Dublin Travel Forum

What is the percentage of alcohol in my Guinness draught with the rocket widget? I've combed the label and cannot find that information.

Are you American? Our alcohol laws don't require the placing of alcohol levels on bottles and cans, perhaps because the vendors don't want it there and perhaps because the authorities are afraid that people will just buy beer with the strongest kick (i.e., malt liquor), even when it has little flavor or finesse.

Look at http://www.realbeer.com/edu/health/calories.php where it lists the alcohol content of many beers. Note that I read that Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is not available in the US (but this was a marketing decision, not a legal one, so may change), so the number of about 4.0 +- whatever is probably close to what we get in the can. Guinness stout is normally not nearly so alcoholic as one would think, based on the darkness of the beer...my brother would describe this beer as full of 'nonfermentable solids', which means that there's plenty of stuff in the beer that raises the specific gravity, but doesn't become alcohol...make sense?

Bill

From my memory, Guinness is the same as other strong beers, I have of heard of 'the rocket widget'.

Sorry, meant to say I have NOT heard of the rocket widget.

The 'rocket widget' is a device that they put into cans of 'draught' Guinness to insert a mixture of nitrogen and CO2 into the beer as you open it, since much of the mouth feel of the head is due to the beer being infused with something like a 60% nitrogen/40% CO2 mix, leading to smaller, denser bubbles.

From the same website as I listed above, look at the press release at http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-001458.php for when they released in the US the same widget in bottles (it had previously been available only in cans)...

Bill

Just looked at the cans in my fridge - which state alcohol is 4.1% vol.

Well, I guess that tells us that the UK laws permit/require stating the alcohol content...sounds right in any case...

Bill