session beers

[beerhunter]

what makes a session beer a session beer? :wha:

 

[mpj]

I thought simply low(ish) ABV, to extend the length of the drinking session. Is there more to it? I would consider anything under 4% a session beer; our American cousins would probably go a bit higher.

 

[clibit]

Anything under 6% seems to be classed as a session beer over there.

I'd say anything under 5%. I'm kinda mid-Atlantic when it comes to beer. :-)

Under 4% is very weak beer!

 

[DoctorMick]

I'd say anything under 4 is a session beer, that's what I'll be aiming for with mine anyway. :lol:

 

[GHW]

Yep. Anything up to 4% imo. Maybe 4.5%
I guess it depends on your tolerance of alcohol.
Mine's pathetically low.

 

[clibit]

So if you're in the pub for a few pints you restrict yourself to beers under 4%?

 

[mpj]

So if you're in the pub for a few pints you restrict yourself to beers under 4%?

I would probably aim to keep my average in the low 4s. But it tends to be easy with typical British real ales.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

So if you're in the pub for a few pints you restrict yourself to beers under 4%?

I'd agree with the 4%. I'd say there's a difference to going to the pub for a few than sitting at home and having a few. Personally, I don't particularly enjoy being ****** at home, so I class a session beer as one I can have a few of without being drunk. And yes, I am a lightweight!

 

[LarryF]

I'd say there's a difference to going to the pub for a few than sitting at home and having a few.

About £15 Hops.

 

[GHW]

So if you're in the pub for a few pints you restrict yourself to beers under 4%?

Nothing over 5%. Mainly I'll go for stuff like youngs ordinary. If I'm only having one or two I don't mind a bit stronger but if you're talking 4+ then def around 4%.

 

[clibit]

I sometimes have a can of Bengali Tiger if I'm in a Wetherspoons. It's 6.4%, but only 330ml. I drink like this at home. Most of my beers are between 5 and 6%, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but I drink one 330ml bottle, maybe two.

Pints down the boozer now often seem really watery and lacking. My tastes have changed. I need to start making lower ABV beers though, so I'm interested in the discussion about small beers and getting flavour and body into low gravity beers. I may try removing alcohol after fermentation.

 

[Redron]

Interesting. We seem to have an obsession with ABV these days , whether it's pub beer or our home brew .
Just remembering drinking absolutely lovely Tetleys bitter post Sunday footy match in the eighties, before heading home for a Sunday lunch. It was only around 3.5% but nicely bitter with a tight creamy head.
A proper session beer, ie tasty beer that you can have a few without falling over and not wanting to fight everybody....

 

[MyQul]

Interesting. We seem to have an obsession with ABV these days , whether it's pub beer or our home brew .

It's not just ABV% though is it, high IBU seems to have become an obsession too (one that has crept over from the States). Its seems more equals more nowadays.

I definatle enjoy a mild, low IBU and low ABV%. I keep reading about the death of milds in the various places (Sunday papers, online magazines etc), not in my house though cuz I keep brewing em

 

[clibit]

I like what I'd call hybrid milds. An English mild grain bill with American hops, like Simcoe, Columbus and Centennial. Sacrilegious perhaps, but very tasty.

 

[MyQul]

I like what I'd call hybrid milds. An English mild grain bill with American hops, like Simcoe, Columbus and Centennial. Sacrilegious perhaps, but very tasty.

Heretic!!

tbh though. sounds quite nice but I've got loads English hops in my freezer to get through before I try any American ones

 

[clibit]

I like milds with English hops too. :thumb:

Northdown, Challenger, First Gold, Goldings, Progress, Admiral all go well. I tend to dodge Fuggles. Still trying to work out why I like Fuggles in some beers but not others.

 

[rodabod]

what makes a session beer a session beer? :wha:

In my opinion, marketing. It's a load of old cack that people like Brewdog seem to like to say.

It's as if beers haven't existed before that you could drink over a long session. We've been making beer for hundreds of years! Just because some American or American-inspired brewer hopped a beer so strongly that it smelled like shower gel, does not mean that anything that isn't outrageous suddenly becomes a "session beer".

Also, the adjective "sessionable" gives me chills.

 

[clibit]

Most English beers are session beers, I reckon, cos that's how we drink. The Americans have gone for high ABV, and high IBUs etc, probably because they are American :-) And now they refer to beers that are lower in ABV as session beers, and seem to be getting more into them. But 5% is a session beer to them. In the UK we drink beers between 4 and 5% in a sessionable (sorry :-) ) manner, so I don't think a session beer needs to be below 4%, personally. Below 5%, perhaps.

 

[HisDudeness]

Yeah I think for most of us ABV dictates the length of the session not whether it is a 'session' beer!

 

[Slid]

Interesting discusion, here. My beers might be a bit strong for a "session", but a pint of orange squash mid-session keeps it on the straight and narrow.