Guinness has long maintained that “good things come to those who wait.” His elaborate two-part pour is essential to achieving the perfect effervescence and flavor profile, not to mention the dome that's synonymous with a proper pint of dark beer.
However, the Irish bartender has annoyed Guinness lovers by claiming there is no perfect pour and there is a “trick to pulling the beer lever”.
Nate Brown, owner of London's Paloma Café, Soda & Friends and Nebula Cocktail Bar, told FT Weekend Magazine that pouring Guinness in two stages “isn't something we do for the beer.” he said.it was [done] “Brands always have the savviest marketing departments to help them serve the masses faster during their stay-at-home hours,” Brown said.
But scientists say there may be some benefits to waiting for the bubbles to settle before refilling your pint.
Based on laboratory experiments, Dr. Tomoaki Watamura of the University of Tokyo has shown that refilling Guinness beer repeatedly, rather than just twice, in order to adjust the liquid to foam ratio to the desired ratio also yields benefits. He said he thought he might be able to get it. He says, “Even if you have a lot of technique, it's difficult to control multi-scale.'' [bubble dynamics]So it's better to pour it over and over again.”
Professor Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford, said the elaborate ritual of pulling a pint of Guinness could enhance the drinking experience, whether or not a blind taste test would tell a difference. “Having something harder to get or having to wait can also add value to the experience,” he said.
Even Brown acknowledged the importance of watching the “sacred dance.” [of] Fine white bubbles fall slightly and flow into the darkness. ”
Guinness recommends pouring stout into a pint glass three-quarters full at a 45-degree angle. Allow the bubbles to rise or cascade for exactly 1 minute and 32.5 seconds, and finally tap her handle forward to refill the pint. This limits the power of the flow.
This method originates from the addition of nitrogen to Guinness in the late 1950s. Previously, the bartender would fill his glass three-quarters of the way with relatively flat Guinness, then pour the glass with a more bubbly stout made from conditioned barrels. The process was simplified by adding nitrogen, which produces smaller bubbles than the carbon dioxide in standard beer.
Still, small bubbles rise more slowly than larger bubbles and are more affected by the flow within the pint glass, so it takes longer for small bubbles to meet and coalesce to form a more compact, uniform head. Masu.
“The pause not only gives the bubbles more time to do this, but also allows the puller to assess the size of the head for the second step. It also gives us the opportunity to mold shamrocks into the shape of heads,” said Dr Andrew Alexander, a chemical physicist at the University of Edinburgh. “If you do it without thinking, you'll end up with a thick, baggy, bulging head. No one wants that!”
Mr Alexander has previously investigated whether the bubbles in Guinness actually move downwards rather than being an optical illusion (spoiler alert: they do), but he also found that pouring in two batches can also reduce the amount of water in a pint. He said it could affect the flavor.
“It is well known that in drinks like champagne, the interaction between the bubbles and the tongue influences both taste and texture.
“I think if a pint of Guinness had a compact, uniform head and small bubbles of similar size, it would taste and feel better. You ingest some of the foam along with the black liquid, so I think the double pour improves the experience.”
Professor William Lee, a mathematician at the University of Huddersfield, who has also studied the mechanics of Guinness bubbles, agreed there may be good scientific reasons to support the double pour.
“It's easy to believe that to properly finish the head of a pint, you need to wait until all the bubbles have settled in the head before finishing the pint. The small bubbles slowly rise and flow into the glass. “Because of the drag, a pint of Guinness takes much longer than a pint of fizzy beer. I don't want to give an exact time, but a minute or so doesn't seem unreasonable,” Lee said. .
It may be clever marketing, but the adage “good things come to those who wait” has never been more true.