Guinness from a can will soon pour like Guinness from a tap. Thanks to a plate-shaped device called the “Surger.”
Guinness wholesalers are on the verge of placing the $25 unit into bars that serve the Irish import from the bottle or can rather than from the tap. After Guinness is poured into a glass, the pint is placed on the Surger. The bartender pushes a button to activate sound waves, which pass through the liquid creating gas bubbles and ultimately the familiar cascading effect typical of a Guinness pint poured from draught we all know and love.
“It gives me a new talking point that I can bring to my customers, which is good for us,” one U.S. wholesaler said.
Guinness has long secured tap handles in bars around the world, but has been trying to lift its packaged beer, which currently sees less than steller sales. Efforts have included the 2001 introduction of Guinness Draught in a Bottle, nicknamed in the trade as “the $13 million bottle”. That figure referred to the research, development and testing expense behind the Rocket Widget inside that released nitrogen with each pour.
Although one wholesaler on the east coast complained that his fulfillment of Surger orders has been delayed, he likes the idea and foresees the Surger eventually becoming available to consumers so they can drink a draught-like Guinness at home.
