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21st Oct 2020

Diageo confirm Guinness cans will temporarily no longer have the floating widget

Rudi Kinsella

guinness widget

And as you might imagine, lovers of the drink claim it tastes very different.

Diageo has confirmed that Guinness cans no longer have the floating widget, thanks to Covid-19.

Seemingly on a mission to destroy any sense of joy in our lives, Covid has now taken the Guinness widget (the floating device found in the can), with Diageo confirming that it has run into supply issues.

In a statement issued to Liveline, Diageo said: “As a temporary measure, we reverted to a fixed widget system in our can formats until production of the floating widget returns.

“The fixed widget can is slightly smaller at 470mls.

“This temporary change was made simply to ensure the supply of Guinness Draught in a can – it contains exactly the same Guinness, just in a different can format.”

It said that the company expects to have the floating widget back in production by early 2021, though no exact date was offered.

The statement concluded: “500ml cans with the floating widget are still available in Ireland in the 8-pack format.”

This came after a customer called into Liveline complaining that his 400ml can of Guinness that he consumed at the weekend tasted different, and had less in it.

You can read Diageo’s statement in full here: