What is your ideal ABV?

[dlaramie08]

I've been brewing in the 3-4% range now for about a year. That is my ideal range. So far, I have found that the easiest beers to brew in that range are ipa and hefeweizen. The other styles tend to be difficult to get the flavor complexity that I want from a session beer. I'm not saying it's impossible, just difficult! I'm gonna keep chasing that rabbit, though.

 

[gbx]

Beers that really make a mark, or get my attention tend to be even bigger. I bet if I made a top 10 GOAT beers, at least 8 of them would be over 7%.

Good luck finding anything on hatebeer's top 50 that are UNDER 7%

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/top-50/

Its pretty ridiculous actually. "Subtle complexity" is not something the average craft beer enthusiast appreciates.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Good luck finding anything on hatebeer's top 50 that are UNDER 7%

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/top-50/

Its pretty ridiculous actually. "Subtle complexity" is not something the average craft beer enthusiast appreciates.

This.

Because the average beer hipster is usually a trend hopping **** who knows f*** all about brewing or what a properly executed beer is supposed to taste like, and can't comprehend or figure out beer that doesn't nuke the taste buds or that doesn't include some stupidly obnoxious ingredients. It all tastes the same to them.

 

[Eucrid]

Obviously variety is the spice of life and all that but most of the beer I make tends to fall into the mid 5% range. Thats just where I like my go to beers and if I want to get the beer in and out of a corny before the next ones ready it needs to be plenty drinkable.

I did make some lower ABV beers for January though. The way some people give up beer for the month I'm just taking the alcohol content down. The 4% American Wheat I made is just way too bland though. My Irish Stout is just ready to keg so hopefully that'll fare better.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

This.

Because the average beer hipster is usually a trend hopping **** who knows f*** all about brewing or what a properly executed beer is supposed to taste like, and can't comprehend or figure out beer that doesn't nuke the taste buds or that doesn't include some stupidly obnoxious ingredients. It all tastes the same to them.

I honestly think ol' Dar is a prime example.

 

[drainbamage]

I like to stay around 6%, give or take a half point. If I'm going with something stronger, I try to stick with 1 or 2 in a sitting.

 

[TommyTbar]

The average beer I brew is around 6%.

I have brewed a number of low gravity beers including a micro IPA that came in at 2.9% ABV. Mashed it super hot around 158 and added some oats very light bittering addition and a 3 oz flame out and 4 oz dry hop.

When i gave this beer to some of my friends and asked how much ABV they thought it was around 6-8% haha

I enjoy session beers but tend not to brew them as they go way too fast on tap.
I would be brewing double the amount i do now haha

 

[AirAssault]

Most all of my beers fall in the mid 6's. I occasionally brew stronger, but would never brew anything below 5.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I spoke to the brewer at a brewery yesterday and we spoke about this topic yesterday actually. He had a session beer with 3.9% abv, and said he had to use 6 different malts to give it as much dimension as possible. It still wasn't all that great - at least not as good as the other beers he had.

 

[campbelldm1]

Most of my beers fall in the 5.5-7.5 range but I do like when my bitter (3.4) and Berliner (3.2) are on tap.

 

[dfhar]

5.

 

[urbanmyth]

Most of what I brew are English session ales, which I usually try to have fall between 3.2% and 3.8% ABV. Quality malts and knowing how to use them compensate for the low gravities, flavor wise.

 

[urbanmyth]

Most of what I brew are English session ales, which I usually try to have fall between 3.2% and 3.8% ABV. Quality malts and knowing how to use them compensate for the low gravities, flavor wise.

Also, subtle malt complexities are more enjoyable to me than getting knocked in the face by IBUs and high ABVs

 

[aprichman]

Most of the recipes I'm planning to brew in the near future are around 5%. So far I've brewed everything from 3.8% - 7% beers.

 

[Gentlemans_Ale]

7% is the sweet spot

 

[mkyl428]

I like 5-6.5% but I can still appreciate a good 4% beer I live in Oklahoma & here you can only get 4% beer at gas stations & grocery stores, you have to go to a liquor store to get higher abv beers and you have to buy them warm... it sucks they don't allow breweries to self distribute to liquor stores (which are also closed on Sundays), so local breweries have started producing some lower gravity 4% beers so they can self distribute & be more widely available.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Most of what I brew are English session ales, which I usually try to have fall between 3.2% and 3.8% ABV. Quality malts and knowing how to use them compensate for the low gravities, flavor wise.

Truth bomb, right there.

Also, subtle malt complexities are more enjoyable to me than getting knocked in the face by IBUs and high ABVs

As mentioned earlier, subtlety and nuance are not in the normal lexicon of the average craft consumer, and even many a homebrewer.

 

[dfhar]

Agreed, and it's a shame really.

Extremely strong hop, alcohol, roasted malt, weird ingredient, etc flavors are a lot like listening to ear-bleedingly loud rock music. Fun sometimes, but at those volumes you're a lot less sensitive to subtle sounds. There's a reason symphony orchestras don't play that loud. You'd never be able to hear the complexity in the music. Another analogy might be a chef who insists on wrapping bacon around every single piece of food they cook.

Helles, Marzen, Bohemian Pilsner, English milds/bitters etc., when properly brewed, have a particular kind of complexity and depth to their character that IPAs and imperial stouts can't hope to match.

 

[Wolfbayte]

4.85642

 

[podz]

My ideal abv is around a 6%

What is yours?

Depends on the serving size. I don't like high ABV beer too much: 7-8% is the limit for me.

I vote with my wallet and simply refuse to buy any beer that is less than 4.2% ABV. I refuse to pay beer prices for water.

95% of the time, when drinking commercial beer, I buy 500ml bottles or cans. With that size, from 4.5-4.7% ABV is good for me - I can drink 1 per hour without noticeable impairment.

When making my own beer, I usually target between 5.5 and 5.8% ABV, though it depends on the style.

 

[Backslide]

Life and mood varies as does my taste in ABV% 4-10% is ideal