Guinness This!

June 20, 2003 7:53 AM

Good to see that 50 years of basic research in fulid dynamics, numerical methods, and finite element analysis has finally found a practical application.
posted by ZenMasterThis (19 comments total)

That's fluid dynamics, of course. Damn.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:54 AM on June 20, 2003

No more for you, Zen.
posted by Tacodog at 8:02 AM on June 20, 2003

My fluid mechanics professor actually spent a day discussing this very problem.

We thanked him for his efforts by all bringing Guiness to drink in class during the last lecture. He seemed to appreciate that...even though it was a 10:30 class.
posted by Adam_S at 8:10 AM on June 20, 2003

Still no cure for cancer.< /fark>
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:12 AM on June 20, 2003

Screw cancer, some things are just more important.
posted by Space Coyote at 8:18 AM on June 20, 2003

I say we all celebrate this important discovery by having a Guinness.

Cheers!
posted by ilsa at 8:24 AM on June 20, 2003

Shite. It'll be a quiet night in Mulligan's tonight if this gets out.

Sláinte ilsa!!!
posted by Doozer at 8:30 AM on June 20, 2003

Mmm. Guinness. There is no substitute.
posted by Cerebus at 8:38 AM on June 20, 2003

6.00pm - 11.00pm: Fluid Dynamics - Fieldwork
posted by Joeforking at 8:43 AM on June 20, 2003

Mulligans? Dublin Mulligans? Four taps o' Guinness Mulligans?

Quiet night in THAT Mulligans?

*cue memory of ObCuteIrishGirl warning me of the horrors of ObCuteIrishGirls in said Mulligans*

--Dan
posted by effugas at 8:51 AM on June 20, 2003

hey doozer, going to Mulligans myself in ten minutes to sink a few! lovely soupy guinness, on a warm summer day. you couldn't beat it with a big stick.
posted by kev23f at 9:10 AM on June 20, 2003

Now that's solved.
Why the propeller at the bottom of the can?(I don't know)
Does it serve the same purpose as a widget in a Boddingtons?
posted by thomcatspike at 10:26 AM on June 20, 2003

Huh, I've never heard of this phenomenom. The article implies this is particular to Guiness. But the explanation didn't say why Guiness bubbles would be pushed down along the edges of the glass by displaced bubbles, as opposed to whatever occurs with other beers.

Off to research.
posted by delapohl at 10:36 AM on June 20, 2003

delapohl--

Guinness is really, really heavy, and weight affects pressure affects bubble distribution. Its head is certainly quite different than most beers. That ain't no Bud Light.

Enjoy your research.

--Dan
posted by effugas at 10:59 AM on June 20, 2003

This is kind of funny since I spent two weeks at NASA Glenn Research Center studying how the lack of buoyancy affects bubbles. Afterwards I would go to Bennigan's and drink a few pints of Guinness, never thinking of all those tiny bubbles in my frosty beverage.
posted by Ron at 11:36 AM on June 20, 2003

delapohl:

Also, Guinness being much darker than most other beers means that you don't see the big bubbles in the centre nearly as well as you do the little ones along the edge. The shape of the Guinness glass is also quite important.
posted by Space Coyote at 11:44 AM on June 20, 2003

Fifty years? Or 46, since this is a 1999 press release? I knew it looked familiar.
posted by krewson at 11:46 AM on June 20, 2003

The entire purpose of scientific research: to settle bar bets.
posted by nyxxxx at 12:32 PM on June 20, 2003

effugas, I'm not sure draft Guinness is heavy, as in high specific gravity, but it certainly is opaque. There is more than just draft Guinness, though, and some of the bottled versions are fairly heavy. The head, at least in the US, is helped along by dispensing with a mix of Nitrogen gas, versus plain C02 (this site gives a good overview). The so-called "widget" contains Nitrogen, to approximate the draft version.
posted by tommasz at 12:49 PM on June 20, 2003