What is a "heavy" beer?

[bdleedahl]

i know lots of people who aren't (big?) fans of Guinness or any very dark beer claim that they are super heavy beer, and say things like "i can drink one but thats it, it fills me up" but i think people equate color with "heaviness" and i cant see how this is relevant at all. wouldnt the heaviness of a beer just be it FG reading? so a winter beer with a high FG but has an amber color could be much more heavy than a black stout with a lower FG. i just dont understand how this word "heavy" gets tossed around without any real meaning to it?

does anyone know what the FG of something like Guinness is?

 

[gerbache]

I always get a good laugh when someone claims Guinness is a super heavy beer. You can float the stuff on top of a Bass! Considering that it's a dry stout and pretty low in alcohol, I'm guessing it has a FG somewhere below 1.010, but that's a total guess on my part.

 

[Joeywhat]

A lot of people equate color to heaviness, or also roasted or 'dark' flavours as being heavy.

I can drink Guinness all day long and not fill up...hell it's actually pretty low in calories and carbs compared to other stouts and porters. It's certainly not a heavy beer in the traditional sense.

I think some people just don't care for the dark, roasted flavours in some of those beers, and as such after one or two they're overwhelmed by the taste.