Nope the fosters you can buy in the UK in cans and bottles tends to be produced at Royal Brewery Manchester, in pints from pubs it'll mostly come from Alton, Burton and Tadcaster. Too expensive to ship liquid round the world in tankers especially with CO2 production starting to be a key figure measured by the big brewers. got to show the green credentials. Thats not to say that Poland doesn't produce Fosters as well, they may well do, but its not getting shipped to the uk if they do.
Wasn't all the brewing done at Fountain Bridge off-shored? S&N used to do a very wide selection of beer from there.
I thought it strange to assume that any discussion about alcoholic drinks has to be from a helthcare perspective. This issue here is the big drinks companies making a quick buck by diluting their drinks to reduce their excise duty bills and reducing the quality of a product while increasing margins.
I just thought it was interesting that a brewer was altering certain brands and diluting them for a specific market, the UK. For the record I don't drink any of the beers listed on a regular basis as I am an ale man myself and some of my favorite beers are pretty low ABV anyway (Marstons EPA is a fave and is 3.6%). The only one brand I have a real grudge with is Boddingtons (as technically I am a Manc in excile), as that doesn't resemble the stuff they used to make in Strangeways at all, that may in part be due to reducing its ABV or whatever they do to it now it is made in a field in Wales. It used to be a very very popular beer in the UK. Maybe they should bring back Mel Sykes
nah most was moved to Tyne brewery, except for small scottish specific brands that got moved to Caledonian Brewery down the road. When Tyne got closed some shifted to Dunstan some to Tadcaster. When Heineken took over S&N, a fair few non core brands got sold off to people like Well and Youngs who now own McEwan's. Though I think its keg and cask varieties are still produced at Caledonian Brewery on a contract for Wells and Youngs, bottle varietys are produced down south somewhere. It's just not competetive to ship beers around the globe in large amounts, liquid is heavy and even heavier in glass bottles. A number of imported brands start off as shipping in cases but as the numbers and popularity increase production shifts to a local brewery. Tigers a good example UK bottles now brewed and prodcued in the oriental district of Yorkshire.
It was the Courage that they brewed in reading though im sure someone told me it was fosters, it has been gone a while, though fosters is still awful.
I know Fosters for a time was made at [what was] The Federation Brewery in Dunston [if you look at where the brewery was on Google Maps you can see the fosters tankers] along with Kronenburg and a couple others, IIRC Newcastle Brown Ale was made there for a bit after they pulled the S&N brewery down... feck knows where it's made now... it's not Newcastle [or Gateshead where the Fed was] I know that much... But for most 'non-European' beers like Fosters, Bud and a few others, if you look at the small print on the adverts they say 'Brewed Under License in...', typically the UK, sometimes Holland/Netherlands sometimes it'll just say 'EU'
I have no problem with a mass reduction in ABV, but I drink to enjoy it rather than get drunk. That's not to say I don't get drunk - I do, but I don't behave like an arse when I am drunk. If the alcohol tolerance of the majority of drinkers is low, then lowering the ABV accordingly is fine. If you can't behave, you should have your toys taken away. My only concern is the lager louts migrating to real ale, and ruining decent pubs, when they realise it has largely escaped the reduction in ABV.
I don't normally drink to get drunk, but four 500ml bottles of Henry Weston's Vintage cider last night wiped me clean out by 23:30 (8.2% ABV). When my daughter decided at 01:30 that she didn't need to sleep any more I really thought today was going to be a sick day, but I actually feel really well considering. That said I don't think a slight reduction in ABV would have made much difference in this case.
The only time I look at ABV is when I'm having one at the beginning of the night and I'm driving later(think 3+ hours... I don't drink and drive anymore like when I was stupid[er]) or if I have been out drinking with friends and feel like I am becoming drunk. Then I'll try a low % and if still feeling drunk by the end, I'll go softdrink. Drinking to get drunk is escapism. Books, games, films and television are for escapism and don't destroy your brain cells. If I am really lucky, it'll make those limited brain cells I do have much more efficient.
Part of it is that significant amounts of the beers you drink are brewed in the UK and the alcohol content is higher for Europe as it has to travel further. Its why Guinness is nicer in Ireland.
Big believer in taste over alcohol content. There are, however, some nice strong ales! I tend to, on average, drink 4-4.6% ABV ales though.
Yeah, but the stuff sold in the pubs in Dublin are lower abv because it doesn't need to be transported. It leads to a smoother taste I am told, which is apparently nicer All Guinness tastes horrible to me
Glad they haven't modded my "Stroh 80", 80% ABV Rum, now that IS rocket fuel. Last christmas we had a "Double-Double" shot challenge of that stuff. I don't remember christmas.
Name one big manufacturer/supplier/business not doing this. Have you seen Twix's lately? Just 2 funsize bars per pack now and the price has not dropped. The car industry is also doing it by not providing spare tires anymore and claiming it is to help meet CO2 targets by reducing weight.
Well, there is such a thing as inflation. Either pay more or get less. Personally I never found a lower alcohol content a bad thing.
I welcome it tbh. Five, six pints of 4-4.5% and I don't feel like hammered turds the next day. Four pints of 7.2% and I feel like I've died the next day.
