High Alcohol beers need to take a back seat

Hey everybody,

Been brewing for a couple years and I just found this great forum. Tons of excellent info.

Anyhow, to the point of this post. I was checking out Beer Advocate's Top 100 Beers and was dissapointed to see that over 75 of the beers are 7+% in alcohol with a bunch that are 9-13%. There a few in the 6 range too but there are very few that are 5 or below.

What is this all about? Do most people just immediately go for the super high alcohol brew and ignore everything else?

Some of the best beers I've tasted have been Lambics, Lagers and light Ales that are in the 4-6% range.

It's too bad that the lighter beers get passed up all too often for the big brews.

Light beers do have a lot to offer.

Nothing like starting **** on your first post...


Welcome!@!@!





P.S. I like people who start ****!

I agree. If I want to get drunk I'll drink Old #7 or whiskey or rum. I love the taste of different beers and if they are higher alcohol then I can't drink as many without getting pissed. There is something to be said about high alcohol beers though. Some have a taste you can't get without the alcohol boost.

Other than a barleywine every other year, I brew in the 4-5% range. That way I can enjoy 3-4 different brews in an evening. I'm tired of big beers where a pint can kill you and big belgians specifically.

I agree, I brew light ale's exclusively.My buddy brews the big beers so i have the best of both worlds.

Spky'd,

LMFHO!
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boo boo,

Absolutely. Drink half a bottle of a Single Malt or Cognac if you want to get hammered :cross:

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david_42,

Yes, it is a lot more fun enjoying several different beers in one evening. I drank 22 oz. of an 8.5% IPA a while back and I was more than done. It really sucked because I wanted to try some other beers.

P.S. Whats your favorite/most used recipe?

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Starnski,

Its great to hear that there are people here brewing the light beers.

I also enjoy beers in the 3 to 5 range. If I want to get drunk there are much easier alternativves... Southern Comfort will do the trick very quickly.

Although there are some beers that seem to just be designed to have high alcohol... I was looking at the book "Brew like a monk"... dont think there is a single one in there under 7....

Funny this came up. I've recently been scaling down my bigger recipes (and new ones I create) to allow for a slightly lower ABV. I also like to have a few beers vs. on or 2 that have me buzzing immediately. My pub ale is one that is a pretty low ABV, and the next version of LWPA is goign to be a touch lower too. That was bordering on IPA I think.

But I agree with the **** starter ( welcome to the forum ) that too many big beers are overtaking the session beers.

Don't get me wrong--I love a good big beer every once in a while!

Dude said:

Don't get me wrong--I love a good big beer every once in a while!

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As do I. A good Russian Imperial, Barley Wine or Belgian Tripel are great on occasion.

Hey way to start $hit. lol. I totally agree though, beer is like the wine for the rest of us who dont have a few million in the bank for riny days. Although a high alcohol beer can be great at a party, i would rather have 2 regular beers and enjoy the flavor. Isnt getting drunk what the shot was invented for?

I tend to brew big beers myself.
There is just something about the flavors and mouth feel of the big beers. (Guiness was also the first beer I ever tried that I actually liked)

I guess I haven't been exposed to many quality lighter style beer. I've had a couple here and there, but nothing that would really compell me to brew one.

I do admit getting a heavy buzz going after only a couple 16 or 22 oz beers can have it's downsides, but seeing your friends getting tipsy off a few sips of your homebrew can be quite entertaining. Especially when they are budlight drinkers that think they can out drink anyone.

Well, allow me to step up and defend the big beers. Buncha pansies.

AFAIK, the beers you're talking about are rated on many criteria....not by their ability to get you smashed. Many (not all) of your big beers have greater complexity that their lighter counterparts, and are able to handle higher IBU's blah blah blah.....oK, so they get you smashed faster.

I actually tend to agree with you, the biggies get the spotlight. I probably like my beers a little bigger than most, but I've been scaling back a little myself. The biggies are fun, but it's nice to have something a little mellower on tap.

Welcome to the forum!

Great thread, I have told my friends on many occasions that if I could brew with taste and no alcohol I would do it in a heartbeat. I love the taste of good beers and hate losing control when getting drunk...

D*Bo said:

There is just something about the flavors and mouth feel of the big beers. (Guiness was also the first beer I ever tried that I actually liked)

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Guinness is actually only about 4.5%

*Damn, that nitpicker gene just popped out again. Sorry.*

gruntingfrog said:

Guinness is actually only about 4.5%

*Damn, that nitpicker gene just popped out again. Sorry.*

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Hehe...I was going to point that out.

Most of the beers I brew are in the 4.5-5.5% range. I think that's about right usually - you get both the taste and the intoxicating effects of alcohol, but neither dominates the experience.

Guinness is actually only about 4.5%

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I had the special export in Paris, it was 6.5%

And mine are mixed, My Brown is 4.5% my Asahi clone is 4%, The BB Wheat is 3.8% My APA's are generally around 5%.. I brew generally, a "big beer" every third batch.

Personally, I think the alcohol level takes a back seat to the overall beer taste. Some beers like Maredsous 10 gain a lot of their flavor by being high alcohol, but it has to be balanced for the beer. I can't imagine how nasty a 10% BMC would taste, for example. The good news is you'd only need to force yourself to drink two at the baseball game.

In the summer, I much prefer lower ABV beers.

I have little desire to get smashed when all I'm trying to do is relax and wet my whistle.

In summer, I typically brew 40 to 50 gallons of light ales, Pils and Lagers with the majority being ales due to the higher acceptable fermenting temps.

Doing a Pils or Lager when it is 110 degrees is a bit iffy. It streaches the limits of my admittedly primative temperature controller (carboys in a pan of water on concrete garage floor in a styrofoam enclosure).

In the winter however, when volume of drink is less an issue, I do like my stouts !

Mmmmm

I'm getting thirsty just reading this thread....


Cheers,

knewshound

gruntingfrog said:

Guinness is actually only about 4.5%

*Damn, that nitpicker gene just popped out again. Sorry.*

Click to expand...

Nitpick away.

I was going more along the style of the bigger/darker beers, not necessarily(sp?) the alcohol content.

After I posted that I realized there are a few of the lighter styles I do enjoy, and do plan on brewing (or am in the process of) Blue Moon & UFO to name a couple. I actually wouldn't mind doing a PBR clone, but it's so cheap to buy the real thing, it makes it not worth it.

I think the weather is starting to play more of a role in my beer choice. Now that the warmer weather is here, I'm leaning more towards the lighter beers. Which works out well due to the slightly warmer basement. In the winter just about everything gets lagered.
Altho next year I'll have to start on the lighter beers a little earlier in the spring so they are ready to go when the warm weather hits.

It would be nicer to have some lighter beers for the warmer weather with more frequent social gatherings. The stouts I tend to brew aren't something you can sip all day out in the sun. Sharing a couple later in the evening is great, but I don't enjoy being the drunk guy before the steaks are even ready. I do now know what it feels like to be a light weight.

When someone says bigger beer I always assume they are talking about alcohol content, but as far as bigger being darker I'm with you. I love dark beers.