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The Bludgeon Brewery
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- 12/6/03
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Yesterday a few brewing mates participated in a triangular taste test featuring Gods own Fosters Lager (retail $44/carton) and Australias finest premium beer, Crown Lager (retail $58/carton). I thought I would post the results here.
Each brewer was presented with three cups, one containing either Fosters or Crown and the other two cups containing the other beer. The test was blind so no-one knew which cup contained which beer or which cups contained the two identical beers. And each taster got a different mix so one might have two Fosters and another might have two Crownies. Lucky devils. The idea was to pick which cups contained the same beer and whether one was preferable to the other.
I did prepare scoring sheets with room for comments, but we were all kinda full by the time we got to this taste test (there were some good beers to be drunk as well) and they pretty much went by the wayside, a few indecipherable scribbles being scratched on a couple of sheets. The general consensus was that these beers were very similar to the point of being almost indistinguishable. Most tasters could tell the beers apart, but mainly by differences in appearance and aroma rather than flavour.
Adjectives used for flavour applied to both beers: grainy, bready, metallic, mild, subdued, bland. Fosters aroma was described as: lacking and bland. Crown aroma was described as bland shit but fruity. I particularly liked that description. One brewer found a difference in mouthfeel with Fosters having a bit more body than Crown.
Conclusion: these beers taste the same. Crown has a pinch more fruit on the nose, is possibly lighter-bodied and has bigger bubbles. I think most people kind of expected this result so its not exactly scientific, especially since all tasters knew which two beers were involved. But everyone approached it with sincerity and I trust the palates of those involved. It would be interesting to repeat the test with a few average Crown lager drinkers and not tell them which beers were involved.
Each brewer was presented with three cups, one containing either Fosters or Crown and the other two cups containing the other beer. The test was blind so no-one knew which cup contained which beer or which cups contained the two identical beers. And each taster got a different mix so one might have two Fosters and another might have two Crownies. Lucky devils. The idea was to pick which cups contained the same beer and whether one was preferable to the other.
I did prepare scoring sheets with room for comments, but we were all kinda full by the time we got to this taste test (there were some good beers to be drunk as well) and they pretty much went by the wayside, a few indecipherable scribbles being scratched on a couple of sheets. The general consensus was that these beers were very similar to the point of being almost indistinguishable. Most tasters could tell the beers apart, but mainly by differences in appearance and aroma rather than flavour.
Adjectives used for flavour applied to both beers: grainy, bready, metallic, mild, subdued, bland. Fosters aroma was described as: lacking and bland. Crown aroma was described as bland shit but fruity. I particularly liked that description. One brewer found a difference in mouthfeel with Fosters having a bit more body than Crown.
Conclusion: these beers taste the same. Crown has a pinch more fruit on the nose, is possibly lighter-bodied and has bigger bubbles. I think most people kind of expected this result so its not exactly scientific, especially since all tasters knew which two beers were involved. But everyone approached it with sincerity and I trust the palates of those involved. It would be interesting to repeat the test with a few average Crown lager drinkers and not tell them which beers were involved.
