Bar Owners: make more money with session beers

Maybe you're a bar owner, and you're wondering, will these low-alcohol session beers really sell? Here's a note from Drew Topping, who runs Piper's Pub on Pittsburgh's South Side (great place, highly recommended). He's got three hand-pumps pouring cask ale, and...well, here's what he said.

Most of the beer we get for cask consumption is session ale. We also get a knock about the great number of European Sessions we have on tap but with the bulk of consumption during our Live English Soccer matches being between 7am and noon, that is what our clientele likes to drink. And as you say, the volume of sales makes up for the Hophead's disappointment.

"Volume of sales." That's session beer in a nutshell for the bar owner. Once you start serving a tasty, drinkable beer that doesn't get your customers all banged up, you'll see them drinking more and more of it. Everyone's happy...but not too happy. Which is the whole point.