Bottling Beer on Nitro

[Vale71]

Seems like a hollow vessel with a very small hole in it and that's about it. As the liquid nitrogen evaporates and expands inside the sealed can/bottle, some is forced inside the widget to balance the pressures. The widget isn't at a different pressure than the rest of the package at that point. When the pressure drops on opening, that nitrogen that was forced into the widget is jetted back out into the beer to again rebalance the pressures. If I understand correctly.

Correct except that the liquid N2 is placed inside the widget at packaging (for which you obviously need specialized equipment). If you just added a drop of N2 to the can it would all end up in the headspace and none of it could get into the widget which is submerged at the bottom of the can, so that it can make nice tiny N2 bubbles as it releases its payload upon opening.

 

[Broothru]

That's where the liquid nitrogen comes in. It takes a while for the liquid nitrogen to evaporate and for pressure inside the gadget to increase past the bursting point and by then the can is filled and sealed and pressure inside the can is already higher than the pressure inside the widget preventing it from bursting.

OK, that makes additional sense. What is still unclear to my mechanical brain is the "how" liquid N gets injected into the widget (obviously low temperature/high pressure) and then gets into the packaging container and sealed up without bursting, as it will do when the container is opened before serving.

 

[Vale71]

Liquid nitrogen has no pressure until it starts warming up and evaporates. By then the can is sealed and internal pressure has built up preventing the widget from bursting prematurely (premature nitrogenation? ).

 

[Broothru]

Liquid nitrogen has no pressure until it starts warming up and evaporates. By then the can is sealed and internal pressure has built up preventing the widget from bursting prematurely (premature nitrogenation? ).

Oh yeah. My "Duh."

My powers of deduction can be slow, but at least they're faulty!