Bringing 3.2% beer back!

[worlddivides]

It's possible that with the Berliner Weisses and goses I've brewed at 3% to 3.5% ABV, the sourness from the lactobacillus helps balance it out. Because honestly, a Berliner Weisse I've made several times is one of my favorite recipes, and the first time I made it, I got waldmeister (woodroof) and raspberry syrups from Germany to try. Those brought the ABV down to 1.5% or 2% ABV, but they were still refreshing. I personally preferred the beer without any syrup, but adding syrup is the most common way Berliner Weisses are drunk in Germany. And as I mentioned earlier in this thread, there are some commercial low ABV IPAs around 3% and 3.3% ABV that are really well balanced, so 3% ABV is certainly not going to hurt.

 

[OleBrewing]

i should start lower abv 4-4.5 for the daily table beer. right now i just buy Genesse as the boat beer. but a mild in that range would be nice instead of the 5-6% i usually make that really sneak up quickly; well drinking out of glass speeds up the process of consumption also.

 

[tdf]

1.040 / 10p is really the sweet spot for me. Depending on attenuation you get something in the 4%abv/3.2%abw. With a carefully chosen grist I can get some reasonable malt flavor. Much below that and I either get watery or grainy flavors.

Light lager
10p czech pils
English bitter
"American" bitter

all thrive in this range.

 

[ba-brewer]

In one of the "can you brew it" episodes on the brewing network for the Lagunitas IPA the head brewer mentioned they mash at 160 and it does not have too much effect on the body. He said the Beta enzymes do get denatured at some point but due to the higher temp they work faster before so doing so.

In my system 148 to 154 give about the same results but if I mash in over 156 then I do see a higher final gravity. My RIMS controller was off by 12F for a couple brews recently so I ended up with a 3.5%ABV Czech dark lager because I mashed at 164 instead of 152F.

I was already brewing a lot of best bitters in the 4%ABV range but started doing lagers in that range too lately. Served a little warmer and with less carbonation helps give the impression of more body and you get more flavor.

 

[beersk]

1.040 / 10p is really the sweet spot for me. Depending on attenuation you get something in the 4%abv/3.2%abw. With a carefully chosen grist I can get some reasonable malt flavor. Much below that and I either get watery or grainy flavors.

Light lager
10p czech pils
English bitter
"American" bitter

all thrive in this range.

This is what I'm experiencing, the grainy flavors. Normally I'd be all for that, but they aren't good grainy flavors. It's just like in NA beers, weird, almost not quite, but not entirely unlike beer. Kind of like when I did the cold mash beers. Just not a fan. NA beer is a waste of time and calories. If I'm not going to drink beer with alcohol, I'm just plain not going to drink beer.

 

[crazyjake19]

After I'm through my Märzen and Dunkelweizen, I'm taking a deeper dive on Czech lagers this fall/winter and look forward to having a 3.7% Czech pale lager on tap, as well as an U Fleku tmavé pivo clone at around 4.7%.

 

[Bramling Cross]

In my system 148 to 154 give about the same results but if I mash in over 156 then I do see a higher final gravity. My RIMS controller was off by 12F for a couple brews recently so I ended up with a 3.5%ABV Czech dark lager because I mashed at 164 instead of 152F.

I was already brewing a lot of best bitters in the 4%ABV range but started doing lagers in that range too lately. Served a little warmer and with less carbonation helps give the impression of more body and you get more flavor.

Those are two great points.

I wasted years hunting for ideal conversion rest temps within that range. Didn't find any silver bullets. I kidnapped Germany's Hochkurz profile a few years ago and tend to use it for everything except ordinary bitter and mild. Seems to work fine, but after years of suffering through my under-attenuated early efforts and the over-use of C-malts during the IBU wars, I have a bit of a fetish for dry finishes.

If there's anything in this world that I believe in, I mean really believe in, it's your point about carbonation and serving temp. I don't even keep my UK ales hooked up to the gas. Instead, I practice a debased form of cellarmanship that involves moving the gas around to kegs as they need it and administering short squirts of gas. It also involves a lotta cussing and banging various body parts into the fridge. I'm not sure if that helps, but it seems to be an integral part of the process.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I think its getting to be a trend. RIS is probably the thing I brew most these days but I bottle that and I would never put that on tap, it would tie up a tap forever. I do bitters, which fall into that lighter range.

Brewer’s Publications put out a Session Beers book maybe a year or two ago. I have it, its pretty good and talks about alot of this. How to brew lighter versions and keep the balance, etc.

https://www.brewerspublications.com/products/session-beers-brewing-for-flavor-and-balance

I second that book recommendation. In my opinion, it's the most useful brewing book that has been written in the past twenty years. Sure it's about session beers, but what Talley is writing about isn't applicable only to session beers. Frankly, it's the revised version of Designing Great Beers that folks frequently clamor for.

 

[MaxStout]

I second that book recommendation. In my opinion, it's the most useful brewing book that has been written in the past twenty years. Sure it's about session beers, but what Talley is writing about isn't applicable only to session beers. Frankly, it's the revised version of Designing Great Beers that folks frequently clamor for.

Just added to my Amazon wish list.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Just added to my Amazon wish list.

You won't regret it. I've been though it cover to cover about four times and I'm still picking stuff up.

 

[jcfontario]

After I'm through my Märzen and Dunkelweizen, I'm taking a deeper dive on Czech lagers this fall/winter and look forward to having a 3.7% Czech pale lager on tap, as well as an U Fleku tmavé pivo clone at around 4.7%.

I would be really interested to hear how your U Fleku travel pivo turns out. What recipe are you using?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I second that book recommendation. In my opinion, it's the most useful brewing book that has been written in the past twenty years. Sure it's about session beers, but what Talley is writing about isn't applicable only to session beers. Frankly, it's the revised version of Designing Great Beers that folks frequently clamor for.

I am sure I have said this before in other posts, but it is one of my brewing books that I was most disappointed in. I have looked back through it, and I just don't see what others see.

• There is good information about the history of session beers and some current trends. This might be interesting to read, but I did not find it very educational (at least when it comes to information to help me craft session beers).
• There is very little first hand knowledge directly from the author about what she learned brewing 4% ABV beers. Chapter 2 should be packed full of solid advice about creating session beers, but it seems to be very generic. Lots of it is just "follow good brewing practices" advice.
• About half of the recipe given are just standard examples of styles that are already in the sub 5% range and lots of the recipe are for beers above 5% ABV. I don't want a recipe for a 5.2% Cream Ale. I want to know how to make a 4% ABV beer that drinks like a "standard" IPA, Robust Porter, etc.
• Most recipes have 1 page of text about the brewery, but instead of sharing knowledge that that brewery has about making session beers it is just generic info about the brewery that could have been coped from their "About Us" webpage.
• Also, very few of the recipes are from the author (I think there is one or two.) This would be great insight into the types of recipes that she created and brewed.

I don't recall brewing any of the recipes. The book is 240 pages long, and about half of it is the recipe sections (including the "about the brewery" pages). Most of the recipes are versions of commercial beers (and I think the recipes came from the breweries). It is a decent listing of recipes in the 4% to 5% ABV range. I am pretty sure there are twice as many over 5% recipes than under 4% ones though.

 

[beersk]

I am sure I have said this before in other posts, but it is one of my brewing books that I was most disappointed in. I have looked back through it, and I just don't see what others see.

• 
  
• About half of the recipe given are just standard examples of styles that are already in the sub 5% range and lots of the recipe are for beers above 5% ABV. I don't want a recipe for a 5.2% Cream Ale. I want to know how to make a 4% ABV beer that drinks like a "standard" IPA, Robust Porter, etc.

I am beginning to believe that is really just isn't possible. The alcohol makes up a huge flavor component of the style/beer even if we don't "perceive" it. As mentioned above, without it, the beer tends to become grainy tasting. I'm noticing this more and more as I brew these low abv beers. Body is not a problem, that's easy to keep in low abv, but that flavor component is huge, I feel.

 

[mashdar]

I've been wondering if reduced CO2 scrubbing affects flavor. Maybe that's where some of the 3% graininess comes from?

The volume of CO2 to test from a tank is too high, but I'm tempted to bubble fermentation gas from a normal beer through a low ABV beer as a test.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am beginning to believe that is really just isn't possible. The alcohol makes up a huge flavor component of the style/beer even if we don't "perceive" it. As mentioned above, without it, the beer tends to become grainy tasting. I'm noticing this more and more as I brew these low abv beers. Body is not a problem, that's easy to keep in low abv, but that flavor component is huge, I feel.

Maybe that is where my expectations of the book were out of line with reality. I do agree that we tend to underestimate the impact of the alcohol in beers. I don't gravitate to Quads, Imperial Stouts or Double IPAs just because I want to get drunk. Hazy Pale Ale is a style that I think I like, but 80% of the ones I order are bad (they seemed to be much better on my New Zealand trip where beers in the sub-5.5% range are the norm).

I to tend to think that with some tweaks to the mash, grain bill, and yeast, it is not too hard to push a beer down 1% to 1.5% ABV without a ton of impact. That likely means a 4% beer with the same calories and more carbs than a 5% beer.

 

[hottpeper13]

I got the book hoping to learn how to make flavorful beers in the 3.2 % abv range but only saw 4%-5% ones which I have a very good handle on. most useless book I own.

 

[worlddivides]

I got the book hoping to learn how to make flavorful beers in the 3.2 % abv range but only saw 4%-5% ones which I have a very good handle on. most useless book I own.

I do get the definition of "session" for 4% to 5% for beers that are more typically much stronger, but I've had so many times where I've bought something that said "Session X" and when I brought it home and looked at the ABV, it was 5.5% or 6% and I'm like "How the hell is that SESSION?!" In my opinion session is 4.5% or lower, but it seems that 4% to 5% is a more common definition, and some people will take it all the way to 6%. I wonder if their explanation is "Well, this is a style that is more typically around 8% or 9%, so 6% for the style would be 'session.'"

I think part of the problem is that some people don't even seem to take the ABV into account and they just see "session" as meaning "you can drink a ton of them without getting tired... even if they're 8% ABV." For me, it's not just drinkability or enjoyment ("CRUSHABILITY"?!), but how drunk having several of them will make you. I mean, the word "session" infers that you're drinking a lot of them. If you "session" a bunch of 6%, 7%, 8%, and 9% beers, you're going to have a hangover the next day. To really be sessionable, it has to be under 5%, usually in the 4% to 4.5% range, but personally I think under 4% is good for session beers too.

 

[elf_brewery]

I agree. How can one stop by a brewpub on the way home and share a round of beers at 6% and see well enough to drive home safely? Session beers are more along the line of milds and ordinary bitter, but keeping the number of pints low is important to enjoying them and the drive.

Just a thought, have any of you tried the repour test of a highly carbonated beer. We learned about this a few decades ago. Open a beer (or tap a pint) and pour half of it into a large pitcher (not quickly, but without trying to stop/slow down the foam). Then in a minute or two, pour a beer from the pitcher. Now try the undecanted beer, then the one from the pitcher. Much, much smoother. Yum.

 

[Gary25]

I decided to take a swing at a 3.2% ABV beer using a Rye Pale Ale I normally brew to about 5% ABV. Results: solid rye flavor, but slightly thinner than the original. I also noted head retention is somewhat degraded. Otherwise, really turned out well.

Some specifics:

Malt bill:
Pale ale malt:68%
Flaked rye: 17%
Munich 10l: 12%
Caramel 40l: 3%
(20% less malt than the 5% version; slight increase in Munich and used pale ale base malt in lieu of two row)

Mash: 160 degrees F for 60 minutes
IBU: 19.7
US 05 yeast
OG: 1.034
FG: 1.013
ABV: 3.2%

I may try adding some wheat malt or carapils to the malt bill to help with head retention. My impression is distinct flavor of rye makes it a good candidate for a low alcohol beer. I’d welcome any thoughts on improving this recipe or the process.

 

[Gary25]

I should add I normally mash this at 152 degrees F. FG was two points higher with the 160 degree mash.

 

[beersk]

I decided to take a swing at a 3.2% ABV beer using a Rye Pale Ale I normally brew to about 5% ABV. Results: solid rye flavor, but slightly thinner than the original. I also noted head retention is somewhat degraded. Otherwise, really turned out well.

Some specifics:

Malt bill:
Pale ale malt:68%
Flaked rye: 17%
Munich 10l: 12%
Caramel 40l: 3%
(20% less malt than the 5% version; slight increase in Munich and used pale ale base malt in lieu of two row)

Mash: 160 degrees F for 60 minutes
IBU: 19.7
US 05 yeast
OG: 1.034
FG: 1.013
ABV: 3.2%

I may try adding some wheat malt or carapils to the malt bill to help with head retention. My impression is distinct flavor of rye makes it a good candidate for a low alcohol beer. I’d welcome any thoughts on improving this recipe or the process.

Looks like a fine recipe to me. You could probably even up the amount of C40 to 5% or even 7%. Or up the Munich from 12 to 20% to give it more oomph. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't change much to get more body. Mashing at 160F should do the trick. You probably don't need to mash for 60 minutes; 45 minutes should be more than enough.

I could see how a rye pale ale would work well for a low abv beer. Maybe using a yeast like Wy1272 or something that leaves more body would help too.

 

[Gary25]

Looks like a fine recipe to me. You could probably even up the amount of C40 to 5% or even 7%. Or up the Munich from 12 to 20% to give it more oomph. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't change much to get more body. Mashing at 160F should do the trick. You probably don't need to mash for 60 minutes; 45 minutes should be more than enough.

I could see how a rye pale ale would work well for a low abv beer. Maybe using a yeast like Wy1272 or something that leaves more body would help too.

Had to laugh at myself: The mash was for 45 minutes—something I picked up reading this thread. Thanks for catching it.

I like the idea of increasing the Munich and will also try the carapils or wheat. Yeast change is a good idea as well. Ringwood Ale (Wyeast 1187) is one I’ve used before (nice flavors) might be another option to try.

Will be a while until the next batch of this as we have about 8 gallons to get through…nice problem to have….good thing it low ABV!

 

[Gary25]

Rye Pale Ale in all its glory.

 

[mashdar]

I decided to take a swing at a 3.2% ABV beer using a Rye Pale Ale I normally brew to about 5% ABV. Results: solid rye flavor, but slightly thinner than the original. I also noted head retention is somewhat degraded. Otherwise, really turned out well.

Some specifics:

Malt bill:
Pale ale malt:68%
Flaked rye: 17%
Munich 10l: 12%
Caramel 40l: 3%
(20% less malt than the 5% version; slight increase in Munich and used pale ale base malt in lieu of two row)

Mash: 160 degrees F for 60 minutes
IBU: 19.7
US 05 yeast
OG: 1.034
FG: 1.013
ABV: 3.2%

I may try adding some wheat malt or carapils to the malt bill to help with head retention. My impression is distinct flavor of rye makes it a good candidate for a low alcohol beer. I’d welcome any thoughts on improving this recipe or the process.

For body and head, maybe swap 2:1 carapils (or similar) for pale malt? (2:1 should roughly keep ABV static while upping OG/FG)

 

[Bramling Cross]

I am beginning to believe that is really just isn't possible. The alcohol makes up a huge flavor component of the style/beer even if we don't "perceive" it. As mentioned above, without it, the beer tends to become grainy tasting. I'm noticing this more and more as I brew these low abv beers. Body is not a problem, that's easy to keep in low abv, but that flavor component is huge, I feel.

I write the following with a light hand because there is a danger that you could interpret this as me suggesting that you're not a competent brewer. That's not at all what I'm trying suggest. Instead, I'm highlighting a few insights that I stumbled upon over many years of trying to learn how to make session ales that are just as satisfying as their more substantial brethren.

Could you describe a bit more what you mean by "grainy?" It's really easy to over-sparge session beers and if you don't have solid control over your pH, things can get out of hand in a real hurry.

Especially with my tiny UK ales, I've written new Brewsmith mash profiles for UK ales. The goal of these profiles is the reduction of my sparge water budget via the use of a second infusion in the mash tun (strike @ 148F, infuse to 155F). The more I brew, the more firmly I hold the opinion that shifting your water budget away from the sparge tank and toward the mash tun results in better beer. When it comes to smaller beers, I think the effect is especially noticeable.

Also, I've found that gently over-acidifying your sparge water yields improvements. For example, I generally like to mash at pH 5.4 and over-acidify my sparge such that my entire runnings, pre-boil land at or below pH 5.3. Again, this seems to help to produce a superior beer. I brew with tap, so this is easy to accomplish. If you're using RO, this might not be feasible.

I'm really sorry about bringing this up, but it is worth mentioning! Have you goofed around with LODO? Once you've done it a couple of times it's easy to do, cheap, and it really does make a tangible difference. Also, you don't have to go full LODO right out of the gate. I gradually introduced LODO techniques into my brewery and continued adding them as I saw tangible improvements. In fact, I'm still not fully LODO compliant (*snicker* Ah, those guys!) because I refuse to give up my old copper IC--it's paid for, it does a great job, and it doesn't need replacing. Thus far, LODO has been cheap and easy. I prefer to keep it that way.

Wrapping up, I suppose you can think of it this way: Your brewery isn't a sausage machine. The neat thing about sausage machines is that no matter what you put into them, it comes out sausage on the other side, right? Breweries aren't at all like that! It's important to adapt your brewery to optimize the beer you're trying to brew. I certainly don't brew my tiny beers the same way that I brew my IPAs, or my lagers, or anything else really.

To do session beers right, you need to tweak your approach a bit. Without much thought, we adjust our grainbills to account for inefficiency in barleywine grists, add rice hulls to the grist for wheat beers, add ferulic acid rests to hefes, decoct or step mash certain lagers, so why aren't we adapting our breweries to accomodate smaller beers?

I hope you've found this helpful. It's a bunch of stuff that I've learned the hard way and I hope you take it in the spirt in which it was meant. Again, I'm not implying that you don't know what you're doing. I'm just trying to pass along some lessons that I learned the hard way and I hope that you receive this post in that way.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I am sure I have said this before in other posts, but it is one of my brewing books that I was most disappointed in. I have looked back through it, and I just don't see what others see.

• There is good information about the history of session beers and some current trends. This might be interesting to read, but I did not find it very educational (at least when it comes to information to help me craft session beers).
• There is very little first hand knowledge directly from the author about what she learned brewing 4% ABV beers. Chapter 2 should be packed full of solid advice about creating session beers, but it seems to be very generic. Lots of it is just "follow good brewing practices" advice.
• About half of the recipe given are just standard examples of styles that are already in the sub 5% range and lots of the recipe are for beers above 5% ABV. I don't want a recipe for a 5.2% Cream Ale. I want to know how to make a 4% ABV beer that drinks like a "standard" IPA, Robust Porter, etc.
• Most recipes have 1 page of text about the brewery, but instead of sharing knowledge that that brewery has about making session beers it is just generic info about the brewery that could have been coped from their "About Us" webpage.
• Also, very few of the recipes are from the author (I think there is one or two.) This would be great insight into the types of recipes that she created and brewed.

I don't recall brewing any of the recipes. The book is 240 pages long, and about half of it is the recipe sections (including the "about the brewery" pages). Most of the recipes are versions of commercial beers (and I think the recipes came from the breweries). It is a decent listing of recipes in the 4% to 5% ABV range. I am pretty sure there are twice as many over 5% recipes than under 4% ones though.

That's a fair criticism of the book. Your remarks about the recipes, in particular, are great. Frankly, it's been years since I looked at the recipes, but I do remember them being underwhelming--there was a California brewery's pils that I found interesting as well as the author's DI stout. I also remember there being a lot of sours, which kinda dates the book. I'm not interested in recipes, though, so I give her a free pass. If you're looking for recipes, I certainly see your point. It's a good one.

I found her remarks about water to be especially helpful and well worth the cost of the book. I don't want to get into details about those remarks because I think it's fair that her insights should be purchased. I read that book at a time when I was really struggling with my water. I was making very nice, very by the numbers beers, that had no soul. She broke me out of that rut and I'm actually about as happy with my beers as I'm likely to ever be: it's a pleasure to be merely f'ing furious with my beer for a change.

Also, I think her remarks about recipe construction and the session beer mindset are fantastic. It's a headspace and I think she captures it well.

I enjoyed reading your review and I thought it was a good.

 

[Gary25]

For body and head, maybe swap 2:1 carapils (or similar) for pale malt? (2:1 should roughly keep ABV static while upping OG/FG)

Great suggestion.

I’m going to try both wheat and carapils- but carapils first. Given the already low ABV, I can probably just add carapils and not affect the gravity too much. I’m thinking I’ll go big with it; perhaps 10% of the malt bill and see if it makes an appreciable difference. If the OG gets too high, I’ll remove some base malt.

 

[beersk]

I write the following with a light hand because there is a danger that you could interpret this as me suggesting that you're not a competent brewer. That's not at all what I'm trying suggest. Instead, I'm highlighting a few insights that I stumbled upon over many years of trying to learn how to make session ales that are just as satisfying as their more substantial brethren.

Could you describe a bit more what you mean by "grainy?" It's really easy to over-sparge session beers and if you don't have solid control over your pH, things can get out of hand in a real hurry.

Especially with my tiny UK ales, I've written new Brewsmith mash profiles for UK ales. The goal of these profiles is the reduction of my sparge water budget via the use of a second infusion in the mash tun (strike @ 148F, infuse to 155F). The more I brew, the more firmly I hold the opinion that shifting your water budget away from the sparge tank and toward the mash tun results in better beer. When it comes to smaller beers, I think the effect is especially noticeable.

Also, I've found that gently over-acidifying your sparge water yields improvements. For example, I generally like to mash at pH 5.4 and over-acidify my sparge such that my entire runnings, pre-boil land at or below pH 5.3. Again, this seems to help to produce a superior beer. I brew with tap, so this is easy to accomplish. If you're using RO, this might not be feasible.

I'm really sorry about bringing this up, but it is worth mentioning! Have you goofed around with LODO? Once you've done it a couple of times it's easy to do, cheap, and it really does make a tangible difference. Also, you don't have to go full LODO right out of the gate. I gradually introduced LODO techniques into my brewery and continued adding them as I saw tangible improvements. In fact, I'm still not fully LODO compliant (*snicker* Ah, those guys!) because I refuse to give up my old copper IC--it's paid for, it does a great job, and it doesn't need replacing. Thus far, LODO has been cheap and easy. I prefer to keep it that way.

Wrapping up, I suppose you can think of it this way: Your brewery isn't a sausage machine. The neat thing about sausage machines is that no matter what you put into them, it comes out sausage on the other side, right? Breweries aren't at all like that! It's important to adapt your brewery to optimize the beer you're trying to brew. I certainly don't brew my tiny beers the same way that I brew my IPAs, or my lagers, or anything else really.

To do session beers right, you need to tweak your approach a bit. Without much thought, we adjust our grainbills to account for inefficiency in barleywine grists, add rice hulls to the grist for wheat beers, add ferulic acid rests to hefes, decoct or step mash certain lagers, so why aren't we adapting our breweries to accomodate smaller beers?

I hope you've found this helpful. It's a bunch of stuff that I've learned the hard way and I hope you take it in the spirt in which it was meant. Again, I'm not implying that you don't know what you're doing. I'm just trying to pass along some lessons that I learned the hard way and I hope that you receive this post in that way.

No offense taken, amigo. I appreciate the tips. pH is probably something I don't monitor as much as I should. I basically use Bru'n water and trust that it's getting me to where I need to be. Not ideal, but has never let me down. With lower abv, I am aware that there isn't as much yeast activity bringing the final beer pH down, so I try to aim for a lower pH overall because of that.
The grainy flavor could be that, but I think it's just a lack of alcohol sweetness to balance. But could also be pH.
I do a full volume mash, so no sparge to worry about there.

And also, I've dabbled with LODO I was one of the early adopters in 2016 when everyone was bickering and arguing about it. I was seeking the "it" flavor found in German beers, since 2014 or 2015. Low o2 brewing was not well received back then. Thankfully all that has settled down.
It does make a difference in my opinion, but I also feel it's a matter of preference. I did a side-by-side helles batch once and most people that tried it picked out the low o2 beer every time, but they also noted that it was very subtle. And it is. It does not, however, get me that intense malt flavor that German beers have though; it's like the malt you taste in ice cream from DQ or wherever, malted milkball type malt flavor. That's how I perceive it. Low o2 brewing never got me that in all the years I brewed it. I don't brew low o2 every time nowadays. I get lazy, even though the yeast oxygen scavenging method is super easy.

But now I'm thinking to take a hiatus from brewing. Over the last few years I've been considering it. Usually I only take about a 2 month break, so not really a hiatus

 

[Bramling Cross]

No offense taken, amigo.

Phew!

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I found her remarks about water to be especially helpful and well worth the cost of the book.

I think if I approach the book from a different perspective, I can appreciate it more. One definition of "Session" is "a lower strength version of a style." Session IPA is one of the most well known, but you could apply it to many styles (Session Amber Ale, Session Robust Stout, etc.). I was hoping this was the focus of the book ("How could I make good examples of my favorite styles in a sub 4% format?") but it is not.

The book is more focused on existing lower ABV styles that could be considered Session beers (American Lager, Blonde Ale, Belgian Table Beer, English Mild, Irish Stout, etc.), even if some of these might push the ABV limits on what is considered Session-able. While I wanted Chapter 2 to focus on "how to make good tasting 4% beers", instead it is more "insights from a professional brewer on how to make quality beers of any ABV." There are some good looking recipes in the book, even if many of them are in the 5% range.