Do you ever get tired of big beers?

[TwoBearsinaBathTubBrew]

We've all made the big IPA's and double this and that's, trying to improve our brewing status. Assuming these big beers are complicated but in reality the lighter session beers are the difficult ones. The lighter beers allow your minor mistakes to shine through, where as the big monster IPA's and Stouts mask a mistake with monster flavorings. That's why I've been focusing on mastering these light beers aside from the fact that it is hot as hell out here in northern Cali. So for those looking to try and improve their brewing prowess try a lighter style and if it comes out flawless, so is your technique.

 

[PhelanKA7]

I love big beers when they are done exceptionally. Anything less than that and its just a waste of my time. As far as brewing is concerned I do a lot more during the spring and summer so they tend to be lighter more refreshing beers but I try to get in a big, malty beer during the summer to save for those cold winter months

 

[Refly]

Most homebrewers tend to make more big beers (1.050+ OG) than session beers. The reason is obvious, if you are going to go through the trouble of homebrewing it makes sense to make the beers that cost the most to buy in the store.

I apply a bit of a different logic. I brew the beer I drink in quantity (session beer) because it allows me to brew more often. I tend to buy bigger beers in small quantities from the store. The key thing for me is a lot of variety in bigger beers and there is certainly a lot out there.

Looking at some of the responses I'm wondering what is the actual percentage of homebrew in the session range. Seems like it's pretty high. As a few people commented, low abv doesn't mean low in taste. You can't go wrong with a good session beer.

 

[urbanmyth]

BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde is fantastic. I brewed it as my first all grain brew in a bag, completely unprepared, and it turned out perfect. Like a BMC with actual flavor.

 

[lumpher]

i've got 5g centennial blonde fermenting now, 5g of the same with us-05 for a strawberry blonde, and a 4.8% cherry wit fermenting. i pulled the iipa out of the kegerator to put in a light lemon hefe

 

[GodsStepBrother]

I have found the more knowledgeable a brewer is the more they brew session able beers. Less really is more in my OPINION, I work at a craft beer store and it is appalling to see a beer with 9 to 10 % ABV will always sell. Or a beer with a cool logo, the beer doesn't matter it is the presentation and the ABV. Even most beer drinkers I know will scoff at the fact I drink a nice pilsner or mild, while they enjoy 2 RIS.

Like I told my father when I got him hooked off of BMC, "you do not eat the same meal everyday, why would you drink the same beer everyday". Likewise to me a RIS, Belgian Tripple and Barelywine are beers you drink after a couple of session able ones. I say the same to some of my beer snob buddies. You are eating chocolate cake for breakfast lunch and dinner, that is not enjoying food anymore. Eating is not about the richness, there are other things like savory, spicy etc...

 

[Krazykripple]

I have found the more knowledgeable a brewer is the more they brew session able beers. Less really is more in my OPINION, I work at a craft beer store and it is appalling to see a beer with 9 to 10 % ABV will always sell. Or a beer with a cool logo, the beer doesn't matter it is the presentation and the ABV. Even most beer drinkers I know will scoff at the fact I drink a nice pilsner or mild, while they enjoy 2 RIS.

Like I told my father when I got him hooked off of BMC, "you do not eat the same meal everyday, why would you drink the same beer everyday". Likewise to me a RIS, Belgian Tripple and Barelywine are beers you drink after a couple of session able ones. I say the same to some of my beer snob buddies. You are eating chocolate cake for breakfast lunch and dinner, that is not enjoying food anymore. Eating is not about the richness, there are other things like savory, spicy etc...

Good post. I enjoy brewing the occasional big beer but i mostly brew wits and pale ales

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Good post. I enjoy brewing the occasional big beer but i mostly brew wits and pale ales

Likewise, I do like big beers but once in a while.

Anyways it is not only big beers, its extravagant beers that are admired. I love this sketch, brings up some hilarious points.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I tend to brew a couple bigger ones then a couple smaller ones. Have a 3%ish (depending on FG when it gets there) Berliner Weisse going now, doing 10 gals of 3%ish bitter soon, then a 4.5%ish stout and a 3%ish 60/-.

 

[djfriesen]

Not yet.

 

[kaconga]

If I plan to share the batch with coworkers and friends then it's usually a higher abv beer. People don't usually ask for more when something is 8.5%. If its for personal consumption then usually I shoot for 6%. I don't think I have ever seen a craft beer under 4%. Makes me want to try just to see what it would be like.

I think session beers are hard to define since different parts of the country drink different strength beers. In the pacific northwest a session beer could even be 7% depending on who you talk to. In Utah I think it would be seen as drinking hard alcohol at that abv.

 

[eastoak]

6% IS a big beer for me.

 

[dinnerstick]

morning after report, closing out a session at the local beer bar (which started reasonably with rodenbach gc, girardin 1882, boon gueuze) with st bernardus abt 12 (10%), la trappe quadrupel (10%), bison stout (9%, and come on it's not a stout, but anyways) and grimbergen optimo bruno (10%).... oof ... perhaps not that wise in hindsight. session beer is a good thing

 

[Piratwolf]

I'm on the cusp of the big-session change. I made a BDS, an RIS, and a BW since new years, as well as several 6-8% beers. But it's tough to drink a big beer every night, even though I only have one during the weeknights.

I just made Cent. Blonde with Amarillo (call it Cuff & Collar Blonde) and it's fantastic at 5%. My next brew is a pale mild @ 3.5% and the Uinta Wyld clone is next minth. Getting ready for summer, which means LOTS of beers on the beach!

 

[Chuginator]

We've all made the big IPA's and double this and that's, trying to improve our brewing status. Assuming these big beers are complicated but in reality the lighter session beers are the difficult ones. The lighter beers allow your minor mistakes to shine through, where as the big monster IPA's and Stouts mask a mistake with monster flavorings. That's why I've been focusing on mastering these light beers aside from the fact that it is hot as hell out here in northern Cali. So for those looking to try and improve their brewing prowess try a lighter style and if it comes out flawless, so is your technique.

Very well put!

 

[Slowfro]

I always look to have a "lighter" beer on hand for a variety of reasons. One being like many have already said you don't necessarily want to end up drinking a pile of 8% IPAs all night. Now, sometimes I get into it and will stay on track with them, and for the most part I'm good about stopping before I get too over-served. But, especially with some of my friends who don't necessarily appreciate the quality of those big IPAs, once we get a few beers into the night I like to have something lower ABV that we can transition to so we don't "waste" all the others once the taste buds are shot, eyes are half open, and all the world's problems are being solved.

Which reminds me, I should get going on Centennial Blonde again soon!

 

[Jayhem]

So it appears that there are many brewers (myself included) that like to brew session style beers in the 4-5% ABV range. Anyone care to share a recipe (link) to a favorite summer style guzzler that might be in the HBT recipe database or another source?

Here are two very popular recipes that many of my friends enjoyed this last weekend as we celebrated my son's second birthday.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/fizzy-yellow-beer-120939/

I'm brewing Cream of three crops this week in fact! The fizzy yellow beer looks like it might be next up after my mulberry summer wheat!

i'd rather drink 20 beers than 7 or 8 big ones any night. big beers = big hangovers, lots of little beers keep me hydrated. that's why god invented distillation.

7 or 8 big beers in one night would render me confined to the bathroom puking my guts out!

 

[Genjin]

I had two Colette farmhouse ales last night at a composter potluck. I got home around 8 and after those 7.3% beers I was feeling impaired. Fortunately, at home I had some 3.7% English Milds in the fridge and I was able to continue enjoying some beer without wrecking my evening.

I love the occasional strong beer but more often than not I am reaching for 3.5-4.5% brews to keep my wits about me.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I went through the big beer phase early on. I have definitely been focusing more on 4-5% ABV beers but I still enjoy big beers and make them from time to time.

 

[ktblunden]

One of my recent brews was BM's Centennial Blonde (although I boiled too long and ended up with a higher OG and the beer finished at 5%, which is a little high) and my BMC drinking friends really enjoy it and I like it enough to have a couple in a row. Even when I think I'm shooting for low ABV I still usually end up over 5%. Looking at making an ordinary bitter soon and I have plans to make a parti-gyle that will net me an imperial stout and an English mild.

My last drinking "session" was a trip to Yardhouse on Saturday when I downed a Gulden Draak (10.5%), Knee Deep Tanilla (6.3%), Speakeasy Prohibition (6.1%), Rubicon Monkey Knife Fight (4.5%), Knee Deep Hoptologist (9%), and an Arrogant Bastard (7.2%). Then we went back to the house and had some of my homebrews (5% or so). The next morning was a little rough, but not too bad.

 

[bowiefan]

I have 4 beer taps and one is always a light session beer and it is always the one to go dry first.

Ben

 

[Calichusetts]

I do agree with a poster that said you need a good "lawn mowing" beer. Something you can drink four or five of and still function. But I find I am on the otherside of the fence with most of the posters. I'd rather have a bomber of a 7-8% on a friday night than multiple beers.

I also think its a question of what people consider a big beer vs a session. Most of the "session" beers I think about are still 6%...even as high as 7.2. But I will only drink 4 or so on any given night

 

[DisturbdChemist]

I never get tired of big beers. I dont want to drink a lot and one of those satisfies me. Most of my homebrew have been ranging between 6-8% which i think are sessionable. I made a mead that almost 20% and ciders in the 8% range but i have a sesson brew in the fermenter because i want a change of pace and try to have a flavorable beer thats low alcohol. I got a Mild with should be 3-3.3% range and perfect summer nights

 

[Jayhem]

I do agree with a poster that said you need a good "lawn mowing" beer. Something you can drink four or five of and still function. But I find I am on the otherside of the fence with most of the posters. I'd rather have a bomber of a 7-8% on a friday night than multiple beers.

I also think its a question of what people consider a big beer vs a session. Most of the "session" beers I think about are still 6%...even as high as 7.2. But I will only drink 4 or so on any given night

I suppose it depends on what you are used to. To a BMC drinker a 5% beer is a big beer!

Personally anything over about 5.5% abv is getting too big for me to want to drink 3 or 4 of in one evening.

I would call 4.5% the perfect session beer and 4.0% may very well be best for that hot day mowing the lawn when you actually want refreshment over alcohol.

 

[befus]

One of my recent brews was BM's Centennial Blonde (although I boiled too long and ended up with a higher OG and the beer finished at 5%, which is a little high) and my BMC drinking friends really enjoy it and I like it enough to have a couple in a row. Even when I think I'm shooting for low ABV I still usually end up over 5%. Looking at making an ordinary bitter soon and I have plans to make a parti-gyle that will net me an imperial stout and an English mild.

My last drinking "session" was a trip to Yardhouse on Saturday when I downed a Gulden Draak (10.5%), Knee Deep Tanilla (6.3%), Speakeasy Prohibition (6.1%), Rubicon Monkey Knife Fight (4.5%), Knee Deep Hoptologist (9%), and an Arrogant Bastard (7.2%). Then we went back to the house and had some of my homebrews (5% or so). The next morning was a little rough, but not too bad.

I assume someone told you what you drank the next day.............

 

[spearko520]

morning after report, closing out a session at the local beer bar (which started reasonably with rodenbach gc, girardin 1882, boon gueuze) with st bernardus abt 12 (10%), la trappe quadrupel (10%), bison stout (9%, and come on it's not a stout, but anyways) and grimbergen optimo bruno (10%).... oof ... perhaps not that wise in hindsight. session beer is a good thing

thank you dinnerstick, i joined this forum to feel like less of an alcoholic. sometimes it doesn't work so well, but then someone like you comes along and i fell a little more sober...

 

[thetragichero]

i've got an 'imperial creme ale' aging and a 12%+ barleywine in primary, but just about everything else so far is 3-6% pale ale/stout/etc
i like to have a few when i come home from work, so i like them being sessionable

 

[mjohnson]

I find that smaller beers are more challenging. When I get one right, I feel a real sense of accomplishment. There's not much to get in the way of flaws, and to have low ABV while maintaining lots of flavor is something to be proud of. I also like that they are cheaper to make and ready sooner. I brew more often and feel less stress about messing it up.

But I find tastes go in waves, so talk to me in a year and I'll probably say I never brew anything less than 8%.

 

[jtakacs]

i've been trying to brew smaller beers and just did an ESB that was 5.5% (which i consider middle of the road) - my latest (saison) got crazy efficiency so it's much larger than what it was supposed to be (gonna be 6%, but dry).

 

[ktblunden]

But I find I am on the otherside of the fence with most of the posters. I'd rather have a bomber of a 7-8% on a friday night than multiple beers.

I agree with this. I generally don't have more than one beer in a night (Saturday was a special occasion) so I normally reach for something high test.

I assume someone told you what you drank the next day.............

I honestly remember that entire day. I had even gone and figured out what I was going to drink ahead of time and all the beers except Arrogant Bastard I had never tried before.