Guiness bottles with nitro widget

[corkybstewart]

This may not seem like the right forum but bear with me. I'm going to my boss's house tonight for his wife's birthday. He always buys Guiness for me but he doesn't know the difference between the two kinds of bottles. Sometimes I get regular, sometimes the nitro-widgets. How do I activate the widget to get head on my Guiness. I'm not real crazy about Guiness, but flat guiness is horrible and most-not all-of the time I get no nitro fizz out of the widget. Am I pouring wrong?

[danno]

they're pressure activated, when you open the bottle, the lowering of the pressure pops open the widget. I've never heard of them not working...

to see the traditional guinness/nitro head, dump it into a glass quickly....

[corkybstewart]

I thought they were pressure activated but I've had at least 75% failure the last few visits and was wondering. Hopefully he'll buy the other kind tonight. But flat Guiness is still better than the Spudweiser he serves everyvbody else.

[danno]

couple of places answering the "how does the widget work" question...

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000526.html

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question446.htm

apparently they've replaced the ball with a rocket shaped widget when they figured out how to do the same thing in bottles... seems like a failure-proof process, since the widget doesn't actually do anything... i'd email Guinness and bitch. maybe you can get a free sixer out of it, just have a bottle in front of you with whatever production code they have...

[AxlLives]

If you're getting the Guinness bottle with the widget, it's designed to be drunk straight from the bottle, not poured into a glass... I guess for on-the-go types (concerts, picnics, etc.)... The repetitive drinking/tippinig action reactivates the rocket widget each time and reinvigorates the beer (theoretically)... The Guinness can with the widget is designed to be poured into a glass.

[noby]

Guinness from a bottle without a widget is not flat!!

Plus it tastes much better at room/cellar temperature.

[wild]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
Hopefully he'll buy the other kind tonight. But flat Guiness is still better than the Spudweiser he serves everyvbody else.
Why not just bring what you want to drink and of course offer your boss a few samples? This way you can educate him on your taste preference without insulting him.

Wild

[corkybstewart]

I don't bottle my beer, but I'm about to start again, and besides, I like the low alcohol of the Guiness. Last night he had 2 w/widgets(leftovers from his birthday), 6 without. The widget creates a very thick head but leaves the beer uncarbonated. The normal bottles are much better. And this old man is uneducatable when it comes to beer. The only thing better than Coors is Bud. He will drink my homebrew at my house, and his wife loves it, but he's pretty stubborn.

[cluckk]

If you're getting the Guinness bottle with the widget, it's designed to be drunk straight from the bottle, not poured into a glass

I like the bottled Guiness, but always pour it in a glass. I like to smell the beer when drinking it and have developed an aversion to just chugging it from a bottle--its just not the same. I have had no problems getting that Guiness head when pouring from a bottle. I open the bottle and wait a few seconds until I see the head moving up the neck. I then give it a vigorous pour into the glass. It is a thing of beauty.

[Sladek]

I don't usually drink Guiness, and prefer the normal bottled version without nitrogen. I was rather surprised to see this particular bottled version. Yesterday, of course, was St. Patrick's Day, and the company at which I'm temporarily working brought out cases of bottled Guiness. My rant concerns the following: printed on the box was the following command: "Drink Straight from the Bottle!" and printed on the bottle itself, I was told to "Serve Extra Cold". I've seen "Extra Cold" Guiness, the existence of which, after thoroughly wracking my brain, I cannot justify. The "drink straight from the bottle!" marketing campaign got me boiling inside. This is everything we preach against! And they are purposely pushing consumers to do it!

Í shouldn't be surprised, as I've known a lot of people who drink beer from the bottle as a point of pride, or something. Working-class chic, I think; pouring it into a glass is snobbish.

Now, Guiness isn't a great beer, but a solid stout, and to 1) serve it "extra" cold and 2) drink from the bottle does it a huge disservice. And, frankly, drinking it from the bottle pretty much cancels out the big allure of nitrogen Guiness, the pour and cascading in the glass. I was dumbfounded.

It's a shame what Guiness has turned into.

[chazwicke]

I've still not tried it from the widget bottle. But drinking it from the bottle goes against my grain too.

[ontap78]

I had a widget bottle on St. Patty's at the party at the law firm my wife works for. Of coarse I poured it into a glass as is proper. The bottle says to serve cold and my guess is two reasons. 1) served warm it may gush. 2) they want people who don't like real beer to buy it again and served cold will mask the true taste that offends so many of the big 3 drinkers. Personally, I prefer the non-nitro version poured in a glass. I drank a couple Murphy's widget cans and a Boulevard Irish Ale that evening. I really liked the Boulevard. The Murphy's also said to serve it cold and mentioned that served warm it may overflow. I just watched the cascading and let it get warmed up a bit before consumption.

[Bilbo Beergins]

Is "crap" spelled with one "p" or two?

[cluckk]

I would assume that the "Drink from the bottle" move of Guiness is simply a marketing ploy. So many in this country do not realize the benefits of drinking from the glass. So rather than doing the hard part of educating the consumer it is easier to bend to the consumers desire and creat a poduct that can be drunk from the bottle.

As for 'Serve very cold' instruction, I keep my bottled beer in a small fridge set to bout 50 to 55 degrees. One bottle of Guiness at this temperature did start to gush, so that may be the reason.

Of course I have to wonder, if you are going to mask the flavor with extreme cold and hide that beautiful creamy head then why bother having a Guiness?

I see the lack of understanding of the effect of the head on the whole experience of the beer is even seen in many beer serving esablishments. We have a micro-brewery near us where the bar tender will always pour everything from the tap in such a way that there is no head formed. Of course I lke a full glass but so much is missed out when you pour everything down the side of he glass and never release the flavors or aroma that a good pour will release.

[Bilbo Beergins]

That's only one "p", I said to me. Guinness is trying to push bland beer with the widget. I had one, and that was one too many. Regular or stout are okay, but that widget sh#t is watered down cow urine.

[corkybstewart]

Hven't seen you around lately Bilbo. I ran into a friend yesterday who had been very excited about finding Guiness Draught, like he was going to be reuinited with an old friend. Imagine his surprise when he opened the bottle, poured a thin watery black liquid into his glass and tasted it. He thought, like I did, he had gotten a bad bottle. 3 bottles later he admitted defeat and started drinking spudwiser. Guiness should be ashamed.

[steveh]

So just how much cow urine have you tasted? :confused:

While I've not gotten into the Guinness Draught Bottles, I always enjoy the nitro tap and canned versions and certainly wouldn't pass on one for Spudweiser.

S.

[chazwicke]

Ditto what Steveh said.

[corkybstewart]

There was a deli in Midland TX that had Guiness on nitro tap, and I made a point to eat a Rueben sandwich with a Guiness any time I ws in Midland during normal hours. Last week I stopped by there and the Guiness was gone. Bummer. Now they have Pilsen Urquell on tap, but it's not the same.

[ontap78]

I'd take the Urquell over any Guinness any time, but I'd have to take the nitro canned Guinness over the Crudwieser any time. I'd also rather have Guinness in the regular bottles than the widgets.

[corkybstewart]

But Urquell isn't as good with the Rueben sandwich. I guess I could eat something else, but for 20 years that's been my habit.

[ClockworkOrange]

Mmmmm...a rueben sandwich with a Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye sounds good.

[steveh]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
But Urquell isn't as good with the Rueben sandwich.

Why not? A true Reuben will have sauerkraut, which is eastern European fare and pairs well with a light, hoppy, malty brew. Though I understand how a good corned beef on rye sings with a proper pint of Guinness.

S.

[Bilbo Beergins]

I had a Corona just last week. Oh, yeah, there was that time my buddy pissed in the homeade wine in high school, but that wasn't cow piss.

[steveh]

Okay, I retract the question...that's just too much information. And I'd have murdered the "buddy."

S.

[Sladek]

I poured one of the draught bottles last night (no, I didn't buy it) into a glass, and it turned out just fine. Maybe took longer to settle, I don't know, but it left a nice half-inch creamy head and was actually pretty damn good!

[Bilbo Beergins]

By the by, Corky, I've been burning out on my final clinicals in nursing school, no time for much. God, I wish the entire field wasn't run by women, I just can't pick up on the vibe.

[corkybstewart]

My wife is a nurse, but we have several male friends who are nurses. It's an amazingly complex field these days, but very rewarding. After 9 years at the local hospital, or as I called it the Snakepit, she got a job as a school nurse for a poor village 10 miles south of us where she's not only the school nurse but also the only health care pro around for lots of the area residents. So hang in there, it's a great and noble profession. You'll meet and help an amazing variety of people, and you'll touch their lives in a way that no other people ever will. My wife still has people come up to her and thank her for what she did for their family member 10 years
ago.
And after you graduate, come have a homebrew with us.

[cluckk]

I'd take the Urquell over any Guinness any time

In our area it's almost impossible to find an Urquell that hasn't been skunked. A friend brought some over one weekend. After opening the first one, my daughter in the next room asked: "Does anyone smell a skunk?" It was horrible. I wish they'd move away from those green bottles. I'm sure its pretty good if you can get some that isn't sun-struck.

As for me I'd take Guiness and Urquell isn't even on the list.

[steveh]

Just wait till that first time you find Urquell on tap...

If you "decant" a green bottle Urquell and let it breathe a little, that can help to dissipate the skunkinesss. Also, serving too cold can heighten the character. Then again, if the bottles have bbeen sitting in direct sunlight too long, there may be no hope.

S.

[ontap78]

Originally posted by steveh
Just wait till that first time you find Urquell on tap.. I wholeheartedly concure. One of the finest pilsners around if you can find it on tap

[Sladek]

Originally posted by cluckk
In our area it's almost impossible to find an Urquell that hasn't been skunked. A friend brought some over one weekend. After opening the first one, my daughter in the next room asked: "Does anyone smell a skunk?" It was horrible. I wish they'd move away from those green bottles. I'm sure its pretty good if you can get some that isn't sun-struck.
Of course, Prazdroj in its native land is another story...I wish SABMiller could be persuaded to export Urquell in cans; it's wonderful poured from a can. I avoid it outside of Czech, unfortunately.

[PsychoBrew]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
I'm going to my boss's house tonight for his wife's birthday. He always buys Guiness for me but he doesn't know the difference between the two kinds of bottles.


That must be really nice that your boss buys you Guiness. The last summer barbeque that my company had, I walked to the cooler only to find cans of Budweiser and bottles of Corona :mad: It really sucked - needless to say I did not stay long and I picked up some Mirror Pond on the way home. So while everyone else was drinking swill I was enjoying some good beer. I think this year my rig will show up with a cooler in the trunk "just in case the same thing happens again".

On the Guiness Issue - I really do not care for the bottled Guiness with the widget - I can handle it out of a can although I like to use a glass for that. Be happy that you at least get Guiness while all others are drinking pond swill