The Widget

So you open your beer and it makes a nice skooshing sound, you pour it out and it forms a nice creamy head and as you chuck the empty can into your recycling bin, you hear a faint rattle ..... it's the widget.

The original widget was patented by Guinness in Ireland and finally came to life in 1972. The way that it works is that the widget - which is a hollow plastic ball with a small hole in it - is placed in an empty can which is then filled with nice warm beer.

The last thing that happens in the canning process before the lid is sealed onto the top is that a small amount of liquid nitrogen is squirted in. When it hits the warm beer it has to expand and the only place that it can expand into, is the hollow plastic ball. So the (now gaseous) nitrogen sits there silently straining to get out of the ball until one day the can is picked up and is opened by a thirsty football fan. "Wey hey!" says the nitrogen "out we go" and up through the beer it goes making a nice skooshing sound.

So now you know :o)

Enjoy the beer.