Why Does Nitrogenated Guinness Contain a Plastic Ball Inside?

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Famous for its spirits and in particular for its whiskey, Ireland is also a country renowned for its beer production.

If you have ever visited Ireland, you have surely tasted a beer — Kilkenny, Murphy’s or Guinness — in one of its many pubs with a spirit that exudes authenticity from every corner.

The Emerald Isle is home to numerous distilleries and microbreweries, waiting to be visited by anyone passionate about the world of beer or whiskey.

The most impressive is the Guinness factory. We recommend you go — it will be a unique opportunity to finally discover why they put that small white plastic ball inside their cans: the “floating widget.”

The History of the Guinness Brewery

Founded in 1759 by Irish brewer Arthur Guinness, the eponymous brewery is world-famous for its iconic Stout.

Brewed with roasted barley grains, it has a black color and a thick, creamy beige head.

More so than in other types of beer, malts are extremely important in brewing a Stout, as they give it its impenetrable black color.

If you are used to lagers, you should know that a Pale Ale owes its color to its pale malts and not to hops or yeast.

A red, amber or black pint typically has a fuller mouthfeel and is less refreshing than a pale beer.

Guinness is a black top-fermented beer, relatively light, with notes of caramel, chocolate and coffee.

There is no pub in Ireland where you will not find it, always served strictly in its own pint glass. Its tradition is so ancient that it forms part of the history of Ireland.

There are many curiosities about Guinness, such as the fact that the brewery, based in Dublin, holds a 9,000-year lease, that an average of 13 million pints are drunk around the world every day.

It is estimated that 10% of all annual consumption takes place on St. Patrick’s Day, and that it was even the origin of the Guinness Book of Records, following a debate over whether the golden plover was or was not the fastest bird in Europe.

The Famous Guinness “Ball”

Now that you know a little more about Guinness beer and its history: do you know the reason for the famous ball inside the can?

The “floating widget” is a hollow plastic ball about 3 cm in diameter, slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, which is placed inside the can so that the serving experience is as close as possible to what you get in a bar.

This makes Guinness Stout very different from other Irish beers and from other beers in general.

We often hear about brewing, fermentation, flavors, hops and yeast, but very rarely do brewers talk about the small details that make beers even better.

It is a process patented by Guinness that consists of pressurizing a ball filled with nitrogen which, upon opening, causes the beer to generate an effect similar to the draft beer served in bars.

Naturally, it has low carbonation, so the pleasant head is generous and creamy.

If the floating widget were in a highly carbonated beer, the result would be excessively foamy.

The Guinness Cascade

Guinness is also the source of lively conversations about the mystery of the “Guinness Cascade.”

In the pint, the gas bubbles descend and do not appear to rise as in all other beers.

If you think it is an optical illusion — you are wrong! When the beer is poured, the temperature difference creates a convection current that allows bubbles to rise through a central stream until they stall at the surface, before descending along the walls of the glass.

The fact that the beer is black with fine transparent bubbles makes the phenomenon far more visible than in other beers.

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