We review the differences between bubble formation in champagne and other carbonated drinks, and stout beers which contain a mixture of dissolved nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The presence of dissolved nitrogen in stout beers gives them several properties of interest to connoisseurs and physicists. These remarkable properties come at a price: stout beers do not foam spontaneously and special technology, such as the widgets used in cans, is needed to promote foaming. Nevertheless, the same mechanism, nucleation by gas pockets trapped in cellulose fibers, responsible for foaming in carbonated drinks is active in stout beers, but at an impractically slow rate. This gentle rate of bubble nucleation makes stout beers an excellent model system for investigating the nucleation of gas bubbles. The equipment needed is modest, putting such experiments within reach of undergraduate laboratories. We also consider the suggestion that a widget could be constructed by coating the inside of a beer can with cellulose fibers.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
October 2011
October 01 2011
Foaming in stout beers
W. T. Lee;
W. T. Lee
a)
MACSI, Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of Limerick
, Ireland
Search for other works by this author on:
M. G. Devereux
M. G. Devereux
MACSI, Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of Limerick
, Ireland
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Electronic mail: william.lee@ul.ie
Am. J. Phys. 79, 991–998 (2011)
Article history
Received:
May 12 2011
Accepted:
July 11 2011
Citation
W. T. Lee, M. G. Devereux; Foaming in stout beers. Am. J. Phys. 1 October 2011; 79 (10): 991–998. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3620416
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Sign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionPay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Citing articles via
Related Content
Sinking bubbles in stout beers
Am. J. Phys. (April 2018)
Why do bubbles in Guinness sink?
Am. J. Phys. (February 2013)
Sand Diver
The Physics Teacher (January 2005)
Heat Capacity of Ice at Low Temperatures
J. Chem. Phys. (August 2004)
New JCP Editor
Physics Today (September 1959)