Going to give the pin trick ago this evening with a zero, and tomorrow with the O'Hara's (which I think has a widget). I'm 100% convinced it's pure gimmick, like the two part pour, but I'm sucked in nonetheless 😀!
It's not possible for it to alter the taste, but it does affect how it looks. The head will look better and have a better mouth feel. That's about all these things achieve. They're good to try at least.
Picked up a slab as well so am going to try the pin as well. Have a few nitro surge cans as well so going to do a taste test and see if I notice anything.
I've gotten a bit lost at this stage!
So, are there 3 different nitro cans available, now?
1.The widget can. 2.The one that goes in the jewellery cleaner. 3.The one that has the unit put on top to pour.?
Or are 2 and 3 the same product?
Oh, and isn't there a trade only can for the countertop dispenser?
It's rather confusing, isn't it?
Bit like foreign extra/special export/Nigerian Guinness.
Do you think it'll work with a fixed widget? With one that floats on top of the liquid, the gas can be released with minimal effect on the beer beneath. But when the widget is on the bottom, surely the stream of nitrogen flowing up through the can will do its intended job of jiggling the dissolved gas out of the beer?
They're all the same contents. 2 is only sold in the UK, and the counter-machine one is only sold to the trade. I'm sure there are more can shapes and sizes than these four.
Hadn't copped the fixed widget with the O'Hara's until you said and I went to check the fridge! The Hope one I found in the stash is no widget though (I hard poured it at the time, with underwhelming results).
Exactly, that's all the two part pour achieves, either from a can or in the pub. It's not a gimmick, one cannot get a domed head otherwise.
Same 😂
It does work. I've had plenty that were good, some went stale quicker but that's happened with the other cans as well.
I've surged plenty of the OHara and Left Hand cans.
In fact when I got the box originally I still had a crate of the fixed widget Guinness and they seemed to come out better than the other options.
Well if the Nitosurge does work with the standard cans (with the prick trick) that's great given they are a good bit cheaper.
Currently €26 in both Dunnes and Supervalu for a case of the 535ml cans.
Interesting! Have you checked what happens if you just open them normally and surge them, ie does the pin thing actually make a difference?
If you open then it activates. You need to pierce as well, they make a different sound when the gas is draining. More bubbling/rumbling. But it works fine.
So tried the nitrosurge can and the standard can with the piercing/slight open method. As others have said the end result of the standard can with surger is just a much better looking pint, no real bubbles or anything like that and looks the same as the nitro can except it doesn't fill a standard pint glass, that's using the 538 cans they are selling.
The nitro can definitely looks closer to a pub pint, I'm not convinced there's a massive taste difference but they did taste slightly different. Overall I'm happy enough to use the standard cans with the nitro surger from now on but will definitely throw in the odd six pack of nitro surge cans too.
First attempt at piercing a standard can did not go well, activated the widget and Guinness came flying out of it, 2nd time was fine, could tell the difference in sound.
I had the same experience - first few times with the Guinness Zero were hit and miss. My n=1 that you have to let the can settle before piercing.
Actually, out of the non-surger cans, the O'Hara's Nitro worked best. The Hope nitro (non-widget) was a bit of a disaster to be honest - I assume more nitrogen in it to make up for lack of widget.
fwiw, the father in law reckoned that the nitro surge pint I presented was the nearest he's had to a pub pint out of a can. Only a blind test would ever convince him they taste the same, no need for a two part pour (for taste) etc.
Gave the normal, 568ml widget can a go over the weekend, using the pin trick with the Nitrosurger device.
Defo a creamier head all the way down, but not as nice as the Nitrosurge Cans. Not as thick / creamy.
Still, hard to walk past 24 cans for €24!
This abomination didn't even come out of a can 😲
What % of the posts on sh1tlondonguinness are fabricated?
I get that some bar staff haven't a clue, but why tf would anyone accept the pints that are being served up like the ones on that account.
TBH, i'd say the person in the tweet above have asked for the pint like that, solely so they could post on social media.
The tweeter is a barman. Doesn't mean its a real order, but they didn't have to ask for the pint!
Also, some of the "abominations" look perfectly fine to me. Sometimes, it's just in a non Guinness pint glass. It is a really good expression of the bolloxology that surrounds Guinness. Reminds me of the guy on here a few years ago saying that we were all spelling it wrong because we weren't typing GUINNESS! T
The Nitro Surge devices are in SuperValu this week if anyone is looking for one. Just picked one up myself
Did the pin thing and then the surger with an O'Hara's nitro red over the weekend, and looked (and tasted) really well! It's actually more consistent with the O'Hara's than the floating widget so far - you really have to let the floating widget sit before piercing. I'm surprised they haven't followed up the Zero and Nitrosurge with Nitrosurge zero cans, given they have the bigger cans for the on trade - change of can top is all that's needed?
Anyway, one win for Diageo is my father in law had me buy a pack of the nitrosurge cans for our weekend man cave drinks.
What's availability of the nitrosurge cans like these days? Haven't been looking for any for a few weeks, back then only O'Briens seemed to have them.
My local SuperValu had them at the weekend.
They seem to be everywhere. I have seen them in Tesco, Supervalu, Dunnes and Centra.
I picked one up in supervalu this week, id guess they want as many of them out in time for christmas. $$$
i think its great personally, but one thing I cant quite perfect is the my heads seem to be a little shallow, nice dome etc but the cream could be a smidge larger, anyone experiencing the same?
Try surging for longer maybe? Not sure you’ll get much more of a head on it than that though
The amount of foam is largely a function of temperature. If you want a thicker head, serve the beer slightly warmer.
Had a near room temperature one by mistake and the head was about an inch and a half . Ridiculous looking yolk. Knew as soon as it was poured that the temp was way off.
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