After a hard day's Continuing Professional Development there's nothing better than an evening of Networking. It's like CPD but with more drinking and less technical stuff.
You can learn a lot when Networking too. As I did recently when I was gobsmacked to hear that Fosters is brewed with an ale yeast. Which given the way beers are generally classified nowadays means not as much lager is drunk in Britain as was thought.
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| Ale or Lager? |
I have pondered on the problems with classification previously. Would it really help anyone if Fosters was reclassified as an ale? I don't actually know what it tastes like, I might have drunk it as sometimes needs must but I can't remember. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't fit the flavour profile and specifications of industrial lager though, which is surely what people buying it are after. Still, I guess I've got another thing I can bore my non-beer geek mates with.
I've only ever had one pint of Fosters, ever. Won it in a "Weakest Link" style competition on a Mark Warner holiday in Sardinia 20 years ago. It was OK to be fair.
ReplyDeleteI just can't remember having it. Tennent's and Carlsberg I definitely have and I've a feeling I've drunk a 5% version of Fosters from a can but I could be mistaken.
DeleteIt doesn't surprise me. Fullers Frontier is another example of a warm-fermented lager, and I've more than once heard that some UK 'lagers' are warm-fermented to high gravity then liquored back.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure someone once told me Guinness now use a lager yeast? Wouldn't surprise me.
ReplyDeleteIn the home brew world there’s a lot of pseudo lager being brewed with kveik Norwegian farmhouse yeast strains. I brewed one recently with Lutra kveik using no temperature control on the fermentation- only took 3 days at around 90F temperature. Goes like the clappers. Very neutral also.
ReplyDeleteForgot to add there’s a paper on it: https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/8/8/410
DeleteThere's some being brewed commercially with kveik too. It's so obviously not lager that it's hilarious and makes you wonder if the brewers think we're stupid.
DeleteYeah I never said it was good lager wise. It’s still beer though and drinkable. The reason I have been using it is that I live in Arizona and temperature control during fermentation is a pain in the arse during the hot months. Also it is very fast. So I can see why commercial brewers would be tempted to try it.
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