Tapping a pint of Guinness with a coin...?

breadmonkey

One of the lads in convinced you can tell when a pint has settled based on the sound the glass makes when struck with a coin.

i.e.
When you first get the pint you give the glass a little tap with a coin and generally hear a "clunk".

Then if you wait a minute or two and tap the glass again you should get a "clink", and the pint is "ready".

Now I have heard the difference in sound but I don't know if it's placebo or even if the change in sound actually coincides with the instant the pint has settled. Is there any truth to this?

judas101

Ive heard of this but its always sounded like more guinness BS to me.

armour87

is there really a different sound? alternatively you could leave it 3 mins and have a taste!

Bard

Sounds like some sort of old wive's tale to me...

As long as there's nothing wrong with the whole delivery system (i.e.: the temperature, gas ratios, etc. are correct) and you pull a normal pint, it should settle in roughly 2 minutes (Guinness actually say "119 and a half seconds"!), and be ready to be topped off.

oblivious

Some cork relative tried to convince me that was a difference in sound between Murphy's and Beamish with the same trick:rolleyes:

breadmonkey

Just to reiterate that although I questioned whether the effect was placebo, I'm 98% sure that there is in fact a difference in sound!

Bard

breadmonkey, there may well be a difference in sound - but it's not necessarily an accurate way (or a way suggested by Guinness themselves) of telling that the pint has settled.

BeerNut

breadmonkey wrote: »

I'm 98% sure that there is in fact a difference in sound!

So find yourself a quiet pub, a couple of fellow scientists, a tolerant barman, and do a blind test.