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Widgit style carbing


Canadian Eh!L

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Hey Gang,

 

So I recently made an Irish Ale as per the "how to brew" recipe. I bulk primed it very low at 100g dex/21L. Well it's been in the bottle now for a month and I have the sad feeling that this one is a dud.[annoyed] No head and no body, no bubbles.

 

I happen to jog my memory just a little bit to remember a discusion about simulating the "wigit style carbing" with a syringe. I can't seem to remember the method.[pinched]

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Off the top of my head I think it was in the post where people were posting photos of their beers.

 

And if my memory serves me correctly it was Biermoasta that did the syringe trick. But I think this just gave it a nice fluffy head, it didn't really carbonate the beer.

 

But then my memory is failing; too much beer.

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Draw the beer up in the syringe. With the syringe still submerged in the beer, push it back out into the brew. To violent with the push and the beer will foam over the top [bandit]

 

It won't increase the fizz level but it should build the head nicely. [love]

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Hey Hairy,

 

You really jarred the ol' memory banks for me.

 

I gave it a go with pouring the (nearly flat) beer, then using a syringe, draw up the beer and force it back into the beer. Ijust gave it a try and it works a treat.[cool]

 

This little trick just made a bad brew a lot better! [joyful]

 

Edit: thanks, Paul! I was posting at the same time[innocent]

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Work makes it a bit slow to respond sometimes

Don't just blame work. You live in Tasmania Bill, I'm surprised you aren't just now replying to posts from 1999 [biggrin]

 

Just kidding Bill, we love our Tasmanian brothers around here.

 

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  • 6 months later...
Draw the beer up in the syringe. With the syringe still submerged in the beer' date=' push it back out into the brew. To violent with the push and the beer will foam over the top [bandit']

 

It won't increase the fizz level but it should build the head nicely. [love]

 

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I've felt compelled to try this tonight with my Strawberry Blonde which I overdosed with Dextrose (so it doesn't maintain much head)...OMG! So awesome! LOL

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Work makes it a bit slow to respond sometimes

Don't just blame work. You live in Tasmania Bill, I'm surprised you aren't just now replying to posts from 1999 [biggrin]

Just kidding Bill, we love our Tasmanian brothers around here.

Just responding to this post now... hrrrrm now what was I going to say ummmm......

 

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Odd you mention widgets (or however its spelled)..

Recently, while driving to work (where most of my thoughts happen) I started wondering why Guinness put widgets in their cans and how they work.

 

They look to me like nothing more than a plastic ball and I was trying to figure out how they increase the head.

 

Is it simply because they have a little hole I didn't notice and the pressure change after opening the can makes the contents of the widget 'powerhose' out causing foam, (like what PB2 mentioned with the syringe)?

 

This is something that's been annoying me.

Can someone shed some light on it for me?

 

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Precisely how it's intended to work.

 

Here's the Wikipedia explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widget_(beer)

 

Some canned beers are pressurized by adding liquid nitrogen, which vaporises and expands in volume after the can is sealed, forcing gas and beer into the widget's hollow interior through a tiny hole\u2014the less beer the better for subsequent head quality. In addition, some nitrogen dissolves in the beer which also contains dissolved carbon dioxide. It is important that oxygen be eliminated from any process developed as this can cause flavour deterioration when present.

The presence of dissolved nitrogen allows smaller bubbles to be formed thereby increasing the creaminess of the head. This is because the smaller bubbles need a higher internal pressure to balance the greater surface tension, which is inversely proportional to the radius of the bubbles. Achieving this higher pressure would not be possible with just dissolved carbon dioxide, as the greater solubility of this gas compared to nitrogen would create an unacceptably large head.

When the can is opened, the pressure in the can quickly drops, causing the pressurised gas and beer inside the widget to jet out from the hole. This agitation on the surrounding beer causes a chain reaction of bubble formation throughout the beer. The result, when the can is then poured out, is a surging mixture in the glass of very small gas bubbles and liquid.

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