Backing Off The Weeknight Beers A Bit

[BlackDuck]

Papa...that's a great plan. And I have been doing kind of the same thing. Some of my better tasting recent beers have been in the session category. And I seem to enjoy them more also. Still full of flavor, yet drinkable with less alcohol.

[Beer-lord]

?..I refuse to drink only small beers because I like the taste of bigger beers.

This year, I have initiated a quest... A noble quest indeed...

To brew smaller beers (less than 5% and as low as 3.8% ABV) that TASTE and DRINK like bigger beers.

A challenge indeed but I am using my knowledge of borg (brewing), late hop additions and Belgian brewing to tweak malt presence, mouthfeel, taste and aroma and balace that with whatever hop presence I desire...

The goal is two fold...

1) Reduce the overall alcohol content of the beers I brew and drink...

2) And in reference to number one, do it without sacrificing flavor, mouthfeel and drinkability.

In theory, the end result should be that an avid craft drinker should love it and not know that it's a session beer unless told of same!

We will see how it goes... Right now I have three on deck, the Red X IPA, a Belgian IPA and a Cream Ale like substance, all less than 5% ABV.

If I like the result, the next set of batches goes down to < 4.5% ABV...

I've made many more beers in the mid 5's than in past years. And, I've really started enjoying my pale ales and am making more and more of them. I like them because they are tasty, less calories and they last longer and in fact, get better with age as compared to IPA's so that's my sweet spot.
I've sucked on my session beers but that's what I'll work on during the summer. Of course, if you have any recipes you want to share.....GIVE IT UP!

[Gymrat]

OK it's Friday. I am enjoying some Wee Heavy. 9.5% ABV. Why I might even do some intoxicated posts later. I am halfway there I really want another empty keg so I can brew again and my Wee Heavy keg is the closest to going.

[Gymrat]

Honestly in the winter I like "warmers". Higher ABV beers. In the summer I want them lighter. Right now I have a winter beer to get rid of to make room to brew a summer beer. Anyway, that's my story, and I am sticking to it.

[FedoraDave]

I usually brew beers in the 5 - 6.5% range, unless I'm deliberately making a smaller beer, as I like to do for the summer. I consider 5.5% beers to be session beers, yet Paul's post seems to indicate contrariwise. What, exactly, is considered the ABV range for a "session" beer? Anything below 5% I consider a light or lawnmower beer. As I said, 5 - 6.5%, for me, is a session beer, and over 7% is more of a specialty beer.

[RickBeer]

A session beer is anything in the 3 to 4% range. Britain considers 4% the cap. Some consider up to 5%. I don't think any official definition would include 5 - 6.5% beers as session beers. It isn't a definition based on an individual's ability to not get drunk. Each person has his/her own tolerance, and consistent drinking increases that tolerance. That doesn't change a definition.

My wife prefers beers in the 4s. I prefer mid 5s to low 6s.

That said, I think the vast majority of Borg members don't brew beer to get drunk, we've outgrown that desire by a few decades.

[BigPapaG]

I usually brew beers in the 5 - 6.5% range, unless I'm deliberately making a smaller beer, as I like to do for the summer. I consider 5.5% beers to be session beers, yet Paul's post seems to indicate contrariwise. What, exactly, is considered the ABV range for a "session" beer? Anything below 5% I consider a light or lawnmower beer. As I said, 5 - 6.5%, for me, is a session beer, and over 7% is more of a specialty beer.

From the 2015 BJCP Guidlines, the following strengths are to be indicated when entering Specialty IPA's.

I suspect this would be considered an overall general classification guideline... Although many styles are not typically measured this way but instead will have one range of strengths indicated ie: Alt Beer at 4.3-5.5% ABV

I suspect one could design a good 8% Alt Beer but then one could argue that it really isn't an Alt beer I suppose...

So, for the Specialty IPA's then...

Strength classifications:

Session – ABV: 3.0 – 5.0%
Standard – ABV: 5.0 – 7.5%
Double – ABV: 7.5 – 10.0%

EDIT:

Found this, more generalized Strength Style Tag Rating that is used as the basis for tagging every style listed in the guidelines, perhaps indifferent to the Speciallty IPA's... This is also from the 2015 BJCP Guidelines...

session-strength
<4% ABV

standard-strength
4-6% ABV

high-strength
6-9% ABV

very-high-strength
>9% ABV

[bpgreen]

Here's what beer advocate says:
session beers

Edited to make clickable.

[Pudge]

A session beer to me is anything I will drink 3-4 of in a session be that a picnic, party, sitting by the pool, etc. It isn't just abv related for me. I can have a nice, thick, low gravity stout, but not really feel like I want 3-4 of them. On a hot summer day out by the pool, I can easily drink 3-4 much firmer abv IPAs. I realize everybody has their own definition.

[ScrewyBrewer]

Friday night I celebrated, the end of what turned out to be a very long week, by drinking two 6% alcohol Hiphopapocalypse IPAs. The four that I drank on Saturday afternoon lasted until early evening and every one of them tasted great.

hiphop-pour1a-sml.jpg (44.41 KiB) Viewed 578 times

As I kegged the batch of Red XIPA, that BigPapaG and I had brewed for the RCE, I got to taste it for the first time. Although it finished at 4% alcohol, it tasted as good as or better than any IPA I've had before. I've never brewed a 4% beer before, the majority of the beers I brew are between 5-8% alcohol, with 6% being the average.

I was pleasantly surprised by the full rich taste found in this 4% beer! It had everything going for it that a bigger beer would have, sans the extra alcohol. The color appeared to be nice and red, it was also bright and clear and it had a citrusy aroma you could smell before taking each sip. This beer had plenty of hop flavor and just enough bittering to place it firmly in the category of an IPA. The Red X malt added it's own interesting layer of complexity, one that I found worked well with the style.

At under 150 calories per 12 ounce glass, I may be able to enjoy drinking a nice cold Red XIPA on weeknights, I'll have to wait and see.

[FedoraDave]

Low alcohol doesn't mean low flavor, by any means. I'm glad the RedX IPA is a good one, Vince. Sounds like you got it kegged just in time to enjoy some early-summer IPAs.

[ScrewyBrewer]

We had a few meals out yesterday, I took off from work to attend a family commitment, and rewarded myself with a few 6% IPAs. I felt better drinking them yesterday than I feel about them now, but they were tasty.

[Beer-lord]

I felt better drinking them yesterday than I feel about them now, but they were tasty.

[Stinkfist]

Three days in and no ill effects to report so far, although all this talk about not being able to drink coffee are unsettling to me. I drink mine black with no sugar and have for years, it takes me a pot of coffee, before noon, just to get me going everyday. I can honestly say that giving up my weeknight beers has been a lot easier on me than the thought of giving up coffee too.

Sounds like you may have more of a coffee problem than a beer problem lol

[ScrewyBrewer]

Three days in and no ill effects to report so far, although all this talk about not being able to drink coffee are unsettling to me. I drink mine black with no sugar and have for years, it takes me a pot of coffee, before noon, just to get me going everyday. I can honestly say that giving up my weeknight beers has been a lot easier on me than the thought of giving up coffee too.

Sounds like you may have more of a coffee problem than a beer problem lol

@Stinkfist I think you're right. That's another one of life's guilty pleasures I'm going to have to reel in some. I'm learning that getting older unfortunately is not for the faint of heart.