Why is Fosters beer so popular?

[alex397]

Over the years I’ve become more interested in pubs and beers. One thing I can’t quite understand is the popularity of Fosters beer. I see it in a lot of pubs I visit and it seems to be popular in supermarkets too. Depending on which source, it is one of the UK’s best selling beers.

I’ve tried it a few times and to me it tastes awful. It markets itself as an Austrialian beer, but in the UK it’s brewed by Heineken in Manchester. In Australia, it is not as popular as other local brands there. I realise it became very popular in the UK following adverts starring Paul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee, but surely popularity from that must have worn off by now? Maybe I’m a beer snob, but you can buy decent ales that are cheaper in both the supermarket and the pub. There are also better quality local lagers, or those from German or Czechia in pubs that are not that much more expensive. So, what explains its popularity?

While I’m here, the popularity of Stella Artois also interests me. Again, it’s brewed in the UK not Belgium and despite trying it a few times, it really doesn’t taste as good as other beers (that’s just my opinion). It almost seems sacrilegious considering Belgium produces some of the world’s best beers!

Interestingly, when visiting Leuven where Stella is from and brewed for the Belgian market (in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, not a French speaking part like adverts seem to suggest), I visited a pub and ordered one. It tasted far better than the stuff we get in the UK.

 

[birchesgreen]

Because people are lazy, the stuff which is advertised so much is more popular.

 

[D6968]

It’s really not the best of beers, the people who make it though must have to employ a decent ad agency though, because I find it bloody awful.
Although maybe I’m rather lucky as I’m someone who works in a small brewery so I do get to sample decent beer in my day job.

 

[BananaRepublic]

I would have thought the popularity of Fosters was at its height about 20 years ago.
It doesn’t seem to be any more though, as isn’t available in as many pubs as it used to be, from my observation.
Vile stuff anyway.

 

[Iskra]

Over the years I’ve become more interested in pubs and beers. One thing I can’t quite understand is the popularity of Fosters beer. I see it in a lot of pubs I visit and it seems to be popular in supermarkets too. Depending on which source, it is one of the UK’s best selling beers.

I’ve tried it a few times and to me it tastes awful. It markets itself as an Austrialian beer, but in the UK it’s brewed by Heineken in Manchester. In Australia, it is not as popular as other local brands there. I realise it became very popular in the UK following adverts starring Paul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee, but surely popularity from that must have worn off by now? Maybe I’m a beer snob, but you can buy decent ales that are cheaper in both the supermarket and the pub. There are also better quality local lagers, or those from German or Czechia in pubs that are not that much more expensive. So, what explains its popularity?

While I’m here, the popularity of Stella Artois also interests me. Again, it’s brewed in the UK not Belgium and despite trying it a few times, it really doesn’t taste as good as other beers (that’s just my opinion). It almost seems sacrilegious considering Belgium produces some of the world’s best beers!

Interestingly, when visiting Leuven where Stella is from and brewed for the Belgian market (in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, not a French speaking part like adverts seem to suggest), I visited a pub and ordered one. It tasted far better than the stuff we get in the UK.

There is an assumption by brewing companies, that the UK market likes beer filled with gas. Thus, they take okay lager, put more gas in it (an expert will tell us what the gas is...) which in my opinion makes it taste worse and worsens hangovers and then sell it here.

You see the same with Peroni- in the UK we generally get it in Green bottles and it's full of gas. In Italy it's red label (which is actually now gaining traction in the UK) and not full of gas, and tastes much smoother and nicer. However, in the region of Italy I travel to annually, the local red label Peroni is cheap and nice, but the locals are starting to prefer more Northern European fizzier lagers which are sold at much higher prices there now.

Fosters used to be cheap, that's why I would often drink it as a student. I rarely drink it now, but will if there's little other choice.

 

[swt_passenger]

While I’m here, the popularity of Stella Artois also interests me. Again, it’s brewed in the UK not Belgium and despite trying it a few times, it really doesn’t taste as good as other beers (that’s just my opinion). It almost seems sacrilegious considering Belgium produces some of the world’s best beers!

Interestingly, when visiting Leuven where Stella is from and brewed for the Belgian market (in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, not a French speaking part like adverts seem to suggest), I visited a pub and ordered one. It tasted far better than the stuff we get in the UK.

I suppose that’s because they only licensed the name, not the recipe…

 

[kermit]

It gets you drunk and doesn't challenge the taste buds or require thought. And people have heard of it, because of the adverts.

 

[Enthusiast]

Mass produced lagers brewed in the UK are almost, without exception, appalling. Fosters is definitely no exception. Few people would drink it unless it was super cold - low temperature conveniently seems to disguise most of the taste. These brews are a triumph of advertising - but certainly not of brewing.

 

[FrodshamJnct]

It’s cheaper than other lagers and gets you drunk. It’s only drunk by the borderline/full blown alcoholics in my local who sit in there all day.

 

[AlterEgo]

Fosters is alright with lime. Not on its own though.

 

[High Dyke]

Following a dispute between Heineken and former BRSA clubs, in the Association of Independent Clubs, most locations withdrew Heineken products from stock. My own club replaced Fosters with Coors and Madri.

 

[Runningaround]

Fosters, Carling, Carlsberg and the worst of the lot Coors. They are cheap to supply and easy to drink and as they all taste the same you don't feel as sick on an all-day bender who those that are on one do every day anyway.

When ales and craft pubs are £4.00 a pint or far more, then the £2.50 pint of makes sense if all you are out to do is get pissed and stay out as long as possible then it's an easy option.

Why do people search out Wetherspoons, Greggs Mcdonalds and Costa Coffee? They are too lazy to think and stick to what they know. Bland Convenient and Familiar it's what sells in the UK

 

[Yew]

It's fairly cheap, and has good margins for the pub.

 

[E27007]

Clever advertising and cheap and high margins for the pub, a "session beer" Hofmeister was such a popular session beer until withdrawn from the market.
Has Fosters taken the vacancy of Hofmeister?
When beer stored at the brewery approaches its sell by date and the flavour is declining , the brewery will sell the beer to the pubs at a low price.
An end of shelf life "is deteriorating" flavour seems to have been "brewed-in" to Fosters and a pint of Fosters needs that deep chilling at the tap to anesthetise the taste buds to make it drinkable

 

[DelayRepay]

When I was less fussy as a student, I used to drink it (or Carling, or Carlsberg) because it was cheap.

Now it (and Carling, and Carlsberg) are last resorts if there's a very limited selection at the bar. But it is still cheap so in the current climate may become increasingly popular.

 

[Jamiescott1]

As a lager drinker I can't stand the fosters, carling, carlsberg selection.

When I find a lager I really love it tends to get withdrawn.
I liked Tuborg which is no longer seen in draft. Then I drank Hop House which is now withdrawn in the uk.
Now I drink Prava but that seems to be being replaced with Madri in the pubs I go to

 

[DelW]

It’s cheaper than other lagers and gets you drunk. It’s only drunk by the borderline/full blown alcoholics in my local who sit in there all day.

Around my way it seems to be the preference of the local underage teens, judging by the number of Fosters cans discarded on the footpaths and play areas on my local estate. Though since a lot of them are dumped half full, even they don't actually like the stuff very much.

Every so often I collect a bagfull, rinse them out, and put the empties in my recycling bin. I make sure they go in the bottom and cover them up, though, in case my neighbours think I've started drinking the rubbish stuff in quantity

 

[Snow1964]

You see the same with Peroni- in the UK we generally get it in Green bottles and it's full of gas. In Italy it's red label (which is actually now gaining traction in the UK) and not full of gas, and tastes much smoother and nicer. However, in the region of Italy I travel to annually, the local red label Peroni is cheap and nice, but the locals are starting to prefer more Northern European fizzier lagers which are sold at much higher prices there now.

I was in Southern Italy about a month ago, and the supermarket had about 6 different versions of Peroni. It was one of the cheaper beers, not marketed as a premium like in the UK.

All of which shows it is marketing, Fosters was heavily advertised (didn’t make the beer any better), but people tend to buy what they have heard of unless someone is advertising something as brewed up the road and supporting the local economy.

 

[DarloRich]

Why is Fosters beer so popular?

Because the UK is crammed full of idiots.

 

[gg1]

I was well into my 20s (on a trip to Prague in the late 90s) before I discovered that there was such a thing as decent lager, until then I thought the likes of Fosters, Carling, Stella, Carlsberg (all as bad as each other as far as I'm concerned) etc were the norm

More recently, when perusing craft beers I've learnt to steer clear of anything where words to the effect of "made with the British palate in mind" appear, IME that generally translates as "aftertaste of s*** lager".

 

[FrodshamJnct]

As a lager drinker I can't stand the fosters, carling, carlsberg selection.

When I find a lager I really love it tends to get withdrawn.
I liked Tuborg which is no longer seen in draft. Then I drank Hop House which is now withdrawn in the uk.
Now I drink Prava but that seems to be being replaced with Madri in the pubs I go to

Slightly off topic but just why is Madri being pushed so much of late in the UK? It's distinctly average (at best), and my local got rid of San Miguel to make way for it (a far better lager in my humble opinion).

 

[dosxuk]

I was in Southern Italy about a month ago, and the supermarket had about 6 different versions of Peroni. It was one of the cheaper beers, not marketed as a premium like in the UK.

All of which shows it is marketing, Fosters was heavily advertised (didn’t make the beer any better), but people tend to buy what they have heard of unless someone is advertising something as brewed up the road and supporting the local economy.

In the UK we think of Peroni as a fancy imported beer. In Italy they think of it as the local cheap beer - so they turn to other countries for their fancy options - resulting in Tennent's Super being one of the more popular drinks.

 

[D6130]

In the UK we think of Peroni as a fancy imported beer. In Italy they think of it as the local cheap beer - so they turn to other countries for their fancy options - resulting in Tennent's Super being one of the more popular drinks.

In Italy the red label Peroni is the standard 'cooking lager' and the premium version - sold in the UK - is called "Nastro Azzuro" ("Blue Riband"). To me they taste just as vile as each other and as Fosters. I've occasionally seen cans of the latter in Italian supermarkets but only in small quantities, so it's obviously not very popular. Thank goodness for the Italian craft beer revolution (founded 1996)!`

 

[Goofle]

Around my way it seems to be the preference of the local underage teens, judging by the number of Fosters cans discarded on the footpaths and play areas on my local estate. Though since a lot of them are dumped half full, even they don't actually like the stuff very much.

I'd be a bit worried about what they are half full with personally!

 

[D6130]

I'd be a bit worried about what they are half full with personally!

That's just taking the piss! Come to think of it though....if you're drinking Foster's there's not a lot of difference between what goes in at one end and what comes out at the other!

 

[Dai Corner]

There's the saying 'you don't buy lager you rent it'

Round here, Carling seems to be the standard lager of choice. I've not drunk lager since I discovered real ale at the tender aago of 19. Would any connoisseurs like to suggest a premium lager I might like?

 

[prod_pep]

Round here, Carling seems to be the standard lager of choice. I've not drunk lager since I discovered real ale at the tender aago of 19. Would any connoisseurs like to suggest a premium lager I might like?

I'm neither a connoisseur nor an expert, but Erdinger is a nice drop as lagers go. I hardly touch lager since a work colleague introduced me to the delights of real ale a couple of years ago.

 

[cb a1]

There's the saying 'you don't buy lager you rent it'

Round here, Carling seems to be the standard lager of choice. I've not drunk lager since I discovered real ale at the tender aago of 19. Would any connoisseurs like to suggest a premium lager I might like?

Not a lager drinker myself, but the top-rated GB brewed lager on Untappd is 'Whispers in a crowded room', by Manchester based Cloudwater Brewing.

 

[D6968]

There's the saying 'you don't buy lager you rent it'

Round here, Carling seems to be the standard lager of choice. I've not drunk lager since I discovered real ale at the tender aago of 19. Would any connoisseurs like to suggest a premium lager I might like?

Adnams DHL is pretty decent in my book.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The UK isn't alone for 'foreign' mass produced beer tasting like muck.

In Poland, a classic example is with Pilsner Urquell. Utterly undrinkable garbage here, yet hop across the Czech border and it's completely different. It's all brewed in the same place, but the PL variant is hangover-inducing while the CZ version can be drunk for hours.

All of which shows it is marketing

Absolutely. Whisky in Poland is a prime example: undrinkable garbage like Johnnie Walker is positioned as a premium brand here.