The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 12

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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 fl uid dynamics, a technique
used in designing aircraft and Formula One cars, to
fi gure 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.
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