Fox Farm Brewery (2021)

I haven't been in to have a draft since they reopened so I would have a hard time answering that question but next time I go down I will try and stay for a draft beer and bring an update back.

 

If the cans are this bad, and that’s all I’ve gotten to have so far, man…those taps must have the nectar of the Gods!

 

Well, there may be variability on how well each batch of canned beers are. Maybe you have been fortunate to always obtain Fox Farm canned beers that have been properly canned (e.g., proper calibration at set-up, conscientious canning team, etc.).

A few years ago I spoke to a brewer of a local brewery who canned their beers using a mobile canning service (now purchased by Iron Heart) and they had four teams which the brewers labeled as the A,B,C and D teams. If the C or D team showed up for conducting the canning session they would call up the GM and tell him he had to show up to supervise before canning would be permitted to happen. I am pretty sure that they mostly had the A or B team scheduled for their brewery.

Cheers!

 

I definitely didn't mean to imply the cans were bad! That wasn't my intention.

Draft beer is best, of course. I have felt recently with cans that there's just something slightly missing. Head retention, maybe, a certain crispness. I just don't know that the cause is. Notch, Tributary, Fox Farm, all these folks making good lagers that just tend to lose something in translation to the can.

(I've always felt the best example of a hop-forward beer that loses something in packaging was Lunch. This beer was transcendent on draft -- and still is -- but the bottles lose just a little something)

 

Haven’t had piles of their beer, maybe 10-12 different brands. 25-30 total cans. Never had a bad one. Zero packaging caused off flavors or oxidation.

 

Well, one difference here as regards distributed beers (e.g., kegged Lunch at a bar vs. bottled Lunch at a beer store) is beer storage. The common practice (as I understand it) is that kegged beer is continuously stored cold. Refrigerated at the Wholesale Distributor and once delivered to the bar it is stored in their cold room (at least this is what my local beer bars do). In contrast when it comes to canned or bottled beer they are more often sitting on the shelves at room temperature (or real hot right now at Retail Beer Distributors). Beer continuously stored cold is much more resistant to beer staling. If canned/bottled beers are packaged properly (e.g., very low TPO (Total Packaged Oxygen) values at packaging) and continuously stored cold then these beers should be in pretty good shape. Lawson's places on their cans the mantra "Keep Cold! Enjoy Fresh" on the top of their cans. My local beer retailers (e.g., Wegman's supermarket, Retail Beer Disttibutor) always have Lawson's cans in their refrigerators or cold room. A few days ago I walked into my local Retail Beer Distributor's cold room to 'discover' they recently received 12-packs of Lawson's Scrag Mountain Pils (canned 6/15/21). I took that cold 12-pack out of the cold room, purchased it and my drive home was less than 5 minutes whereby I placed all of those cans in my refrigerator. I have only had one can (so far) and that beer is drinking beautifully.

Cheers to cold stored beers!

P.S. I assume that Lawson's beers are continuously stored cold at the insistence (and policing/inspection) of the Wholesale Distributor per their contract with Lawson's.

 

I was being just a tad sarcastic.
I’m hopefully gonna get a chance to go there in a few weeks, so I can put my .02 into this discussion.

 

I’ve never had an issue either and I’ve had cans go from cold to not cold to cold again. I’ve never had it from the tap though so I have no basis for comparison.

 

The aspect of temperature cycling is not an issue per se. The issue is how much time the beer is at higher temperatures since higher temperatures (e.g., room temperature or warmer) accelerate chemical reactions and oxidation/beer staling is a chemical reaction.

Below is a handy graph on this topic (based upon the Arrhenius Equation). Note that the temperatures are in Celsius.



Cheers!

 

Oh I agree that’s a bit of a myth. I was just trying to think of one thing that could compromise my cans, and they were fine. All of them. No canning issues, no oxidation, full carbonation, nothing wrong.

 

Well, that is good to hear.

Maybe Fox Farm has found themselves a good partner for the mobile canning service. It is entirely possible to properly can beers via a mobile canning service - a situation of the GAS (Give A Shit) factor.

Cheers!

Edit: another potential issue is occasional low fills of cans. Mobile canning services typically monitor this by placing a few randomly selected cans on a scale to weigh them. Breweries who own their canning lines have the option to purchase an X-ray sensor/measuring device as part of their canning line with the benefit of every can of beer is being measured/monitored.

 

Alright, everyone just calm down. I'll test this theory out for myself on Friday and report back. Until then, i can't abide any further insinuation that Fox Farm beers are anything less than damn near perfection regardless of if on tap or in a can/bottle.

 

Just remember:



Cheers!

 

What are the odds FF does another release next Monday? Hoping for a couple more cans to expand my variety.

keeping fingers crossed for a southern hemi banger

 

Monday has been their typical announcement day of what’s fresh or new each week. Kinda hop heavy at the moment. I’d cross my fingers for a Czech style pilsner. Anything light and crushable for this heat.

 

I think a fresh new lager would be superb. Also hoping for a straightforward saison and 1 more ipa to round it out.

 

Don’t sleep on their mixed culture stuff. Some of the best around.

 

Notch beers are transcendent on draft, and I don't mean just Lukr faucet pours. I've had lots of the stuff from cans too, and it's good, but getting the beer served at Notch is special.

Getting a lager pour at Suarez is quite an experience too.

Now I just gotta get down to Fox Farm when full on-site service begins again.

 

I enjoyed the draft beers I had at Suarez:



But I also very much enjoyed drinking canned Suarez as well:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-783.634783/#post-6811792

I hope that you enjoy your visit to Fox Farm.

Cheers!

 

I think I would like you.