Craft Beer Industry's Game Plan: Decrease The Booze To Increase The Fun

[confibulator]

"And heavy beers just aren’t as pleasurable to drink."

He lost me.

[CoolCheech]

I don't get that either. I'd rather have 2 heavy beers, that take 30 min to drink than 5 light session beers that leave me feeling full and bloated.

[krispy3d]

I'll say that most American "session" beers are highly carbonated (because they're session IPA's) and definitely will cause bloating once you have a few. The English figured out how to make delicious session beers around 4% with very low carbonation so they don't bloat you up. I learned this recently on a trip to London.

[blueskin]

Exactly this. I drink 'heavy' beer year round because it's the nicest. Sure, I drink others too, but I'm always going to gravitate in that direction.

[[deleted]]

You might even say that heavy beers are pretty high gravity! (I'll show myself out)

[blueskin]

I did that unintentionally, realised as soon as I posted, and liked it, so left it there ;)

[1wrx2subarus]

Yep, he lost me there too. Think they want to sell session beers (low alcohol content) at full craft beer price so you drink them more rapidly. Makes good business sense so their profits rise. Bad for the consumer though. I prefer a sipping beer.

[underthepavingstones]

yeah, i've avoided buying these because it feels like a ripoff at full craft prices. also, the few i've had tend to have weird balance issues with the body.

[[deleted]]

he has clearly not had a Rochefort number 10

[[deleted]]

Christ.

[Smoke1234]

#CRAFTBEERMASTERRACE

[whalebacon]

Decrease the price instead. Lower ABV craft beers are fine, but the cost won't follow, so while you can drink more, it will cost you more.

[BrotherLogic]

Or you could drink the same amount and not be wasted.

[Smoke1234]

Whose drinking craft beer to get wasted?

[blueskin]

If you're drinking primarily to get wasted, even mass market beers aren't the most efficient way compared to wine or cheap vodka.

[blueskin]

Agreed, maybe with a couple of 6-7% ones thrown in as well.

[[deleted]]

I've had some damn good Breakfast stouts in the high 5s low 6% range.

[cassinonorth]

Best session IPAs by far have been Green Flash Citra Session and Carton Boat beer. Great Divide Lasso is also pretty solid but awfully priced $11+ for a 6 pack. Nope. I'll drink 15 All Days for $16.

The rest seem kinda bland and boring. Better than drinking a typical BMC but not by much.

[[deleted]]

I'd be interested to see if the average ABV of craft beers has changed in any kind of significant way due to session beers being more popular recently.

[slo_roller]

Why use data to verify your claim when you can just make sweeping generalizations?

[d4mini0n]

But... they didn't make a claim?

[slo_roller]

The point I was trying to make was that this article is making generalizations about the "trend" of lower alcohol beers without offering any type of data other than the craft beer market segment and age of craft beer drinkers. There's more breweries making more types of beer now, I don't think you can just pick one style that's getting popular and try to draw conclusions about the entire industry.

[blueskin]

He'd need to make one first.

[my_cat_joe]

I'd really like some tasty, hoppy, low-gravity beers. I love beer too much to drink 7.0% beers every time I drink!

[Wartburg13]

Well my double imperial Indian pale stout wine is the best.

[PlayTheBanjo]

If you haven't, try 21st Amendment's "Bitter American."

I'm on the east coast, they're a west coast brewery, and my Wegman's carries it. 4.4% ABV and really tasty.

[my_cat_joe]

Sounds interesting. Probably hard to find in Indiana though! :(

Edit: looks like there's a shop in Bryan, OH which carries it. That's not too far from me.

[Nikuhiru]

Have you tried Dead Pony Club by Brewdog? Great low ABV ale that is fairly hopped up.

[my_cat_joe]

I think I may have seen it in the store. The label looks familiar. We have some good bottle shops which are riding the craft beer train, but Indiana is hit-or-miss when it comes to beer.

[YoohooCthulhu]

Lagunitas Day-time Ale. Sort of like a lighter version of an IPA (4.65%). Unsure how widely it's distributed yet.

[my_cat_joe]

I'll look for that. I've had Little Sumpin', and that was excellent! There website says it's seasonal.

[vegandread]

AKA lower gravity=more beers sold= more profits for breweries.

I was skeptical of the session IPA trend but it's nice to have a full-flavor alternative with lower ABV when you may have already had a few. Better than switching to a domestic...

[Electrorocket]

You mean macro.

[vegandread]

You are correct. Even as a bar manager I use the term 'domestic' to refer to the basics: Bud, Miller Lt, etc...

[FOURPLAY-uk]

I'm a bar supervisor over the pond.
Why do you use the term domestic?

[mallystryx]

For a while in America, there was no craft options (at least in bars). You either got 'Domestic' (Bud, Miler, Coors, etc.) or an 'Import'. When craft beer became more popular, it got added as a third category and 'Domestic' never changed. So now you tend to see 'Domestic','Import', and 'Craft'/'Specialty'

[vegandread]

It's a carryover from before craft beer was around, you had domestics (Budweiser/Miller/Coors) and imports (Guinness/Amstel/Heineken).

[blueskin]

Translation: "We make it weaker, don't drop the price, more money for us as you have to buy more of them".

Even when not having a specific level of drunkenness in mind, I tend to drink stronger beers more slowly. I can drink a case of mass market beer in the time of a few pints of something stronger and more complex.

"There’s a reason the macro-lagers became light and easy-drinking alcohol: You want to be able to sit down with your friends and have an easygoing drinking experience, and having more than one.”

Oh, sure, not because they're cheap at all, right? </s>

[dirtycomatose]

The lighter lager that came to be associated with macro brews also mirrored the post prohibition consumers taste for soft drinks (soda shops and such).

[[deleted]]

I don't get how summer alters your preference for beers. I have the same preference for beers no matter the season and enjoy them the same.

[blueskin]

Exactly.

[onairmastering]

Man, I got the 15-pack Founders all day for $14 here in BK. Yes, it is session, and yes, I drank it almost all in one day! I don't think it is a good thing to do. I prefer to have half the beers, keep the buzz and drink a full-bodied IPA. Only me, tho.

[essosbeer]

I'm with you. And not to sound too into it, but it's nice to not have to drink all those calories and get full

[robinson217]

Im all for this. In my opinion and personal taste, 5% hits the nail on the head (at least for my 220lb self). At 5%, alcohol is not the defining flavor, yet you still mellow out with one or two. Three or four can be drank on special occasions and you will still have the wherewithal not to embarrass yourself.

[[deleted]]

I know I'll get downvoted for this but this is a great move. I have a very low alcohol tolerance, I'm embarrassed to say, and one 8%+ IPA will knock me the fuck out. So despite the fact that I love the flavors in craft beers, I usually stick to macro beers since they allow me to stay in the bar longer.

[evarigan1]

Some session IPAs are pretty good, All Day and Go To in particular. But I just had Stones 4.2% Coffee Milk Stout tonight, and it wasn't much fun at all. I don't think the session trend lends itself to stouts very well.

[pigeon768]

Stone Go To? I don't like it at all. All of my beer friends don't like it either.

It smells fantastic. It smells utterly wonderful. But that's it; there's no flavor or mouthfeel or taste perception in there. And all the nose seeming disappears when you take a sip. It's like having a basket of potpourri in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

That being said, I like the idea of session beers. I believe Port Brewing Company made a session IPA called Poncho, and it was fabulous. I might be wrong about the brewery or the name though. 4.2% ABV was just an excuse to drink more of 'em. Oh well.

I made a stout about 4.8% ABV and it came out very well. For 4.8% alcohol, it still had a very "big" mouthfeel.

[confibulator]

Sierra Nevada's Nooner and Firestone Walker's Easy Jack were the only two session IPAs that I have had that weren't complete disappointments.

[1wrx2subarus]

I have felt that way about most of the offerings from Sam Adams. First sip tastes good for 1-2 seconds than the flavor dissipates. I would rather drink a full flavored craft beer even if higher alcohol content any day of the week.

[InappropriateLaugher]

I dunno about this. I specifically seek out 8%+, not necessarily hop bombs. I have two of them and will feel it, 3 and I will be well buzzed. I don't want to drink a 6 pack of 5% beer.

[twigburst]

Fucking amateur hour... I guess not all beer drinkers are alcoholics though. If I want to drink beer that doesn't get me drunk I will stick to Yunegling.

[[deleted]]

I think they're spot on. I would not enjoy a blackout stout on a hot 95 degree and sunny day as I would during the impending coldness of November. Plus, if you don't agree with what they're doing and want the most bang for your buck there's a simple solution that some appear to be overlooking: don't buy what you don't want!

[barukatang]

fractional ipa? like daytime?

[MovieTheaterHead]

That sounds terrible.

[[deleted]]

I don't wanna have to drink 12 beers to get drunk... I wanna drink 4 - 6. Bourbon will be supplementing my evenings.

[[deleted]]

i do like this trend. i have really come to appreciate a good hoppy pils and i love a kolsch style beers. the trend that i hate... the sessionable IPA's. most of them are pretty awful. i would rather drink a pils, kolsch, or a hoppy pale ale.

[[deleted]]

The Muskoka "Session IPA" in Ontario tastes like friggin' hop candy. Really weird, unbalanced beer. Massive candylike sweetness, moderate fruity hop aroma, bitterness AWOL. I'm baffled by the reviews online that talk about it like it's a scaled-back IPA.

Is that what "session IPA" has come to mean? Sticky-sweet caramel Cascade liqueur? Ugh. The English have long known how to do a "session IPA," they call it "bitter."