Guiness Bottles

[dave8274]

Is there a trick to getting those plastic torpedos out of Guiness bottles so you can reuse them?

Thanks!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Why would you want to re-use those plastic thingys?



Try sliding a hankerchief down inside the bottle and get the get the thingy onto it while holding the bottle sideways. You should be able to pull it out that way. Let me know if you figure out a way to get the nitrogen back inside them.

 

[Walker]

Let me know if you figure out a way to get the nitrogen back inside them.

One more time... sing along if you know the words.

There is no nitrogen in the widget. The widget is placed empty (or, more accurately, full of air) into the bottle/can and the beer is added. Then, a drop of liquid nitrogen is added to the brew and the container sealed.

The nitrogen starts to evaporate, increasing pressure in the container. This forces beer into the widget through the one little tiny hole, compressing the air that was in the widget to begin with.

When the bottle/can is opened, the pressure is released, and the compressed air in the widget pushes the beer out of the little hole with jet-force. This stream of bear knocks all of the teeny bubbles of CO2 out of solution and creates the creamy head.

-walker

PS: All of this information comes from having read the patent on the widget, which is available on-line.

PSS: Obligatory text, signing and smiley from my son; JIUUUIUUOUO9UIU
GARRON

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Well. Okay then.

I sit corrected.

 

[Walker]

Well. Okay then.

I sit corrected.

Sorry if I came off like a hard ass there. It wasn't my intention. (After re-reading my comment, I thougt it sounded harsh.)

On a related note: I've been wanting to try and re-use them myself without the nitrogen, but there were some discussions on here about whether the pressure created from regular bottle conditioning would be enough to push the beer into the widget. The general consensus is that it wouldn't work.... but I still want to try it!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Meh, if I thought you had sounded too harsh, I would have banned you. :cross:

 

[Walker]

Meh, if I thought you had sounded too harsh, I would have banned you. :cross:

Help! Help! I'm being repressed. Come see the violence inherent in the system!

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Bloody peasant!

 

[wstein]

I reuse guinness bottles all the time, and I remove the widget by shaking the bottle hard and wedging the widget in the neck of the bottle. Then I reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull it out. Easy peasy.

 

[runhard]

[On a related note: I've been wanting to try and re-use them myself without the nitrogen, but there were some discussions on here about whether the pressure created from regular bottle conditioning would be enough to push the beer into the widget. The general consensus is that it wouldn't work.... but I still want to try it![/QUOTE]

Liquid nitrogen is a little more difficult to come across and plus it is flippin' cold and somewhat difficult to dispense but would solid CO2 work in nitrogen's place. Dry-ice sublimates fairly quickly and would definitely have the capacity to fill the widget with beer. There would need to be some empirical determinations done with replicates of certain masses of dry ice to uncover which mass works best and more importantly don't cause dangerous explosion hazards. So as to not waste beer unless it is a millerbudcoors product, I could place water in a bottle, add different amounts of dry-ice, cap the bottles and place individual bottles under a 5-gallon bucket with a brick on top and wait.........standing a good 25 feet away. On second thought, way to dangerous for me. I have a pressure gauge that will fit the bottle opening. I could measure the pressure without capping which would be safer. Any ideas how much pressure is in a widgetized Guinness bottle?

 

[Walker]

I have no idea what the pressure is, but I think you will run into issues using CO2 because of the solubility of that gas. The Nitrogen barely dissolves, so the gas just creates pressure in the bottle and doesn't affect the beer. If you get enough CO2 pressure to activate the widget, you're also going to end up with a lot of CO2 in solution in your beer, and the stout will be over-carbonated.

-walker

Liquid nitrogen is a little more difficult to come across and plus it is flippin' cold and somewhat difficult to dispense but would solid CO2 work in nitrogen's place. Dry-ice sublimates fairly quickly and would definitely have the capacity to fill the widget with beer. There would need to be some empirical determinations done with replicates of certain masses of dry ice to uncover which mass works best and more importantly don't cause dangerous explosion hazards. So as to not waste beer unless it is a millerbudcoors product, I could place water in a bottle, add different amounts of dry-ice, cap the bottles and place individual bottles under a 5-gallon bucket with a brick on top and wait.........standing a good 25 feet away. On second thought, way to dangerous for me. I have a pressure gauge that will fit the bottle opening. I could measure the pressure without capping which would be safer. Any ideas how much pressure is in a widgetized Guinness bottle?

 

[runhard]

My oversight, good call. I was just getting excited to try an experiment.

 

[Walker]

My oversight, good call. I was just getting excited to try an experiment.

It wasn't my call. I was over-excited about trying it, too, and someone pointed out the issue to me.

 

[chillHayze]

I reuse guinness bottles all the time, and I remove the widget by shaking the bottle hard and wedging the widget in the neck of the bottle. Then I reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers and pull it out. Easy peasy.

I do it this way as well. Guinness draft bottles are awesome. The label simply peels off, and they are nice and curvy

 

[Igorstien]

I do it this way as well. Guinness draft bottles are awesome. The label simply peels off, and they are nice and curvy

Agreed....Outside of the Cornys, Guinness bottles are what I use as well. I'm not much of a stout drinker, so I had to convince a friend to drink 10 dozen or so, so I could have the bottles......

IGOR