Thread: Gary Foster's Beers

Gary Foster, as some of you may know, home brews beer. He sent me a couple bottles to try. I've tried one so far, and here's my review. The beer reviewed is his 70 Shilling. Now understand, I am no beer connoiseur...I love the stuff, and drink as much of it as the budget will allow , but I'm basically uneducated when it comes to what makes a good beer good, and how to define that "goodness" in technical terms. If it tastes good (or it's free ) I'll drink it. I'll save you, the reader, the suspense, and tell you that even to a non "beer snob", this stuff is reeally good.

I followed Gary's suggestion, and served myself the beer at around 40 degrees, rather than ice cold, which is the only way to drink most American beer (at least the mass-brewed A-B & Miller stuff)

The head on this beer was amazing. Actually, it was aggravating, because I had a layer of light foam 3 inches thick for around five minutes. Every time I tried to drink it, I wound up with a "milk moustache". I'm told that's a good thing.

The taste was even better than the head. (I can't believe I just said anything was better than head It was very similar to Sam Adams, both in color and taste, but didn't seem to have the very bitter aftertaste I normally find with Sam Adams. Seemed to me to be a bit sweeter (very very slightly) and smoother, as well. I love Samuel Adams beer, so for me, it's a great accolade.

This is not a beer to drink after mowing the lawn and wanting something cool and refreshing. This is a beer to enjoy all by its lonesome, with no distractions, or with an exquisite meal, to accentuate the flavors, like some people drink good wine.

This was probably a poor review (and makes true beer connoiseurs cringe), but the bottom line is this: I loved this beer, and will get more when I can. It's wonderful stuff, and I hope Gary does very well with it. He sent me a bottle of the "Junkyard Dog" beer, too, and I'll review it in the future.

P.S. It's definitely got a bit more kick than your average American lager. One bottle gave me a little lightheaded feeling I really liked. lol Normally, it takes 3 Miller High Lifes...either Gary put a little hemp juice in the beer, or maybe it's because I guzzle the others and they hit all at once. lol

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

It was very similar to Sam Adams, both in color and taste, but didn't seem to have the very bitter aftertaste I normally find with Sam Adams. Seemed to me to be a bit sweeter (very very slightly) and smoother, as well. I love Samuel Adams beer, so for me, it's a great accolade.

The Sam Adams is actually one of the American beers I have had and it's a pretty nice one to my taste as well. I associate its bitterness only with mass brewing techniques. There is something similar about all beers brewed that way to me. It's something I've started to notice since moving on to natural and micro brews.

Originally Posted by Joe Chandler

P.S. It's definitely got a bit more kick than your average American lager. One bottle gave me a little lightheaded feeling I really liked. lol Normally, it takes 3 Miller High Lifes...either Gary put a little hemp juice in the beer, or maybe it's because I guzzle the others and they hit all at once. lol

Well I'm a Canuck so I'm used to a little more kick, but it sounds to me like you're describing something in the 7% range. It might not be possible to be exact but I bet he could ballpark it. What do you say Gary?

Sounds like just the sort of beer I'd like. I can't wait to hear about the Junkyard Dog.

X

Thanks for the kind words, Joe.

I think the "bitterness" you guys are detecting in mass produced stuff is an artifact of the production process. It's far different than a hop bitterness. You need a good amount of hop bitterness to balance out the sweet of the malt, if you don't it can end up extremely sweet and cloying. The bitterness you're running into isn't the normal kind of hop bitterness, though, I've noticed it before and it's almost got a metallic twang to it. I think hand crafted beers in general (be they home brewed or craft brewed in small breweries) tend to avoid that because there's a lot less automation and machinery in the process. When I formulate my recipes (and I brew my own recipes almost exclusively) I try very hard to balance all the different characteristics I'm going for and honestly most commercial beers are either so lightly flavored there's nothing to balance or they push them way out of balance in order to make a point.

I will have to say though that the AB brewers are some of the most technically proficient in the world (yes even compared to Europe, etc). The style of beer they brew has so little to hide any flaws that if it's not technically flawless any mistake will stick out like a sore thumb. I help new homebrewers all the time and invariably the first thing they say is "I want to brew budweiser" and I have to explain to them that it's incredibly hard to brew that style of beer and to nail it. That being said, I still don't like Bud

I'm glad you liked the 70 shilling. I will have to tell you though, that the 70 shilling came in at 3.7% ABV (alcohol by volume) which is lower than normal beers. The Junkyard Dog is an American style brown that is just a skosh above 5% ABV. I generally brew in the 4% to 5% range with only the occasional sortie above that (I have an IPA in the fermenter right now that should clock in close to 8% when all is said and done). I think the big difference is that you were sipping it and enjoying it, and honestly most people get a little bit of a buzz of homebrew quicker because they're taking their time and enjoying it.

That beer has done pretty well for me thus far with several firsts including a first round gold medal in the nationals. The junkyard dog has not done well in competitions though because it's not strictly "to style", it's not quite as hoppy as a normal american brown and I get dinged points for that. However, when all is said and done, the junkyard dog is a better beer in my opinion and is one of my favorites. Everyone seems to love it, it's just that when you brew competitively you have to hit very specific style marks and even if it's the best beer in the world it won't do well if you don't. I'm hoping you'll enjoy it.

-- Gary F.

well i certainly got a thirst reading the previous posts and i must say that homebrewing is not as big where I live as it used to be, we had a few little wee breweries up here that folks did in their shed and sold..( only reason I remember is cos my father used to enjoy it ) but i have never tried a homebrew 70 shilling, and i must say that it sounds pretty good,

the beers I drink when im out at the pub are mostly dark beers, 80 shilling and the likes, or heavy as the locals used to call it, any of you guys who have travelled to scotland and the other bits will know what kind of beers we drink in this neck of the woods. I find them easier to drink and they usually go quite well with a few drams of whatever Im drinking.

On my travels to the inlaws in NC I found i quite liked the darker beers that are produced in the states and even a few of the micro-breweries in New Orleans produced a few good ones, one which was almost identical to Mcewens Export, the name escapes me, im sure there are loads of these type of beers around.

Well im not an educated drinker, just a good one on the occasion and i just wanted to chip in with my tuppence worth and say that your posts were well interesting and making my mouth water...hic...

simon

Simon,

I miss the beer in Scotland a great deal. Tennant's Lager is horrible swill, and it turns a lot of people off Scottish beers. I wish we had proper pubs with decent beers over here, but it's just not in the culture for the most part.

I think my favorite beers that you could find most places in Scotland were Belhaven's 80/~ and 90/~, although I'd take a real ale anywhere I could find it. The Bon Accord and the Three Judges in Glasgow were my locals, and there was a fantastic beer shop just down the street from me (Kelvinbridge in Glasgow) called The Cave that sold all manner of wonderful things.

I miss it!

Gary, do you ever plan to sell your custom brews....??

Colleen

Well, I can't sell my homebrew, they'll throw me under the jail for that. I could go into business and start my own commercial operation and I've considered doing that (brewing for a brewpub or the like) but the profit margin is pretty slim for one thing and the paperwork is pretty outrageous. If I wanted to start my own microbrewery instead I'd need about $400k in operating capital in order to get it open and beer out the door and I don't have that kind of change lying around in my couch cushions I do use my homebrew for barter though. I trade homebrew for all sorts of things, it's amazing what you can get for a sixer of high quality hooch.

What I have done is brewed *with* a local brewmaster at a brewpub. We brewed up a batch of my 70 shilling (that Joe loved so much) and they are selling it on tap at a local brewpub. I don't get a dime from it, but JJ and Morgan provide me with free beer when I show up thirsty so it works out in the end.

Going pro is a big step. A lot of the best craft brewers started out as homebrewers and there are pretty strong ties between the craft and home brewing communities. The Great American Beer Festival just added a "pro-am" category specifically to address this, where pro brewers work directly with homebrewers to brew their recipes on a commercial scale and then compete against each other. It's a pretty tightly knit community if you want it to be and I may someday go pro but only if a brick falls on my head first or I trip and land in a huge pile of money

Opening a new microbrewery is a great way to turn a lot of money into a little bit of money in a hurry heh.

-- Gary F.

I have an extract recipe I'm going to try this fall, a coffee stout.

I don't have the equipment or the time to do all grain, but I do go to a buddy's house and brew all grain....last batch was a hop milk shake IPA that took second in a local competition

Congrats on that win! Unfortunately a lot of all grain brewers "look down" on extract brewers and I can't figure out why. I have had some absolutely world class beers made from extract. All grain brewers sometimes like to think they are more knowledgeable or "better" or something and they like to pretend like it's hard. Well, as I say whenever I'm teaching someone about all grain it's just like making oatmeal, it's not rocket science.

I'm in a fairly large homebrew club (one of the larger ones in northern california) and we've got top notch brewers. Some of those are all grain, some are extract and some are waffling on the fence waiting to jump. We do a lot of tech sessions and are pretty focused on helping everyone refine whatever process is right for them.

I do think I put out a better product as an all grain brewer but only because I'm a control nut when it comes down to it and it gives me much finer grained control over my product. I've had 50 point beers made by extract brewers and 10 point beers made by all grain brewers, so it's not the process it's the brewer! I've also made some pretty bad clunkers in my time and although I haven't poured a batch out in a long time I've put stuff back and drank it myself as penance instead of inflicting it on my friends

-- Gary F.

Gary, have you thought about entering the contest that Sam Adams is running?