Beer Question

[BigBoy99]

I'm not a beer drinker and encountered something weird. I was making a recipe which called for a can of stout beer. Went to store and discovered they won't sell just one bottle of beer. I had to get a 6-pack. OK, so now I have enough beer to make the recipe 5 more times.

The beer I bought was Guinness Stout and after I added the beer to the pot, I noticed there was a "rattling" noise coming from the empty can when I shook it. I though the beer may have been frozen and there was still a bit of ice in the can. I cut the can open and what do I discover but a white ping-long ball in the can! What would a ping-pong ball be doing in the can? Does it have some purpose for mixing the beer like the balls put inside cans of spray paint? Was it intentionally but there by the company? An inquiring mind would like to know. Thanks.

 

[Bekeart]

I'll drink to that.

A widget is a hollow, spherical piece of plastic with a tiny hole in it — it looks like a little ping pong ball.

During the canning process, brewers add pressurized nitrogen to the brew, which trickles into the hole along with a little bit of beer. The entire can is then pressurized.

When you open the can, the pressure inside the can drops to equalize with the pressure in the room. Since the pressure inside the widget is still much higher than the pressure in the beer around it, the nitrogenated beer from inside the widget squirts into the beer — providing a burst of tiny bubbles of nitrogen gas that rise to the top of beer, giving it a thick, creamy head you'd get straight from the tap.

How the Guinness Ball Widget Makes Your Beer Taste Better

Long ago I remember they had something plastic in bottles - claimed to make it taste like draft.

 

[ralph7]

I'm a beer drinker and never knew such a thing existed, also I don't want foam in my glass or in my can.
It gets in the way of me drinking!

 

[zeke]

Back in the good old days, bottled Guinness was actually imported from Ireland. It was extremely difficult to pour from a bottle, or draft from a keg without prodigious amounts of frothy carmel colored head. Not only that, it had a higher alcohol content. It also cost bout $40/ case in the early 70's.

IMO, the the little nitrogen gas is used to keep the foaming similar to the old imported. If the brewed in US didn't produce the head, regular Guinness drinkers may immediately notice something amiss.

 

[SMSgt]

A freshly tap-poured Guinness is a work of art.

 

[irish132]

A freshly tap-poured Guinness is a work of art.

A lot of truth in this. The Guiness on tap in the States is different than in Ireland. I was able to get one at the pub in the airport when passing through Shannon, Ireland on my way back from Kuwait 20+ years ago. First real beer in a long time. Upon returning stateside, wife and I stopped for lunch or dinner on the way home from the airport, about 8 or 10 hours since the stop in Shannon. Had a Guiness on tap and it was noticeably different. Still great, but different.

 

[ladder13]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.


Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

 

[Xfuzz]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.


Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

Wow......mine must be the size of a peanut.

 

[Rudi]

Poor it into a glass. Watch closely, the bubbles go down, not up. Pretty cool.

 

[Rustyt1953]

The 2 part pour; both a ballet and dessert in a glass.

From KegWorks:

"But Why Is the “Perfect Guinness Pour” Still a Thing?

The 2 part pour was initially used as a means of dealing with a problem that was solved by Nitrogen. In that case, what is the reasoning behind the 2 part pour today? According to a quote from Colm O’Connor, a Guinness beer specialist, the reason is “...because if we poured it in one fell swoop, the head would be too big.” Per Fergal Murray, Guinness master brewer and global ambassador, the head size on your Guinness should be between 18-20mm, which is somewhere between 11/16"-12.5/16".

Another reason is, of course, the presentation of the beer. The 2 part pour allows a customer to witness the cascade effect twice, highlighting the beauty of the beer as it changes before one’s eyes. Guinness is very adamant that their beer is not black, and that its roasted malted barley gives the beer its distinct dark reddish color."

Cheers

 

[arjay]

Guinness stout is my favorite beer. Give it a try!

 

[walkin jack]

...and I thought I was an expert on beer. I never herd of that before. Learned something new today.

 

[Rustyt1953]

My favorite beer is beer.

 

[walkin jack]

Guinness stout is my favorite beer. Give it a try!

I went into an Irish pub called Dirty Nellies on the San Antonio River Walk. Decided to give Stout a try. You know, when in Rome....

My first sip was awful I thought I'd swallowed battery acid. I toughed it out and finished the glass. I drank few more. The next3 were great. I had a couple more after that but I don't remember what they tasted like.

 

[SMSgt]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.


Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

If that were true, my skull would be an empty cavern.

Guinness is not high in alcohol compared to most beers. It's also very filling, and I doubt I could drink enough to get blitzed. But do like one or two with my Drunken Irish porkchop dinner at my local Irish pub.

 

[walkin jack]

While we're talkin' about beer I'd like to correct a statement that I think I have made in here. I may have said something like there is no bad beer, The worst I ever had was wonderful.

But that is wrong. My limited command of the English language prohibits me from telling you HOW wrong it is. My first tour of duty on Okinawa the kind of beer we usually had in the enlisted men's club was Schlitz. Now and then a Pabst or some other but 99% of the time it was Schlitz.

On one very sad occasion we were not able to get ANY beer. That lasted over two weekends maybe longer. When we finally got the word that the EM clubs now had beer we were sweaty with relief. We thought we were saved.

That was before we found out WHAT beer we had. A little number brewed in the Philippines called San Miguel. I try hard not to imagine what it is made from but certain, uhhh, substances cross my mind unbidden. Our rules and my own decency prevent me from naming any of it here.

Still, for a time, it was all we could get. I thought I was being creative. You know the Marines have a part of their code that says, "identify, adapt, and overcome". I thought I was doing that when I thought of putting tomato juice in the beer to cut the taste. It didn't make it good but it made it tolerable....if you mixed it about 50/50.

I later discovered that people have been putting tomato juice in beer for a long time. I still feel like I discovered it myself...at least for me and my comrades.

These days when I'm in the mood for "red beer" I put a Bloody Mary mixer called Zing-Zang or sometimes Clamato or Beefamato juice. But mostly just good old beer....'cept when drinking Coronas w/salt and lime.

That is my story, as the saying goes, and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[walkin jack]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.


Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

That can't be true. My head would be a vacuum...oh, wait...never mind.

 

[SMSgt]

Group of reservists at Grissom AFB, IN, used to have 'Attitude Adjustment Hour" every Friday at the end of work. Their preferred choice was Stroh's. All I'll say is it would make for a great colostomy prep.

 

[billwill]

Sorry, no one here has the expertise to answer that question about beer. Try google

 

[Rustyt1953]

 

[arjay]

A few years ago my youngest flew over to London to visit a college roommate. From there they went to Ireland for 5 days. There’s a pic on instagram of them having a pint in a pub with a crack from Cass about “those old Irish guys yelling at us.”Someday I’m gonna ask about that lol

 

[Chubbs103]

If you are not going to drink the rest, keep on cooking.

Go find some banger sausages and cook them in a bottle of your remaining stout. Don't forget the mashed potatoes.

We have been years without a decent supply of bangers, but I just found a butcher about 2hrs (that's fairly close when you live in the middle of the Mojave) away that makes them pretty decently.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

If you are not going to drink the rest, keep on cooking.

Go find some banger sausages and cook them in a bottle of your remaining stout. Don't forget the mashed potatoes.

We have been years without a decent supply of bangers, but I just found a butcher about 2hrs (that's fairly close when you live in the middle of the Mojave) away that makes them pretty decently.

My limited time in the United Kingdom included some instruction from my hosts on "bangers". Somewhat popular sausages typically served steamed or pan-browned on a bread roll, quick breakfast or a snack food. The banger may differ regionally in content and serving method (my God, some of them use catsup!). The general consensus was that bangers achieved a place in popular cuisine as a war-time expedient, providing much needed protein content to slim civilian rations, using up generally undesirable scraps of beef, pork, or whatever else might be available, and the major differences seemed to be in the ratio of sawdust included in the mix to stretch the supplies as far as possible.

Now then, on to stout ale (of which the original Guinness is a fine example). A very hearty brew coming to life from heavily toasted malted barley, no skimping on ingredients. I think of it as "toast in a bottle", suitable for breakfast certainly, or a modest snack just about any time of the day.

I seriously doubt that any of the good folks in the British "Real Ale" movement would approve of little plastic balls in their beer. Might start a revolution in some places.

 

[oldbrownhat]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.

Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

Just what we need- more "experts" to take the fun out of life

 

[hsguy]

A freshly tap-poured Guinness is a work of art.

Truth there! Last time I was in Dublin, hard to believe it was three years ago, I went to the brewery at St. James Gate and was certified as a Guinness pourer. It was quite interesting actually, first you pull the tap handle back and the Guinness is dispensed with Nitrogen to create the head and then after it settled a bit push the handle forward to dispense the Guinness sans Nitrogen to top the glass. If you are ever served a Guinness and it didn't take a couple of minutes to pour reject it immediately! I redacted my name to keep the Paparazzi at bay. I did enjoy a wee drop occasionally while on the auld sod.

 

[Rustyt1953]

That should be a bumper sticker, t-shirt, tattoo, flag, sandwich board and wallpaper.

Bloody well done.

 

[hsguy]

Now old boozers have to worry about multiple shrinkages.


Just one alcoholic drink a day can shrink your brain, study says

I am going with Darwin on this one. The weaker brain cells perish and the stronger survive.

 

[irish132]

Guiness: A beer and a meal combined into one!

 

[hsguy]

To be sure, especially with a full fry breakfast.

 

[zeke]

While we're talkin' about beer I'd like to correct a statement that I think I have made in here. I may have said something like there is no bad beer, The worst I ever had was wonderful.

But that is wrong. My limited command of the English language prohibits me from telling you HOW wrong it is. My first tour of duty on Okinawa the kind of beer we usually had in the enlisted men's club was Schlitz. Now and then a Pabst or some other but 99% of the time it was Schlitz.

On one very sad occasion we were not able to get ANY beer. That lasted over two weekends maybe longer. When we finally got the word that the EM clubs now had beer we were sweaty with relief. We thought we were saved.

That was before we found out WHAT beer we had. A little number brewed in the Philippines called San Miguel. I try hard not to imagine what it is made from but certain, uhhh, substances cross my mind unbidden. Our rules and my own decency prevent me from naming any of it here.

Still, for a time, it was all we could get. I thought I was being creative. You know the Marines have a part of their code that says, "identify, adapt, and overcome". I thought I was doing that when I thought of putting tomato juice in the beer to cut the taste. It didn't make it good but it made it tolerable....if you mixed it about 50/50.

I later discovered that people have been putting tomato juice in beer for a long time. I still feel like I discovered it myself...at least for me and my comrades.

These days when I'm in the mood for "red beer" I put a Bloody Mary mixer called Zing-Zang or sometimes Clamato or Beefamato juice. But mostly just good old beer....'cept when drinking Coronas w/salt and lime.

That is my story, as the saying goes, and I'm stickin' to it.

Apparently you have never had Stoney's out of a keg from Pittsburg area. Don't know if they still make it, but back in the mid 70's we could only get it in kegs for bout $13 for 1/2 keg. Yup, lots of beer stories from the 70's.