I split a Ommegang Holiday pack (Hennepin, Three Philosophers, Chocolate Indulgence) with my dad tonight. Included was an official Ommegang glass. As I enjoyed my Hennepin saison, I noticed a distinct trail of bubbles continuously rising to the top of my glass-directly from the middle of the "pointed" bottom of the glass and focused just from that point. While not experienced with laser-etched widgets in my glasses, I do know what they are, however, I have not seen them in a chalice-shaped glass. Does anyone know if that is indeed a widget? After I finished, I did notice what looked like a very small engraving at the bottom of the glass. No luck with a google search or perusing the Ommegang website..
The first brewery I was aware of that laser etched the bottom of their glass is Duvel on their tulip. It's designed to promote carbonation. Not sure if they were the first.
Definietly not a widget - those are the plastic doohickeys in the Guinness cans and bottles that release the nitro into the beer. What you're looking at (as others said) is the nucleation point. Collecting and releasing the bubbles is what it;s there for.
