My first Magazine SFI Little Book - April Re-print edits included | Page 8

4 5 The Science Behind the Perfect Pint As a freshly drawn pint of Guinness settles in a pint glass, small bubbles in the stout sink, rather than rising like the larger bubbles do in lagers. Researchers at the Science Foundation Ireland-funded Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry at the University of Limerick used computational fluid dynamics, a technique used in designing aircraft and Formula One cars, to figure out why. They found the narrow-ended shape of the traditional pint glass is a key factor in the downward pull of those nitrogen bubbles as the Guinness settles. www.macsi.ul.ie