Answers.Body: <p>It's called a floating widget and is used (together with nitrogen instead of carbondioxide) to give the beer it's typical, creamy head when poured from the can. The method was invented by the Guinness Brewery in the 1960ies.</p>
  <p>Cite from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widget_(beer)" rel="noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>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 - the less beer the better for subsequent head quality.</p>
  <p>[...]</p>
  <p>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.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-16T06:37:05.123Z
Answers.Text: You got there before me, I believe it was a bit of a revelation when it first came out.
Answers.UserDisplayName: dougal 5.0.0
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-28T07:16:11.623Z
Answers.Text: I have always wondered how this actually functions, is there a video simulation one could watch.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Alaska Man
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-03-07T14:47:17.940Z
Answers.Text: To add to this, POUR THE CAN DIRECTLY INTO A GLASS! The can widget will dump all of it's nitrogen upon opening, so don't sip from the can, it will lose nitrogen by the end. The bottle widget supposedly only injects nitrogen when tipped, so it IS designed to be sipped, not poured out.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jason K
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-15T14:26:40.380Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-02-15T14:26:40.380Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-06-18T08:36:38.857Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Silent-Bob
Body: <p>Into a canned DRAUGHT Guinness I found a plastic white sphere. What is its purpose?</p>
  
Tags: <cans>
Title: Why does canned Guinness DRAUGHT have a plastic sphere?
UserDisplayName: kitsune
ThreadText: # Why does canned Guinness DRAUGHT have a plastic sphere?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-15)
  
  Into a canned DRAUGHT Guinness I found a plastic white sphere. What is its purpose?
  
  **Tags:** cans
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2017-02-15. Score: 5 | Accepted answer
  
  It's called a floating widget and is used (together with nitrogen instead of carbondioxide) to give the beer it's typical, creamy head when poured from the can. The method was invented by the Guinness Brewery in the 1960ies.
  
  Cite from [Wikipedia](https://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 - the less beer the better for subsequent head quality.
  >
  > [...]
  >
  > 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.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: You got there before me, I believe it was a bit of a revelation when it first came out.  
  > **username_3**: I have always wondered how this actually functions, is there a video simulation one could watch.  
  > **username_4**: To add to this, POUR THE CAN DIRECTLY INTO A GLASS! The can widget will dump all of it's nitrogen upon opening, so don't sip from the can, it will lose nitrogen by the end. The bottle widget supposedly only injects nitrogen when tipped, so it IS designed to be sipped, not poured out.  
  
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