Do you ever get tired of big beers?

[corkybstewart]

First of all I don't consider anything under about 1.080 "big". I usually have one or 2 big beers on tap but most of my beers are in the 1.050-1.060 range. Right now I have a brown ale on tap that was 1.046, that's about as small as I go. A couple of years ago I brewed 15 gallons of 1.035 brown ale for a party for my employees, but that's an exception. I like alcohol in my beer since I generally only have 2 or 3 per day.

 

[PapsD]

Yes and no. It depends on the time of year.

A RIS is awesome when the snow is flying. I like to get a big glass and watch the snow fall. Or if the high for the day is 3 degrees. Or if I'm out at a bar i'll get a big beer after a session beer.

But not in July when it's 90 degrees and %70 humidity.

 

[lou2row]

As a newer AG brewer, I don't usually plan for a session beer, but several have occurred anyways.

Once I have my kegging set up completed, I will probably keep half the taps on the lighter side. I will likely bottle the bigger beers so I don't feel I have to get them drank.

 

[Jayhem]

I'm definitely tired of big beer after last night! I drank 5 homebrews (IPA and Porters) 6-7% abv and have the worst hangover today. Dammit. Need session beer!

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

My fastest moving beer is a 1.038 English Mild. Very few of my beers are above 1.050 to start with.

I just made a 1.036 "IPA Light" and a 1.042 SMASH.

MC

 

[glockentalk]

I make a nice mild by mixing pale ale with de-alcoholized dunkel and carbonated water.

 

[SkinnyShamrock]

Yes. I am sick and tired of stupid huge beers, especially anything with "IPA" in the title. Give me a blonde ale.

Also, small beers are terribly hard to homebrew correctly. Or, at least, they are not as forgiving of screw-ups as big beers are. Weird off-flavor in a cream ale? Yuck. Weird off flavor in a triple IPA? Doesn't matter, taste buds ruined from alpha acids. Chill haze in pilsner? Meh. Chill haze in oaked stout? Can't see it. This may be why homebrewers gravitate to heavier, hoppier beers.

 

[Jayhem]

Yes. I am sick and tired of stupid huge beers, especially anything with "IPA" in the title. Give me a blonde ale.

Also, small beers are terribly hard to homebrew correctly. Or, at least, they are not as forgiving of screw-ups as big beers are. Weird off-flavor in a cream ale? Yuck. Weird off flavor in a triple IPA? Doesn't matter, taste buds ruined from alpha acids. Chill haze in pilsner? Meh. Chill haze in oaked stout? Can't see it. This may be why homebrewers gravitate to heavier, hoppier beers.

I agree. It's near impossible to mess up a stout or IPA due to the huge flavors covering imperfections.

 

[Phunhog]

I agree. It's near impossible to mess up a stout or IPA due to the huge flavors covering imperfections.

Exactly!! I am brewing lighter and lighter beers (Kolsch, Helles, etc..) because they are more challenging to brew correctly. There is no place for flaws to hide.

 

[Wakadaka]

so much snobbery going on in this thread. if the thread title had something mentioning brewing a BMC type session beer then everyone would be on the opposite side. lighter beers aren't that much more challenging to brew. just check fermentation temperature, get a good recipe, and mash low to keep it dry.

i never really brew a beer just to have a session beer. i will brew pale ales sometimes, and i make a blonde or an american wheat every once in a while because my girl friend likes them. i like a good blonde with an orange sometimes, but for the most part i like drinking slightly bigger beers.

 

[ZombieBrew83]

I think it has to do with the changing of the weather. Now that I can comfortably sit on my porch, it's nice to have a couple glasses of something light that won't leave me inebriated. Like someone above said, once the temps warm up I look for refreshing beer before high alcohol beer.

 

[saluki_brewer]

I think weather definitely has a lot to do with it. I've spent today planning a trip to the lake in July with some old friends and am just giddy at the thought of sitting out on a pontoon boat sipping Highlife out of the can.

That reminds me...I need to go to the store and pick up one of those floating coolers soon.

 

[hodge]

so much snobbery going on in this thread. if the thread title had something mentioning brewing a BMC type session beer then everyone would be on the opposite side. lighter beers aren't that much more challenging to brew. just check fermentation temperature, get a good recipe, and mash low to keep it dry.

i never really brew a beer just to have a session beer. i will brew pale ales sometimes, and i make a blonde or an american wheat every once in a while because my girl friend likes them. i like a good blonde with an orange sometimes, but for the most part i like drinking slightly bigger beers.

That's great that you don't like to brew session beers, but I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself with the response to the thread. It's not snobbery, it's just what some people like myself like to brew. I can easily find craft beer between 6-10% at my local store, but have a more difficult time finding the type of beers that I like to enjoy after work (Levitation-like ales, Bitters, etc).

Also, many of the session ales that I've brewed are not as simple as mashing low and finishing dry. Often times you'd like to have a little more body in your beer so you actually mash quite high. Orfy's Mild, 21A Bitter American, Levitation clones all require high mash temps.

 

[Bradinator]

Having variety in my pipeline is the most important aspect in what decides my next brew. I am almost out of the Belgian Tripple I made last year so I whipped up a IIPA a few weeks ago to replace it. If I am keeping on top of my brewing I should have 1-2 sessionables, 1-2 'regular' and 1 big bad I save for special occasions... Like Fridays!

 

[Genjin]

Agreed! Most of the session beers that I brew, including the 70 shilling I brewed today, are beers that are rich in malt and/or hop character but simply lower alcohol. I generally achieve this by mashing high and moving hop additions to the end of the boil.

I have found it much more difficult to nail recipes on these low abv beers. Small changes dramatically alter the final product. However, I also like to brew 6.5% porters and I have found that those come out great nearly regardless of what I do.

 

[EllisTX]

I just kegged a summer wheat beer that's just above 4%. I've been worn out by bigger beers lately. Mostly I make "bigger" beers and buy commercial session beers.

 

[signpost]

Having variety in my pipeline is the most important aspect in what decides my next brew. I am almost out of the Belgian Tripple I made last year so I whipped up a IIPA a few weeks ago to replace it. If I am keeping on top of my brewing I should have 1-2 sessionables, 1-2 'regular' and 1 big bad I save for special occasions... Like Fridays!

+1 on the variety.

I'm a pretty new brewer. Only 4 batches under my belt so far.

1 - english strong ale
2 - honey kolsch
3 - english bitter
4 - Levitation clone (kinda)

So far my brews have ended up .5% or 1% higher than intended (and I'm doing mostly extract, so I don't understand). I have a feeling I will tend to mix it up and end up brewing more 'sessionable' beers than big beers, because the big beers will simply last longer. I'll brew the session stuff to keep me from drinking the big stuff before it's really ready. But really, it's not even a matter of variety of ABVs. It's all about the flavor variety.

 

[duckmanco]

As the sole drinker of beer in my home, and one or two friends who like craft beer, 5 gallon batches are plenty big enough for me. Throw big, which to me is much of anything over 1.070+ and that keg will take forever for me to get through.

So I'm generally making 1.060 beers or under for kegging, and anything north of 1.075 gets bottled. I'd prefer to have more than one beer, and session beers are perfect for that.

 

[bscott1011]

I usually only drink one per day after work and am not tired of big beers. I really like a strong porter or stout with breakfast before I go to bed. (Damn night shift)

 

[Ramitt]

I am down with the Low grav beers, love big beers, but at times less abv is a good thing. Just did an american bitter @3.5% it is pretty good 2 weeks in the bottle, still not the fuller mouth feel I want.

 

[iasquith]

After brewing beers mainly between 1050 and 1065 for the last few years I'm really enjoying my current phase of 1035-1040 bitters and milds, after a recent visit back home to uk, I wanted to mimic the bitters and milds I'd grown up with, the kind to pass an afternoon in a bar getting slowly inbibed yet always with that feeling of being able to have one more. These small beers, usually finish between 1015 and 1020 and I'm mashing high at 156-158f. Another important discovery was bringing down the IBUs to match the body, typically 25- 40. I still like a Barley wine now and again and Iv'e got a stout of 1065 on draught that lasts six months or so but for me 3-4ABV has been more interesting to brew I feel Iv'e learned more about the 'cause and effect' of ingredients\mash temps, yeast, in short the whole bundle . that and taking good notes and repeating recipes . just my opinion . Ian

 

[nightcelt]

Uh oh. 8% abv isn't considered a session beer? Okay, I do have to admit I'm getting tired of waking up on the couch at 3 a.m. with the TV still blaring. A lot of the lighter beers I've passed up in my rush to learn brewing are looking much more attractive now, especially with summer coming on. I do plan to look into the lighter lagers and more wheat. I'm still in the phase where I'm fascinated by the process of building the big beers, but realize there's as much or more craftsmanship in the session beers. I like the idea of a faster turnaround, too.

 

[dbrewski]

After brewing beers mainly between 1050 and 1065 for the last few years I'm really enjoying my current phase of 1035-1040 bitters and milds, after a recent visit back home to uk, I wanted to mimic the bitters and milds I'd grown up with, the kind to pass an afternoon in a bar getting slowly inbibed yet always with that feeling of being able to have one more. These small beers, usually finish between 1015 and 1020 and I'm mashing high at 156-158f. Another important discovery was bringing down the IBUs to match the body, typically 25- 40. I still like a Barley wine now and again and Iv'e got a stout of 1065 on draught that lasts six months or so but for me 3-4ABV has been more interesting to brew I feel Iv'e learned more about the 'cause and effect' of ingredients\mash temps, yeast, in short the whole bundle . that and taking good notes and repeating recipes . just my opinion . Ian

Totally agree with the higher mash and lower IBU's. Better mouthfeel for even a lighter beer. I do EdWort's kolsch that way, people just drink it up. I like lighter beers but not thin beers.

I have three taps so I try to keep a pace of brewing to always have a light/hoppy/malty trifecta on hand. It is a little tricky but have a lagerator to store kegged beer helps me keep things sorted out even if my brewing whims put me out of order.

 

[chiteface]

Uh oh. 8% abv isn't considered a session beer? Okay, I do have to admit I'm getting tired of waking up on the couch at 3 a.m. with the TV still blaring. A lot of the lighter beers I've passed up in my rush to learn brewing are looking much more attractive now, especially with summer coming on. I do plan to look into the lighter lagers and more wheat. I'm still in the phase where I'm fascinated by the process of building the big beers, but realize there's as much or more craftsmanship in the session beers. I like the idea of a faster turnaround, too.

I'm at the same place right now...well maybe not the 3 am tv blaring place, but I don't think I have brewed anything underneath a 1.060 starting and really if I went that low it was on accident, but more and more I think it's harder to make a solid small beer than a a decent big one. The margin of error for a simpler beer seems a lot thinner. I do plan on brewing a session Apa this summer, so we will see how that goes.

 

[Schemy]

Just brewed three low gravity beers. A kolsch OG 1041, Saison 1050, and Cascade Pale Ale 1050. Just as fun to brew that level, because for me its about the process. I just love to brew. I think I love brewing more than drinking beer.

 

[chiteface]

Just brewed three low gravity beers. A kolsch OG 1041, Saison 1050, and Cascade Pale Ale 1050. Just as fun to brew that level, because for me its about the process. I just love to brew. I think I love brewing more than drinking beer.

Isn't drinking just an extension of the brewing? We need to understand our craft right?

 

[nightcelt]

Exactly. All this beer swiling, it's for pure science. Nothing more.

 

[Golddiggie]

Isn't drinking just an extension of the brewing? We need to understand our craft right?

You nailed it... You also need to see how the brew changes over time. Granted, some batches run out before you can notice any change, but that's all part of it too.

 

[tgmartin000]

I brewed jamil's classic American pilsner that turned out fantastic. At about 5.5% it's a bit high for a typical session beer, but my liver is in excellent shape, so for me it works. Great stuff.

Also stone makes, or made, a west coast session ale at 4.5%and about 50 ibu. Its got 15 oz of hops in a 5 gal batch. Citra, simcoe, Amarillo, etc. Great stuff, it's a hoppy session ale but doesn't kill your palette too bad.

 

[dfc]

I've made a 4.6% Strawberry Cream Ale, but I love making big beers. However, one thing I'm kind of excited about is moving to AG. I've read about people doing second runnings from big beers to make a session beer with the same grains. This is something I'd love to experiment with.