Welcome to our “Meet The Brewer” series! Where we interview brewers in Pennsylvania, from breweries small to large. Let us know if you know anyone who should be featured, email us at [email protected].
Human Robot Beer opened in January 2020 at 1710 N 5th Street in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, in what was once the former location of St. Benjamin Brewing. The brewery has made quite a name for themselves with Lagers and Pilsners, as well as fruited sours. Andrew Foss is the head brewer of Human Robot Beer. Read more to find out his introduction to craft beer, the first beer he ever brewed, and more!
What was your introduction to craft beer?
My older brother was always a Bass ale drinker (this was when it was still made in the UK, not New York), and a Guinness drinker, neither of those beers were my dad’s bud cans for sure. When I moved to Philly (2002), I discovered Yards Saison. That led me down a long stint in Belgian styles, which I still love. Ommegang Dubbel stood out to me, as well as (of all things) Leffe Blonde. Not all of those would be considered craft, but certainly flavorful, traditional-style beers.
How did you get started as a brewer?
I had been home brewing a lot. I was bartending and ordering beer for the bar that I worked at, looking for a change. One day I had to call our line cleaner to fix something. It turned out he was a brewer, and he had just opened up a new pub (the now-defunct Barren Hill Tavern). He had absolutely no interest in the help, but after a few months of me “running into him” places, he called me up one night and asked if I wanted to come in the next day. I have pretty much been hanging around and bothering my friend Scott Morrison for 6 or 7 years now. He’s really been a mentor to me. Without him, the things he has taught me, and the things we have worked on and learned together, I’d probably still be slinging gin in some dive.
What style allows you to be the most creative, and why?
Oddly enough, more traditional styles are where I feel most innovative or creative. Most of our lagers are single malt, single hop beers. Where many brewers change ingredients to tweak a recipe, I’m usually thinking about temperature or timing changes in the mash, the size or duration of a decoction boil, or how to hold onto some fermentation character in the finished beer, things like that. In some sense, restricting myself in that way has brought about the overall style of the lager brewed at HR. I can say definitively that our Czech 10° has never been brewed the same twice, and it will probably be a long time before that happens.
What was the first beer you ever brewed, and what did you learn from it?
I brewed an ESB from a home-brew kit. The lesson I learned then still holds-English yeast ferments out in 2 days.
Where do you see the craft beer industry heading in the next few years?
I think it’s going to become more of a “beverage manufacturing” industry, paired with a “real beer” industry. Seltzer, smoothies, adjunct stuff, it’s not going away. The plus side of that is that within that sphere, there are brewers who are truly passionate about a wide variety of real beer styles. Those brewers are going to be producing those beers, whether they are also making slushy seltzers and stouts with M&M’s, or whether they are quietly churning out ESB or Saison in some small-town brewpub that you might be lucky enough to walk into one day. I think it’s just fine to have a super traditional Pils on tap with a fruited kettle sour three taps away.
Describe what it’s like to be a brewer in Pennsylvania.
The PA Beer scene is great. I have met so many people over the years, and much like the brewing scene in general, people are always pretty open and willing to help. Working with Scott (who is retired from brewing but does equipment sales and installations) has brought me all over the place to meet so many awesome people throughout the state. Philly in particular is really great. Through covid, it was so hard to get cans/crowlers and things like that. Mainstay, Love City, Yards, Crime and Punishment, Dock Street, ARS, etc, there are probably some I’m forgetting, but everyone was in the same boat and the community really all worked together to keep everyone else producing when supplies were low. I don’t know much about other industries, but I think that kind of camaraderie is pretty rare.
What is the inspiration behind your beer names?
Many of our IPA names come from Chris Roller, who is one of our owners and the infamous “Robo Wonka”. He’s a music encyclopedia. He pulls out references from things that I would never think of. If I ever name a beer, it’s usually just the style i.e. “Czech 10°” or “Hallertau Pils”. I stick to the things I know which are getting grain wet and fermenting it.
What is your favorite beer to drink right now?
We did a collab with Troegs recently, and John brought by a few bottles of Jovial (a Belgian Dubbel). That’s one of my favorite styles, so I snatched a couple of those right up. Usually, I’m a pretty straight lager guy, and there’s a lot of good stuff out there right now. Palinoia from C&P is a great, very hoppy Pils. The Seed has a nice Keller Pils, The 11th anniversary Polotmavy from Notch is also really nice. A glass of 10° after work is a pretty regular occurrence for me as well.
What is the most important lesson you learned in the beer industry so far?
No matter who you are, what you have done, awards you have received, or whatever, never assume that you are the best, and just keep doing what you did to get there. I made a commitment a long time ago to continue learning, and I’m never ashamed to change my mind or to take a cue from someone else. Brewing to me is like climbing an endless mountain. If I ever feel like I’ve summited, it will be time to move on.
Thank you to Andrew for talking with us! Make sure you visit the Human Robot Beer website for all the latest beers, news, information, and special events. And also follow Human Robot on Facebook and Instagram.
