OG and how it affects style

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nukebrewer

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I have a recipe that I will be brewing on Saturday, but I have a question about its style. The bitterness, SRM and FG are right for the style I had planned, but the OG and therefor the ABV are lower than the BJCP style guidelines say they should be. The OG is calculated to be 1.037 and the ABV is calculated at 3.54%. The guidelines say they should be, at a minimum, 1.045 and 4.5% respectively. How much will these deviations actually affect the style of beer that comes out? Thanks. It's an american amber ale, by the way.

-AJ
 
It'll be out of style. If style guidelines matter, you should bump up the OG a bit by adding some more extract/grain. If not, it's a good session beer.
 
Thank you for your advice. By the way, what exactly does session beer mean? I have seen it used before, but I still don't know what it means. Thanks.

-AJ
 
It varies depending on who you ask, but pretty much it's a beer that you can drink all day without getting completely hammered.
 
I'm guessing you are a submarine nuke based on on your username and location. Welcome to HBT.
 
Thanks for the clarification, emoutal. Yes, McKBrew, I am a submarine nuke and thanks for the welcome. Are you a fellow Navy man?
 
"Never again! S.S.N."

I don't have the tattoo, but I did my time.

You will also see the term Small Beer, typically 4% or lower. The term comes from the olden days when a single mash was batch sparged and made two or three beers, a barleywine, an ordinary, and a small beer.
 
If your OG was low, but your IBU is on for what you had planned, the beer will come out a little more bitter than planned. Not a big deal, but it will be hoppier.

Small beer was what the kids drank as well back when water was thought to be bad for you.
 

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