Why do some beers float in water but others sink?

Question

I put two different brands of beer into a tub of water to keep them cool. One type sank to the bottom but others floated?

Answer 1

I think it's a question of what type of beer they are... it's a very broad category.

A Bitter/ale for instance is not fizzy, and thus does not contain the amount of air that would support the fine brew. A lager though is full of gas, both within the product and space in the can, and will float quite nicely. The widget in bitter may also weigh down some brands and of course you have to compare cans to bottles... the weight of glass for instance may overpower any 'fizz' that is contained within a lager.

So, a standard sized can of lager, i.e. Fosters, Carling, Stella etc should float very, very nicely... a bitter, i.e. John Smiths, or a glass bottle of lager though will sink...

That's as near as my GCSE physics will allow. x

Answer 2

Its possibly the Final Gravity may have something to do with it. When beer is done fermenting there always remains un-ferment able adjuncts and sugars this would slightly impact the weight. The ABV may also affect this as alcohol is less dense than water.

Other possibilities, the container could have been heavier The original temperature of the two beers, if different keep in mind Cold liquids are more dense so it would sink Hot liquids are less dense and they rise. If one brand held more CO2 this could also affect buoyancy.

Thats all I can think of right now

Answer 3

The amount of gas dissolved in the beer is not very significant. Beer cans may be able to float because of the gas space above the liquid. If one can is fuller than another then it will have less buoyancy caused due to this gas.

Answer 4

Yes root beer floats with a nice generous scoop of vanilla ice cream

Answer 5

If it floats bin it if it sinks drink it .

Answer 6

dude why are you watering down your beer?