Talk:Foster's Lager

Where did you get the 4% in Europe?
I am looking at a can bought in a normal chain supermarket (Auchan) in Warsaw, Poland and it clearly states 5.0%. And the can has writings in most European languages on it. At least those of Eastern Europe (Czech, Greek etc). I'm to lazy to do research, but this clearly is wrong, so someone who likes editing Wiki entries should do some — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.253.123.150 (talk) 18:19, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Added reference to Fosters Group
Hey I'm not a regular contributor, but I thought there should be some mention of Fosters Group. I googled "Fosters" looking for the wiki page on Fosters Group and the only link was to this article. I clicked that link hoping to click through to the Fosters Group, but with no luck. The opening paragraph now says that it's a Fosters Group product. m4ps 7:27, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Picture size
Somebody ought to shrink the size of the picture. Even a beer as good as Foster's shouldn't be allowed that much space on a wikipedia article. =P wongabird 02:04, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Not Suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians
They use fish swim bladders called isinglass to clarify Foster's Lager so it is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians. I have added a reference. 62.3.70.68 11:33, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Point removed due to fish used in virtually every lager. Dr Wong 07:29, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Removed Unfortunately from this sentence: "Unfortunately this resulted in the alcoholic strength of the local product being reduced from 5% ABV to about 4% ABV." Spaaarkz

Does any big brewery still use isinglass/gelatin clarifier? I doubt it. Preservatives, Pasteurization, and filtering make the brew clean enough.203.219.69.161 (talk) 04:55, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Popularity in Australia
Some clown removed this section which I have re-instated as it presents an accurate story about how Fosters became unpopular in its own Birthplace! I take it that the vandal works for CUB. Also altered an inaccurate statement that Heineken is an imported beer in Australia. Not so, it is brewed here under licence by Lion Nathan. Also note that licence, in British and Australian usage, is a noun, as in 'driver's licence'. The form license is a verb... e.g 'licensed to kill'. --MichaelGG 11:32, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Further strengthened this section by including some refs as to Fosters Groups "preferred beers" in Australia, plus a link to an interview with the current operations manager at the Yatala Brewery (Formerly the Powers Brewery mentioned in this section). Powers was pre-internet so very few references to it still exist, although CUB trots out Powers Gold in 30 can blocks as a Christmas special.--MichaelGG 05:57, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

Re: the article's statement that Foster's will continue to be produced in Australia for 'at least for sentimental reasons', I find that unlikely. My belief is the real reason is they can't keep marketing it overseas as the quintessentially Aussie beer if it's no longer sold in Australia at all. Yeah, I know, original research, I'm a cynic, all that. Kelly holden (talk) 21:03, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

2000 MARKETING PRICE CUT?
 * I was told when backpacking in Australia in 2001/'02 that in order to preserve the "Australian for beer" image during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the price of a slab (box of 24 cans) of Foster's was reduced to below that of VB (Victoria Bitter). Is this just an urban legend?
 * Mojowiha (talk) 16:39, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Fosters pint.jpg
Image:Fosters pint.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. [Confusing uninformative waffle and threats deleted.] BetacommandBot (talk) 20:19, 13 February 2008 (UTC)
 * A rationale has now been placed on the image page. Pdfpdf (talk) 09:26, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

dog flavour
Question about Foster's: It is more or less similar to American beers, with one important difference: It has a distinctive dog flavor to it. What exactly accounts for this dog flavor and just what is it that makes the dog flavor so different, so appealing? The rabbit in the suitcase (talk) 20:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)


 * (Sceptical, but "Assuming Good Faith" ...)
 * What is a "dog flavour"? Pdfpdf (talk) 23:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I apologize, I should have been clearer. Of course, I've never tasted dog, per se, but of course everyone is familiar with the smell of dog. As an experiment, you might try a comparison: First, take a taste of your standard issue American beer, say Budweiser or Miller, then a taste of Foster's. Try to pinpoint the difference.

To me, the difference is dog flavor. Now what is dog flavor? It's a certain je sais quoi I might describe as the flavor of an American lager steeped with dog. That is to say, imagine taking a vat of Budweiser, allowing a small pack of dogs to swim in it, filtering, then bottling. I believe the result would bear a striking similarity to Foster's.

Now obviously, Foster's probably does not use this approach to achieve their distinctive flavor. But what do they do instead? That's what I'd like to know. The rabbit in the suitcase (talk) 22:01, 1 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Mmmmmm. I see. Thank you for clarifying that you did, indeed, mean exactly what you said.
 * I presume you're aware that a dog may have several smells? (e.g. wet dog, dusty dog, freshly washed dog, etc.)
 * Is the flavour you're referring to associated with any particular dog smell, or just "generic dog"?
 * But I digress. In answer to your original question, I believe it's something to do with the grain/yeast combination. I will investigate further, but it's difficult to find Foster's in Australia these days, and American-made Foster's probably tastes different anyway; certainly British-made Foster's has a different taste to Australian-made Foster's. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 01:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * And yes, I imagine a dog flavoured beer would have a certain je ne sais quoi. Pdfpdf (talk) 01:13, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Ah, I seem to have left out a crucial "ne." Had it a certain je sais quoi, I suppose I wouldn't be asking after it.

As to what sort of dog, I suppose I was thinking something between dusty dog and just-finished-playing-frisbee dog, not so much a freshly washed dog. Of course, the procedure I describe above would certainly result in a wet dog, but a dog wet with beer would pretty obviously smell and probably taste like whatever beer it's been in, so it's not much of a way to describe the beer itself. The rabbit in the suitcase (talk) 23:05, 2 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I would suspect the water used by the various breweries makes the difference. As I was a teen, the local Budweiser used water from the Merrimack River. Before the Clean Water Act, one could make beer from the water but not swim in it. Frothing rabid dog corpse flavour would have been an improvement. Considered superior at the time was Carling's Larger ("Hey, Maybel, Black Label"), brewed from the water in Lake Cochituate. Imagine my surprise in the 1990's to find Carling's Black Label Ice for sale in London: quite tasty but a different flavour. jmcw (talk) 08:09, 3 April 2008 (UTC)


 * But of course! It's most unlikely that the recipies would be different; much more likely to be due to the local water. (And local health regulations?)
 * Also, when I was young, I read a delightful little book called "We keep a pub". (I still have it somewhere, but can't put my hand on it at the moment.) It told of a number of factors affecting the flavour of beer in British pubs. However, I assume you're referring to Foster's-in-cans, so that's not relevant here. Pdfpdf (talk) 17:09, 3 April 2008 (UTC)


 * More likely the hops. Australian beers use hops such as Pride of Ringwood that are unknown in the USA. For many years Fosters Brewing Group have used hop extract rather than boiling the hops in the wort and maybe export the necessary extract (which is very compact compared to fresh hops) to the USA. When living in England prior to migrating to Australia, Fosters struck me as having a distinctive 'aniseed' or 'caraway' twang. I don't notice it now as it tastes almost identical to the other Fosters Group offerings such as Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught, so my taste buds have obviously adapted. --MichaelGG (talk) 04:44, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Bat's Piss
I would describe it more as a taste of "Bat's Piss". Having said that I have not tasted it for over 15 years as I am Australian : ) 129.127.28.3 (talk) 04:27, 5 February 2010 (UTC)


 * We need more elucidation: does it taste like US Carlsbad bat piss or Australian bat piss?
 * Or, like hops, are there multiple regional varieties?
 * Where did you become an aficionado of bat piss? jmcw (talk) 08:19, 5 February 2010 (UTC)


 * OK, you haven't tasted Foster's for over 15 years. I can understand that. (e.g. The last time I drank Foster's was out of a so-called "oil-can" in Boston in 1979.)
 * But how long is it since you've tasted bat's piss?
 * And yes, I agree with John - What sort of bat's piss does (did?) Foster's taste like? (When?) Pdfpdf (talk) 12:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

When?
Other than the British draft Foster's, has  anyone  tasted Foster's in the last decade? Pdfpdf (talk) 12:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

I consumed F during 1975-90 in Australia, 1990s in the US, and recently in UK. The original F was a light colored pils with medium hop bite and very gassy. The US-brewed version lacked the hop bite and had some 6-row barley, detracting from the Australian version. The UK version is darker (using a % of Golden Promise??), much less bite and much lower gassing; i.e. the normal UK beer style. What is now brewed in Melbourne is the UK version. It is no better or worse than the original, but is noticeably different to the original.193.116.124.192 (talk) 01:58, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

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Oil Cans and bad grammar
User:Pigsmart has noted that Foster's marketing agency can not constuct a grammatical sentence. I would agree, but for different reasons.

Pigsmart's comment: ''There is a grammatical error in Foster Premium Ale's most recent online advertising campaign. It reads, "As Premium As Drinking From Oil Can Gets," instead of, "As Premium as Drinking From Oil Can Get."'' i.e. Pigsmart interprets it as: "As premium as drinking from oil, can get". It doesn't make much sense, but it is grammatically correct.

I expect the marketers are trying to be "extremely clever" and allude to the times when Foster's was sold in America in U.S. 1 quart cans, which were the same size and shape as the cans that oil was sold in. Hence, I interpret it as: "As premium as drinking from oil cans, gets".
 * Or perhaps, "As premium as drinking from an oil can gets"? Pdfpdf (talk) 03:02, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Whatever the case, the original grammar is wrong. Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 02:49, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Follow up: Pdfpdf (talk) 02:58, 20 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Google search on foster's "oil can" (60,500 hits)
 * I can't find a reference to this new slogan. Can anyone else?


 * No luck here.-- Metalhead94 TC 16:37, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Lager
Foster's Lager. See also Lager. Not see also beer, beverage or bull piss. jmcw (talk) 16:35, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

History
There must be better information available than this. At present the History section starts with the beer's introduction into the UK in the 1960s. Obviously the beer existed already. The article doesn't answer such basic questions as when it first produced in Australia. Qemist (talk) 01:33, 23 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Dead right, the original article was written entirely from a UK point of view. The beer as far as I know was introduced in Australia around the time of the First World War - will do some digging --MichaelGG (talk) 13:40, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

The beer started in Melb by the American Foster brothers, circa 1885. They returned to the US a few years later. Incorporated into the CUB group circa 1906. Similar style Crown Lager started 1919, but neither beer is mainstream, as Australians much prefer red ales. Lagers did not become mainstream until the mid 50s. Fosters Lager does not seems to be brewed in Aus anymore, only Light Ice. Fosters Special "green" was popular in the late 80s and 90s, and was superior to the lager.220.244.84.192 (talk) 02:40, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Seems like their latest advertising campaign is highly dubious, in light of the above remarks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.113.57.163 (talk) 15:35, 16 July 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 one external links on Foster's Lager. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150627032158/http://www.sabmiller.com/sabmiller.com/en_gb/News+and+media/News+releases/Group+news/SABMiller+acquires+Fosters+India.htm to http://www.sabmiller.com/sabmiller.com/en_gb/News+and+media/News+releases/Group+news/SABMiller+acquires+Fosters+India.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120326002056/http://www.scottish-newcastle.com/snplc/media/news/2006/2006-05-17/ to http://www.scottish-newcastle.com/snplc/media/news/2006/2006-05-17/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20090817140834/http://www.talkingretail.com:80/products/product-news/12721-fosters-returns-to-its-advertising-roots.html to http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/12721-fosters-returns-to-its-advertising-roots.html

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External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 3 one external links on Foster's Lager. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20160202201926/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/14/bloomberg/sxfosters.php. to http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/14/bloomberg/sxfosters.php.
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20120621051642/http://fosters.co.uk:80/tagged/The_Fast_Show to http://www.fosters.co.uk/tagged/The_Fast_Show
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20140705121928/http://fosters.co.uk:80/good-call to http://fosters.co.uk/good-call

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The amber nectar
I have added the url https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-14244968 for citation, please review — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meme Lord 519 (talk • contribs) 09:20, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

Articles need coordination
I don't have time for this now, but there seem to be some contradictions and lack of updating among four articles which need to be kept in sync: This one, Foster's Group, CUB and (since June 2020), Asahi. Also, Lion seems to distribute Foster's in NZ. (Lion) Laterthanyouthink (talk) 10:11, 18 December 2020 (UTC)