for Guinness, not simply some bubbles. And forget what you've been told, drinking your Guinness while it is leveling is where it's at, not letting it sit and topping off. That was done back in the day when people were poorer and felt like they weren't getting a proper pint for their money, the extra ounce is not worth it compared to drinking it as it should be.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
Canned Guinness is an abomination, and bottled Guinness (Extra Stout) is a different product altogether. Worse again is Guinness served outside of Ireland, which is invariably poured wrong and at the wrong temperature. If you haven't had Guinness from a *good* Irish pub you haven't really had Guinness. I learned that the hard way :p
- Irish AC who likes his Guinness -
Although the article does say "beers LIKE guinness" there are plenty of other good beer that are nitrogen carbonated. AFAIK that does not include all stout beers like the article implies, nor is notro carbonation limited only to stouts. Not only that but "Guinness stout" is not nitro carbonated, it's "Guinness draft" that's nitro (and perhaps a few others). There are 11 different varieties of Guinness beer. I've only had two, and they're not very similar in my opinion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness#Varieties
Once while lying in bed,
Dr. Lee said, "This stout has no head."
The bottlers made spheres
to foam up the beers,
But Lee's filter will be used instead.
Okay, so I'm not very good at these.
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. -- Groucho Marx
All head should be satisfying, with or without the beer.
...but does it work for the most famous of Belgian Beers? - Smurfing Beer! --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zff5LVkDzHA
Irish science is finally catching up to life before the fall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECkA216RL4Y
.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
Guinness proves the adage that the better the advertising, the worse the product. There are hundreds of far better stouts brewed and they don't need gimmicks like artificially frothy heads because they actually taste good. And to any sensible drinker, it's the taste that matters, not the bullshit.
Guinness has a nice history of using math and science in improving their product.
Student's t-distribution was conceived by William Sealy Gosset while working at Guinness.
"Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness#Worldwide_sales
About 40% of worldwide total Guinness volume is brewed and sold in Africa, with Foreign Extra Stout the most popular variant. The Michael Power advertising campaign was a critical success for Guinness in Africa, running for nearly a decade before being replaced in 2006 with "Guinness Greatness".
Guinness Stout is brewed under licence internationally in several countries, including Nigeria,[69][70] the Bahamas, Canada[71], and Indonesia.[72] The unfermented but hopped Guinness wort extract is shipped from Dublin and blended with beer brewed locally.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
For years I tried to make something like Guinness. Then I discovered that it was gasified using nitrogen rather than carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen is the biggest component of air; so I tried aerating my home made stout in the blender. It worked great. Of course, you have to drink the beer right away because the oxygen in the beer will quickly spoil it.
If you have a spare bottle of not great stout, try the experiment. It doesn't work for every dark beer though. I tried it on a dark beer made in the the Caribbean. That beer was still yecchy.
(Yes I know the difference between lager and ale/stout/porter. I use the word beer because I'm lazy.)
I bet I'll get modded troll for this but I gotta say it.
Whats with all the beer snobs nowadays? 10 years ago, I could enjoy a cold Coors Light without having to worry about Joe Hipster giving me crap for drinking it. When I drink a beer, it doesn't have to be an excursion in the history of beer making and I don't need to have the perfect glass for a pilsner. To me, drinking beer is about getting shit faced, usually with friends. I don't give a crap if it tastes less hoppy or has carmel undertones. I usually just want a f*ckin beer, and then I want another one.
Sure, Guinness tastes pretty good, but for me its too heavy. After 5 or 6 I'm ready for a nap. And it has the same alcohol percentage as Coors Light, so it doesn't get you any drunker. It just tastes better (arguably), fills you up more, and costs twice as much. To me the marginal utility I receive from a cheap domestic ($0.50 beer that I can drink 12 of and get shitfaced) is far superior to any import or micro brew if I'm drinking to get drunk. And most of the time, that is exactly why I'm drinking.
Clearly, this event justifies a limerick:
A student at Limerick college
Expanded our stout beer knowledge,
As a means to the end
of drinking with friends;
This much he should acknowledge.
FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
At a near by Uni. where I live they have a brew master's program. There is great enthusiasm among new undergrads until they learn what the pre-requirements for the program are: biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, and all the math courses required for those courses. Then except for a dedicated few, their enthusiasm fades. Even so there is a waiting list.
In the course they brew up a batch of good beer which is then only sold at the beer garden of the Uni. The proceeds go back into the program to fund it. Having sampled a bit I will tell you it is very tasty. Hats off to those students, their professors, and their advisers. Or perhaps "cheers" would be more appropriate.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
St. Patrick's Day is two days away. We've got our Irish Car Bomb recipes. We've got our green hair dye. We've got our pub crawl schedule down pat. But how much should we budget for a night of shamrock-filled partying?
30 bucks? $50? $100?!
Cheers!
http://www.creditnet.com/blog/credit-cards/st-patricks-day-2011
a crack group of Limerick geeks
'been working for several weeks
to bottle a stout
and make bubbles come out
just in time for the next Wikileaks
"a craic group of lads from the University of Limerick"
Fixed.
The author of TFA seems to be slightly confused. Not all stouts are nitrogenated (in fact most are not) and all stouts are ales, so the comparison is moot.
Also, the mathematicians are definitely not brewers. They came up with a solution a long time ago that is even better than theirs. Nucleated glassware. But it still misses the whole point of adding nitrogen to the beer. It actually changes in flavor and mouthfeel of the beer. Also as a side note, how long will the coffee filter like material last inside the can without degrading? At present you can (despite popular belief) keep a bottle/can of beer for several years before it starts to heavily stale.
Splitting the beer atom: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096486/
Okay, this article had me at:
"Mathematicians invented a new method to can and bottle stout beers like Guinness while still getting that satisfying head."
Most everything is better while getting head. Mainly when it is satisfying. Power to the math dudes!!!!!
Be seeing you...
AKA Rocky Mountain goat piss.
but all head is good. some is just better.