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View Full Version : Beer foam: why does it make a difference the way you fill a glass?


soon2bepro
05-09-2007, 03:33 AM
I know the generation of foam has something to do with surface tension, but I don't really know much about it.

anyone who doesn't mind explaining?

flipdeadshot22
05-09-2007, 03:47 AM
i'm pretty sure the lack of foam has to do with the fact that when you tilt the beer bottle at an angle small enough wrt the glass to avoid foam, you cause the beer to slide down your glass, rather than freefalling into the bottom of it (the latter of the two cases obviously causing more agitation of the liquid which leads to more foam.) Think of the difference between riding a waterslide down a 3 story drop, as opposed to simply jumping off that same height without the slide.

Bill Haywood
05-09-2007, 12:05 PM
By slowly pouring down the side of the glass, don't you allow more CO2 to escape, hence less gas available to create foam.

BTW, the foam on draft Guinness is so think you can stand a match in it, but only if you buy it in Ireland. The folks at the pub were very amused when I took my pint outside to photograph the match in it.

NeBlis
05-10-2007, 01:11 PM
[ QUOTE ]
BTW, the foam on draft Guinness is so think you can stand a match in it, but only if you pour it properly

[/ QUOTE ]


FYP .. Guinness here is exactly the same as there but all of it is radically affected by pouring style. the flavor and texture of the beer is totally dependant on the Nitrogenation

Bill Haywood
05-10-2007, 05:45 PM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BTW, the foam on draft Guinness is so think you can stand a match in it, but only if you pour it properly

[/ QUOTE ]


FYP .. Guinness here is exactly the same as there but all of it is radically affected by pouring style. the flavor and texture of the beer is totally dependant on the Nitrogenation

[/ QUOTE ]

No. What you get here has been sitting in bottles for months. What you get there is fresh draft out of the barrel. The heads are not even close in comparison. The extremely picky say Guinness isn't right even after the short journey across the channel to England, but that might be a nationalist thing ;-)

Borodog
05-10-2007, 05:51 PM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
BTW, the foam on draft Guinness is so think you can stand a match in it, but only if you pour it properly

[/ QUOTE ]


FYP .. Guinness here is exactly the same as there but all of it is radically affected by pouring style. the flavor and texture of the beer is totally dependant on the Nitrogenation

[/ QUOTE ]

No. What you get here has been sitting in bottles for months. What you get there is fresh draft out of the barrel. The heads are not even close in comparison. The extremely picky say Guinness isn't right even after the short journey across the channel to England, but that might be a nationalist thing ;-)

[/ QUOTE ]

They sell Guinness here, on draft, right out of the barrel.

NeBlis
05-10-2007, 10:23 PM
[ QUOTE ]
What you get here has been sitting in bottles for months.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guinness doesnt come in bottles. that is a different beer with the same name. Kegs here are the exact same beer and decent bars serve fresh beer.
I love Ireland but take out the nostalgia and its the same beer. Trust me I would know, I was once able to tell that my favorite pub had gotten in new glasses by the weight of the pint when I first picked it up.

Bill Haywood
05-11-2007, 10:02 AM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What you get here has been sitting in bottles for months.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guinness doesnt come in bottles. that is a different beer with the same name. Kegs here are the exact same beer and decent bars serve fresh beer.

[/ QUOTE ]

I confess I live in a dry county and did not know draft is now available in the US. My information, I realize, is 25 years old.

So can a match stand up in the draft Guinness served here? That's what's important.

CORed
05-11-2007, 05:59 PM
When you pour the beer gently down the side of the glass, you agitate it less, and give more time for gas to escape on the way down.

FortunaMaximus
05-11-2007, 06:17 PM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What you get here has been sitting in bottles for months.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guinness doesnt come in bottles. that is a different beer with the same name. Kegs here are the exact same beer and decent bars serve fresh beer.

[/ QUOTE ]

I confess I live in a dry county and did not know draft is now available in the US. My information, I realize, is 25 years old.

So can a match stand up in the draft Guinness served here? That's what's important.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. And I've noticed scant difference between the imported Guinness and the stuff that's been produced locally for the last handful of years. (Southern Ontario anyways)

Wonderful stuff.