Guinness Introduces High-Tech Nitro Stout Innovations

For a brewery that dates back to 1750 Guinness has gotten pretty high-tech lately, especially its new line of nitro-enhancing products that seriously got our attention.

Here’s the deal

Guinness MicroDraught

Billed as the brewery’s biggest innovation since the nitrogen widget was introduced to Guinness cans in 1988, the Guinness MicroDraught system will allow bars and e restaurants around the world to authentically recreate a true draft beer experience without big keg systems and gas lines.

Two years in development, Guinness MicroDraught starts with a “keg so small it comes in a can.” Instead of kegging it in traditional, larger kegs for use in a standard bar set-up, Guinness Draught beer is delivered in unique cans which are engineered to slot into the small  MicroDraught unit.

As described by Diageo, who own the legendary Irish Stout brand, the MicroDraught system uses an air pump (as opposed to a traditional gas cylinder) to drive the liquid out of the can and through the standard Guinness Draughts spout.

We see this as the ability to bring the Guinness draft to places and spaces that we haven’t been able to reach around the world because of the complexity required to deliver pints, in terms of kegs, setup and gas lines,” explains Grainne Wafer, global brand director, Guinness at Diageo. “Our ambition for this is really significant. We believe this is a world-first and it allows us in terms of our global journey to extend out to markets where we weren’t able to bring Guinness draft before.”

Guinness Nitrosurge

While Guinness MicroDraught was introduced to serve smaller bars that don’t have the space for a full-fledged nitro-draught system, Guinness Nitrosurge was developed to bring the pub experience home.

You see at pubs and bars around the world, Guinness Draught is served using the brewery’s famous ‘two-part’ pour. Bartenders pour the Guinness Draught into a glass tilted at 45 degrees, until it is three-quarters full (step one) and allow the surge to settle before filling the glass completely to the top (step two).

Some beer fans swear that this method creates an entirely different drinking experience than the brewery’s nitro-inducing widget. And Guinness Nitrosurge was developed so beer lovers can enjoy the iconic two-part pour at home.

Guinness Nitrosurge is a chargeable hand-sized device that screws onto to the top of special Guinness beer cans made exclusively to pair with the innovative system. The secret of the Nitrosurge device is an ultrasonic transducer with a specifically tuned wavelength and frequency to create the iconic Guinness surge.

You can order the Guinness Nitrosurge device online but unfortunately those special cans, while widely available in Ireland and the UK, are less so in the US.

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(All image credits: Guinness)