Why do the bubbles in Guinness Stout float down?
Dear Cecil: A subject perhaps worth extensive research: Why is it that poured Guinness Stout bubbles appear to float downward in the glass? — Manuel Martinez, Rancho Cordova, California Cecil replies: Spending a lot of time staring at beer glasses, Manuel? Not that you’re the only one. They say Crick and Watson, who discovered the structure of DNA, found daily inspiration at the pubs, and I’ve done some of my best work there myself. Although admittedly my breakthrough, instead of the double helix, was discovering Stroh’s spelled backwards was “shorts.” I’m not a big drinker of Guinness, which always seemed to me like something you’d pour on pancakes. But dadgummit, this is the Straight Dope. I bought a bottle of Guinness Stout at the supermarket and got a genuine tapered pub-style beer glass given to me by my brother-in-law’s English wife. (I recognize that Guinness is made in Ireland, not England, but it was the best I could do.) I poured the stout into the glass and observed the bubb
