The Session Beer Project™

Session Cider, too

2012-01-25T15:18:00.000-05:00

Woodchuck Cider is a huge seller. It's a big brand, and cider is growing. So it kind of tickles me to see them go to full-year production on Woodchuck Crisp, a 3.2% ABV cider they're calling America's first "Session Cider."

It is one of the driest ciders in the Woodchuck lineup. Dry and delicate in body, it finishes with a delicious apple flavor. Crisp is 3.2% alcohol by volume (abv), yet retains taste complexity.

They put the cider in their variety packs, and it was a hit, so they decided to go year-round. It is now available in major US markets.

And this footnote to why they were calling it "session cider" pleased me as well: we're definitely getting the message out there.

"A Session Beverage is described by longtime beer journalist Lew Bryson as being less than 4.5% ABV, flavorful enough to be interesting, yet balanced enough for multiple pints."

Philly Homebrewers: time to show off your session chops

2012-01-25T10:13:00.001-05:00

I heard from Mat Falco at Philly Beer Scene magazine that they're running a homebrew competition specifically for session beers! Check the details here; it's actually a bit more complicated -- and interesting! -- than that. It's a two-round competition, run through the area's homebrew shops; homebrewers affiliate with a shop and enter their first beers by March 3. (Update: there's a session competition in Pittsburgh, too: see below!)

The first round is the session beer one. Competitors may brew any 'style' of beer, as long as it is 4.5% ABV or under: "Anything over will not be considered. There are no other restrictions for this round." Furthermore, no style guidelines are imposed. "Good beer is good beer no matter how close or far off it is from the style it’s categorized as. We are looking for a well-brewed, flavorful interpretation of a session beer." I'm all for that; part of the impetus for the Project is to engender innovation in flavorful lower-alcohol beers.

Here's where it changes, and gets really interesting. For the second round, the top two brewers from each of the homebrew shops then brew another beer, using a pound of beans from One Village coffee roasters (supplied by the homebrew shops; not all the beans must be used in the beer)...and just to make it fun, there is a stylistic restriction on this one: no stouts or porters, the usual suspects in coffee beers. (Not to make a suggestion, but I recall a coffee-infused dark mild Gordon Grubb made at Nodding Head that was quite tasty; called it Up All Night, I think, and it was definitely not a porter.) Winners will be announced during Philly Beer Week.

Great to see this kind of interest and love for session beers!

Got word that TRASH, the Three Rivers Alliance of Serious Homebrewers, is also doing a homebrew competition with a session component -- and also using the 4.5% limit, thanks! Details are here; the winner will be scaled up and brewed on commercial scale at East End Brewing, where Scott has been a friend of The Session Beer Project for years.

Dark Lager Light

2012-01-20T08:38:00.002-05:00

When I stopped in at VictoryBrewing’s Downingtown pub on my way home from Lancaster Tuesday night, Iwas figuring on a nice pint of UncleTeddy's bitter for the trip. But then I looked at the draft board and sawfirst that Dark Lager, one of myfavorite Victory beers, was available, which is always a fleeting thing; great beer, but way underappreciated, so they onlymake the one batch around this time of year, and it’s draft-only.

Then I looked again,and realized that it was pegged at 3.9%ABV! I had to have it, and man, was I glad I did. Delish as always,assertive, fresh...and 3.9%? Wow! Ispread the word a bit on Twitter (@lewbryson, which is my tag for #sessionbeerposts too), but I decided to get hold of brewers/founders Bill Covaleski andRon Barchet for a short interview and find out why Dark Lager was suddenly asession beer.

It turned out that, well…it was a mistake, but as Ron said, “Twowrongs sometimes do make a right. The brewhouse yielded alower-than-expected gravity, and the fermentability was weaker thanexpected. Bingo: a nice, loweralcohol beer with some body. In my opinion, it stylistically resembles a Czech dark lager. Interestingly,this beer is and always has been a great example of what double decoction can do for darker beers; it’s made from 100% Munich malt. Thedecoction adds quite a bit of color.” Flavor too, I might add!

“Itwas always intended to be a Munichdark lager,” Bill confirmed when I asked about the beer’s origins, “but withthis two-step Mother Nature intervention, it came out more like a Czech darklager.” It was quite a change, too; Bill looked back in the brewing recordswhile we were talking, and while Dark Lager was usually around 5%, back in 2009it went up to 5.7%...which is more where I think Ron originally wanted thebeer.

See,I actually was in on the beginnings of thisone, peripherally. Way back, Ron and I were wandering around the breweryone day, just chatting, and he asked, whatdo you think we should do next? Adunkel, I said immediately, a nice Munich dunkel, thinking of how much Iloved drinking Andechs’s dunkel. Yeah,he said, excited, a good dunkel, rightaround 12°, something with some body. I smiled, and nodded, and thought tomyself, well, no, I was actuallythinking right around 10° so we could drink liters of it — I guess I was hookedon session even then — but I didn’t say anything. And when Dark Lager cameout, I loved it, and took visitingfriends by to try it — I’m looking atyou, Stephen Beaumont — anddid what I could personally to keep the sales figures up.

However,as Bill notes, “The beer is not arunaway success in sales. We like it, though, and we find there are otherpeople that enjoy it as well…just enoughto bring it back on draft every year.” So if you screwed it up, does that meanit may not go as well this year?

“We’ll probably keepit as is,” he said, meaning the new lower alcohol. “It’s unique. It’s a new twist, so tweaking it, as long asit doesn’t go in a way Ron or I don’t like, could be a way to go. I think we’removing in the right direction withthis beer.” Me too!

That fits right inwith Victory’s overall plans, which are to have some fun and offer beers foreveryone. “I’ve made this joke all the time,” Bill said. “People ask me, ‘Whydo you have so many beers here?’ Walk around Downingtown and try to find some other kind of fun! We brew a lot ofbeers because it’s fun!

“At the same time,”he said, “we want people to enjoy themselves but get home safely. Lower-alcoholoptions are in everyone’s best interest. We don’t stand on a soapbox about it, but there is the option.

“We also have the restaurant to think about,” Bill continued,and this is something he’s referred to in the past as their ‘secret plan’ for craft domination. “I can’t point them outto you, but I know there are some dads sitting in here drinking Donnybrook, or Dark Lager, and they hadjust put down their Miller Litebecause Mom and the kids wanted pizza.We want them to have a good experiencewith full-flavored beers. We’re not pandering to anyone, we drink them ourselves, but we’re not turning anyone off, either.We’re very bullish about the future of craft beer. Why can’t we make beers withnice texture and good flavor that everyone can enjoy?” As I’ve often said,brewing a good kölsch or helles or blondeale is no less “crafty” than brewing a double IPA, right?

He wrapped it up with a mention of how that kind of anglegives them confidence about going intothe new Xfinity LiveComplex, with a 400 seat beer hallin Philly. “We’re not intimidated [by mainstream crowds],” he said. “If some Coors Light drinker wanders in there, we’llhave something for them. And that’s good for everyone.”

In context, I’d remind everyone that your Coors Lightdrinker…is the natural target forconversion to craft session beer. He (or she) is already drinking a 4.2%lager; just get some more flavor and variety in there, and we’ve got a win.

Now…I gotta get onthe road. As fate would have it, I’m taking my daughter up to Lancaster foran interview at Franklin & MarshallCollege (or as my wife and I call it, AlmaMater), and I think there’s a pintor two of Dark Lager waiting me on the return trip…

Bitter American is back (and so is this blog!)

2012-01-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

I was interviewed aboutsession beers recently. I've kind ofbecome the unofficial point person for session beer since starting this blog,so that's happened fairly often in the past four years. I've tried to beoutspoken, because that's what session beer needs: vocal support(and your vocal support, too!), so brewers know that not everyone wants justmore bigger, boozier, more extreme beers. Some of us also wantgreat-tasting lower-alcohol beers that we can have at lunch and keep working(and I mean two full pints at lunch and keep working), or have a few of – orfour or five of* – over two or three hours and not get silly.

So anyway, I was doing thisinterview, and one of the questions was: "There's been a lot oftalk in the media about the session beer trend taking off, thoughit's often hard to see when you go to a bar...and see 30 taps, 90% ofwhich are 6% and up. Have you noticed any solid evidence that thesession-beer revival is really happening here?"

Fair question, if that's what you're seeing...but it's not what I'mseeing. I'm seeing more talk about session beer – a lot more – I'mseeing breweries making more session-strength beers, I'm seeingbreweries making commitments to session-strength beers – like ChrisLohring with his contract brand, The Notch, which are all 4.5% and under– and I'm seeing more people responding.

Okay, I'm seeing that becauseI'm looking for it, to some extent, but I was looking for it four yearsago, too, and it wasn't there. It's here to see now, and it is growing,and some of that's because the beers – like Yards Brawler, and NotchPilsner, and Stone Levitation – are so good that we tend not to noticethat they're so low in alcohol. Chris did a Notch Saison this summer thatclocked in well below 4.0%, and it flew, though I suspect mostpeople who drank it up never even knew.

One session beer's doneso well that it's broken out of itsseasonal slot and is going nationwide: 21^st Amendment's BitterAmerican. I first had this delicious low-alcohol brew at 21^stAmendment's San Francisco brewpub, and greatly enjoyed it. When it arrived inmy Philadelphia market in cans, I was one happy camper, but my joy wastempered by its here-today-gone-next-month status.

No more. 21^stAmendmenthas decided that Bitter American is selling so well that it will hold up as ayear-round beer.Here's 21st Amendment Brewery co-founder Nico Freccia: "Wegot so many emails and tweets asking us to make this a year-round beer, we justcouldn't ignore them. It's the perfect antidote to the big beers of winter andalso the perfect summer brew."

"Bitter American is agreat beer during colder times when strong beers seem to be prettyprevalent," added founder and Brewmaster Shaun O'Sullivan. "When wefirst brewed this beer it really scratched the lower-alcohol-session-beer-itchthat I would get when I was tired of drinking barley wines, imperial stouts andother stronger hoppy beers. I wanted and I think a lot of good beer drinkerswant a session beer where you can enjoy a few pints of a beer with huge flavorbut without all the alcohol."

I think they'reabsolutely right. It's a tasty, crisp beer(much like Narragansett Summer Ale, another session-strength can thatshould go year-round, though probably with a different name!), it's goteye-catching graphics, and people instinctively know they can drink thehell out of it.

There's your proof. Beers like this are gaining sales (and not at theexpense of big beers, you extreme crybabies; everyone's gaining), andthe whole idea of a lower-alcohol, higher-flavor beer is gaining momentum. Whynot? Because some people think it should cost less? News for you:thousands of cans sold disagree with you. I do think we'll have to havethis pricing issue out one of these days, but the people have spoken, fornow: they're willing to pay for flavor, even if a smaller groupapparently only wants to pay for alcohol.

So...the blog is back.Tomorrow, an interview with Victory brewers Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchetabout the mistake that turned their Dark Lager into a session beer, and whythey're glad it happened. See you then!

*Some might call that'binge drinking,' I tell them to check the total alcohol and the time...andleave me alone.

"...the very basic function of a Bitter"

2011-09-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

Fantastic post by Chris Lohring of The Notch today, about brewing a batch of cask bitter. It's long, and detailed, but it's a great look into why "contract brewing" shouldn't be a bad word. This guy busted his hump to get a batch of beer brewed, fought problems both under and out of his control, and won through to a batch of German-malt, German-hopped bitter, under 4% and subtly dry...and there are some great bits of insight here.

"...here’s the hard reality of brewing in too many places with too many variables and not enough time, resources or money."
"Bitter is a subtle but beautiful beer style, and the subtlety is the key. The beer’s elements must line up in a way that is balanced, yet interesting enough to draw you in for another sip."
"The subtle complexity of Burton Bitter is something which is certainly out of favor in modern US craft brewing. And this subtle complexity is regularly bashed by beer snobs who like the opposite. As if it’s a binary option, and one can not exist with the other"
"...with session beer, there is not a lot of time to set the bed, as the malt mill runs dry pretty quick."
"Plan B Bitter would have been a good name for the beer, but I don’t really give Notch beers fanciful names. It seems silly for session beers, which are modest by definition."
"The whereabouts of my Firkins are still unknown, and this is part of the cask game I loathe. Some brewers use other brewers casks without guilt. Maybe they think they are lost? Surrendered? Cast off? Who knows, but if a Notch cask is filled with another beer, that cask has been stolen. It’s that simple."
"Two ounces of hops per cask, just for a bit of subtlety. More would have been fun, but a little predictable and it would have masked some of the delicate malt characteristics."
"...it was at this point I knew Notch Bitter was the beer of the damned."
"Notch Bitter fits the very basic function of a Bitter, which is to not get in the way of the conversation, or be the conversation. It’s simply a delicious session beer that can be the backbone for a fun afternoon or evening at your local. If you can’t get your head around that, you’ll never get your head around session beer."

Go read it. Thanks for all the hard work, Chris.

Drinking it up: I drink an afternoon of session and publicly post my BAC

2011-09-11T17:17:00.000-04:00

As posted below, I was involved in a session beer event at Farmer's Cabinet in Philly. Matt Scheller invited me to take part in what amounted to a session beer tap takeover: they have about 24 taps there, and Matt planned to have all but about four of them at 4.5% or lower (including some of Terry Hawbaker's new house-brewed beers), and those four would be 5.0% or less. And I was going to talk about session beers.

That was the plan...but it kinda fell apart, to some extent. Matt's suppliers let him down on some of the beers (including Coniston Bluebird Bitter, which was a -- urk! -- bitter disappointment for me), including some of the surprisingly low-ABV Mikellers. Bummer. Then, well, I'll be honest: not that many people showed up. At one point we had about ten, and that was the high for the day. So we just kind of sat around and chatted about session beers...and drank 'em.

I did do one other thing. I took along a piece of foamcore and a broad Sharpie, and put the whitesheet up on a shelf in the bar. I wrote "LEW'S BAC -- 1:15 -- 0.00" on it; my blood alcohol concentration at 1:15 was 0.00, according to my AlcoHawk Pro. I then publicly posted what I was drinking, with ABV. I thought I should put my money where my mouth was and, well, if my BAC was too high, I'd stay in the city till I was legal.

It wasn't even close. After five beers in about two and a half hours (I stopped drinking the proscribed 20 minutes before blowing), the AlcoHawk pegged me at 0.02 BAC, completely legal in Pennsylvania; I think I could probably have bought a bottle at a "wine kiosk."

And the beers? Pretty good! The House Bitter (Terry's) was tasty, but lacking in body. The Meantime Pale was chewy with British malt, a nice drop. Terry's House Grisette was delicious -- herbal, floral, dry on the end -- and had it not been for wanting to keep varietal, I'd have drunk much more of it. The Bells Oarsman was tasty without going overboard on the sour clench; quite refreshing. And the Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted was a nice solid glass to wind up the day with.

What did I learn? Well, maybe the format is not the best for promoting session beer. In fact, I'm starting to think that focusing on session beer doesn't work, because of session beer's character; it's a type of beer that's not about taste, taste, taste; it's more about drink/talk/drink/cards/drink/pool/drink/eat/drink/pool...Not what you do at a "Beer Festival." Need to think more about this.

But check this out. This was a two-day/all-day event, and the beers were simply on offer for regular customers, no entry fee needed. The bartender told us that Friday night the beers had been selling fine, and the place was packed, and they were all drinking, but...they never turned stupid or started acting like drunk jerks. Hmmm...another reason for bars to include more session-strength craft beer on their menu?

Session Beer Event at the Farmer's Cabinet

2011-09-02T00:58:00.001-04:00

You know, it's crazy that I haven't been to the Farmer's Cabinet yet; the beers are jaw-dropping, my buddy Terry Hawbaker is brewing for them (in Virginia, but that's another story), and the cocktails are supposed to be phenomenal...but Matt Scheller finally figured out how to get me to visit: >>>>>>>>>>>>>

That's right, he's throwing a bunch of session beers on and giving me a chance to talk about this passion of mine for great-tasting 'little beers.' Now, I do have to say: there are a few beers in the bunch that are over 4.5%. It ain't a perfect world. But it's a PAYG event, with pints and half pints, so if you don't want the 4.5+ beers, don't buy them. Or do, suit yourself. They'll also have specialty hot dogs, made by chef Jason Goodman, and I'm looking forward to that, too.

So, the deets: The fest will be at Farmer's Cabinet (1113 Walnut St., Philly) all day, on both Sept 9 and 10, Friday and Saturday. I'll be speaking about session beers at 1:30 on Saturday (I have an all-day meeting Friday, or I'd hike my butt in for that one, too); it's going to be a bit of a pep rally for session beers, but I'll talk about the hows and whys, like how they're made to taste so good, and why I set my limit at 4.5%. But mostly? We'll be drinking 26 tap beers and 2 gravity pours (one German, one English). Four of those 26 will be Terry's beers, some of the first brewed at the former Shenandoah brewery in Arlington, VA; if you know Terry's beers from the Bullfrog, you'll know why I'm excited about those.

Now, as Matt said: "Prices will vary, but European craft beer is not cheap - even when the ABV is low. I will try to keep them as low as possible, but the price point will not be $3 or $4 a pint, but probably around 6 or 7. Unfortunately, just because a beer is lighter in color and lower in alcohol, doesn't mean it costs any less to buy. I certainly wish that was the case!"

I liked something else he told me:

To be frank, Lew, I am rarely in the mood these days for a boozy or remotely heavy beer. I'd rather be able to have a "session" without feeling loaded or tired. Furthermore, there is something very special and sophisticated about a well made session beer, which is not an easy task for a brewer! I'm on a mini-mission to expose to people the beauty of a low abv, drinkable ale or lager. Bigger is not always better. I hope the american craft beer scene understands this in years to come and the philosophy of 'whiskey barrel aged 10% triple hopped continuously for 6 weeks and then aged in another barrel and wet hopped' is better" soon comes to a close and there is more emphasis put on balance and refinement! Hence good session beers.

Yup. Sounds right to me.

Session Beer Fest in Portland...I missed it, sorry!

2011-08-30T12:25:00.002-04:00

I really do need to get this thing updated more often: I had news of a session beer fest in Portland, Oregon -- yeah, really! -- last weekend, and didn't get it posted in time. I blame vacation and a busy schedule, but I let you down. Jeff Alworth of Beervana put it on with Coalition Brewing; they called it Mighty Mites, a great name. If anyone made it to the fest, please post a comment on how it went!

Here's a review, and thanks to Jeff for providing the link!

Session Beer Symposium in Michigan

2011-08-03T14:37:00.000-04:00

Just got this; more proof that session is catching on. Copper Canyon is a brewpub in Southfield, Michigan.

Copper Canyon Brewery Presents

Beerposium #25, Aug. 6, 5:00 PM

Session Beers

Session Beer is a relatively new term (earliest ref appears to be in the 1980's), however, “session” is a term that dates back to WWI. During WWI, workers were allowed to go to the pub in two different 4 hr “sessions” and at the time beer strength was mandated by law and high tariffs. So, effectively, it was a time where one could go to the pub, have several beers in a “session” and not stagger home. Here we are doing a tasting of beers under 4.5%. Remarkably, there are many beers out there that fulfill this standard and are still quite tasty. You will be surprised by the variability of beers and styles that will be represented. These are the perfect beers of summer, where you want a couple to quench your thirst, yet allow you to finish the work at hand.

Reservations will be taken as seating is limited. $20 in advance $25 day of event. You will get at least 12 different beverages.

Wasatch Evolution Amber Ale

2011-06-18T16:22:00.001-04:00

Stephen Beaumont and I do beer reviews for All About Beer, and it engenders frequent emails. Like this one, that he sent a couple months ago:

BTW, Lew, if you haven’t, you need to get a hold of some Squatters beer from Salt Lake City. They sent me a bunch for the World Atlas and I am very impressed with their 4% brews, especially the Provo Girl Pilsner.

I rarely ignore advice from Doctor Beaumont, so I fired off a request for samples to the good people at the Utah Brewers Cooperative, and they very nicely responded...and then I got busy as hell. The beers went into the fridge and stayed dark and cold till today, when I grabbed an Evolution Amber.

You may chuckle at the idea of 4% beers from Utah. I don't. I remember a year when Utah brewers swept the schwarzbier category at GABF with low-alcohol lagers that were just awesome. See, when you have tough rules, you get really good at working within them. Kind of like the 4.5% ABV guideline I've proposed for session beer...

I was ready for something good, and I got it. This is a nice malty amber, and the nose proclaims that: bread, cookie, and a pleasing fresh grassiness. It follows through just fine with a light-but-not-lite body, good malt flavor, and just enough sweet to get the juices flowing, and just enough hop to clean it up. Very nice post-ride beer, and one you could easily session. More of these to come...

Battlefield in Fred-burg goes session in a Scots way

2011-06-18T15:35:00.000-04:00

Got a message from an old friend, Lyle Brown, who -- after years as a very accomplished homebrewer (won silver in the GABF Pro-Am in 2008 with a rauch; more on that shortly) -- has made the jump to commercial brewer at the new Battlefield Brewing Company at The Pub in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I will reluctantly, sadly, admit that I haven't had a chance to stop in yet (gonna happen, it's on the way to the brother-in-law's and Blue & Gray Brewing and A. Smith Bowman Distillery (home of Virginia Gentleman bourbon), where my good friend Truman Cox is about to take over as master distiller).

However! Lyle knows I like a good session beer, so he sent news: We now have Spotsylvania Scottish 70 on tap at 4.0% ABV. This beer is a malty sweet beer, with a mild balancing Styrian Goldings bitterness, yet light in body and ultimately drinkable. There's also Chancellor Pale Ale (4.6% ABV) an American style Pale Ale with Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe and Amarillo hops.

I'm not going to quibble about 0.1%, I'd dive in on that Chancellor. Besides...Lyle said he's also got a Rauch Marzen tapping in a few days, and I don't give a damn what ABV that is; if I get half a chance, I'm getting some!

The Pub is at 4187 Plank Rd, Fredericksburg, VA 22407, 540-785-2164.

Session gets more good -- smart -- press

2011-06-16T10:31:00.000-04:00

Financial news site TheStreet.com has a piece on session beers and canned crafts this week -- "Cans? Low Buzz? What's up with Craft Beer?" -- that really does get it. One of the things they get is how session beer is fighting a real headwind: low-alcohol = low flavor/quality.

As craft brewers embrace beers with less than 5% alcohol by volume and can packaging long held to ridicule after being stacked in "beeramids" and smashed against one too many frat boy foreheads, they're battling both for market share in an increasingly crowded segment and against longstanding beer stigmas passed down through generations of drinkers.

True. But craft session beer also addresses a problem, as ratebeer's Joe Tucker (a strong ally of session beer) points out:

"We have a 'usability' problem -- average alcohol by volume is way too high to be sipping multiple beers down at the river, cutting the lawn or at the game," says Joseph Tucker, owner and operator of RateBeer, who sees session beer as a solution to craft beer's summer quandary. "High-alcohol beer is more filling, it has more calories and it's dehydrating, and this makes the average craft beer a problem in the summertime."

Can you drink big beer in the summer? Sure: that's what air-conditioning is for. I had an Otto's Double D during Philly Beer Week in the coolly chilled Grey Lodge Pub, and it tasted great. But when I was sweating it at a packed event later in the week, doors and windows open wide to try to get a breath of air into the place? Nice cold Kenzinger, baby.

One problem I continually struggle with is the folks who want to up the definition of session to include 5% and even 5.5% beers. I don't want to get to be an ABV Nazi, but the fact is, if most world beers, if average beers home in around 5%...that makes "session beers" no big deal, and once again stuffs 3.5% beers down into the "not enough" category we've seen expanding in beer judging, and in the pale ale, IPA, and even double IPA categories, a real "go big or go home" mentality that I've pegged as the "get a bigger monkey" syndrome. Keep "session beer" defined as 4.5% and less -- or 4% or less -- and you'll get a more level playing field for these beers, and you will see more creativity and more flavor at that level. We're seeing it already.

Chris Lohring, at The Notch, doing all session beer, naturally thinks a lot about the subject, and offers this:

"If it's fine to call something 'extreme,' and the craft beer community has really embraced that term, then what's so bad about embracing a term that's the opposite of that in 'session'?"

Indeed. What's so bad about it? What is everyone so scared of? Summer of 2011, baby: the Summer of Session? Finally?

Steve Body's Still Not Getting It

2011-06-16T10:09:00.000-04:00

Steve Body writes a blog for the Seattle P-I called "The Pour Fool." He doesn't get -- or like -- session beers, and he's made that clear. He made it so clear that when he got a bunch of angry responses to his misunderstanding and dismissal of session beers as the choice of drunks, he felt compelled to not only delete the comments, but to spend his entire next blog post in a weenie-like defense of himself -- without mentioning "session beer" -- and his actions.

Just to show he's not scared of us -- and that he hasn't learned a damned thing -- his latest post (a paean of praise to Pike Place Brewing, which I didn't mind at all: I like Auld Acquaintance a lot, among others) goes there again, even though he didn't really have to. At the end of his description of Naughty Nellie Golden Artisan Ale, he sticks this sharp stick in session beer's eye:

Pike describes this as a “session beer” and, despite my stated aversion to the idea of sessioning (which I refer to as “drinking too much”), it’s just a glorious beer for anyone who wants more than one of the same.

I'd leave a comment on his blog, but he'd probably feel compelled to delete it. So here's my comment. First, "more than one of the same" is a key component to "sessioning." I just want to be able to have four "of the same" compared to your two of the same, because I like my beer to refresh my thirst, and I like to hang out with my friends for longer than you, apparently. That's so reprehensible? Second, firing up my trusty Session Beer Equivelator®, I see that if he has the 22 oz. bottle of Old Bawdy he talks about, I can have five shaker glasses (the roughly standard "pint" glasses (that aren't really pints) of beer bars) of 4% session beer and take in the same amount of alcohol. Hey, maybe I just like drinking beer more, I dunno.

Of course, we'd have to do this later in the day, because Steve's got all kinds of rules about drinking. "I NEVER drink anything with alcohol in it before 3-4 p.m," he says later in the post. Must be tough to get all the tasting in. Me, I generally don't do any serious tasting after 4 PM, but I'd hardly call it a rule. This guy's wound a little too tight. Maybe he does need those high-proof beers after all.

Look, I'll be honest. I don't know Steve Body, and I'm only beating up on him because he seems to personify a lot of the misunderstanding about session beers. We'd probably agree on some things, though I'm not sure about people in 2011 who loudly proclaim that they're a "beer snob" and describe pilsner as Bud injected with flavor. But to be this assertively wrong about something, and deliberately try to get in someone's face about it...well, I can't let that go. I don't disrespect his choice of having a couple big beers; that's a choice. What's so wrong about choosing session beers?

Big piece on session beer (it's good; I wrote it)

2011-06-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

I did get to write a lengthy piece on session beer -- local session beer -- and it came out yesterday in Massachusetts Beverage Business, a trade journal I've been writing regularly for since about 1998 (sad to say that this is their last issue as an independent magazine). Check it out; I think I hit most of the bells on this one. Love the bit about the line out the door at the Lower Depths: people lined up to get openly-declared session beer. That's pretty damned extreme...

Hold on there, Pilgrim...

2011-05-10T13:51:00.000-04:00

Joe Stange's got a major piece on session beer coming out in DRAFT magazine this summer; can't wait to see it...especially in light of this new post on his blog, Thirsty Pilgrim. He throws cold water on the whole idea that session beer is trending upward in the U.S., citing ratebeer.com data on new beer introductions over the past ten years.
However...I'd suggest that you don't look at session beer the same way you look at extreme beer. Session sells by volume, extreme sells by margin. As I commented at his post, Yards sells over 50% of their total output at 4.5% or below...but that's only two brands doing all that volume. Perspective. We'll see; in the meantime, good to have a reality check.

Klark Kent: a SUPER mild at Earth Bread + Brewery

2011-05-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

Speaking of more session beers...May is Mild Month for CAMRA, so I celebrated last Friday (on my way home from a whiskey trip to Ireland, where much fresh Murphy's was consumed) with a Klark Kent dark mild at Earth Bread + Brewery in Philly, where Tom tries to keep at least one low-alcohol beer (he doesn't like "session beer" so I won't use the term...wait, I just did...never mind) on all the time. It was delish, tasty, malty but not too fat, and tasted exactly like...another 20 oz. glass. Which is what I had. Mighty nice, and when the woman at the table next to me ordered one, I toasted her with my glass and we both grinned big. She clearly got it.

More press, more session beers

2011-05-09T15:45:00.000-04:00

Just saw this piece on the Boston Globe blogsite, and while there are a few things off the cam (like tagging Coors Light as "a lousy 5 percent beer" -- it's 4.2% -- and his claim that he's been "predicting -- and hoping -- that the new trend in craft beer will be session beers" while the blogposts tagged in his read-more pile are all about imperial stouts and "heavy-duty ales"), hey, he's pinning it. I still say 5% is too high, but we're on the right track when he makes much of Narragansett's new Summer Ale (4.2%, and I'm getting a Citra-hopped sample this weekend) and our friends at The Notch.

But wait, there's more! That's right, Advertising Age had a piece on session beers today! Just the title tells you what's going on:
The New Drinking Session: How Craft Brewers Are Drawing in More Consumers -- Lower-Alcohol Varieties Pump Volume by Allowing Beer Fans to Have More Brew

See, brewers: session beers make business sense. Okay, I don't really think their lead example makes sense -- 5.3% Redhook Pilsner vs. 5.8% Redhook ESB -- in fact, it's a walking example of why I think the top limit should be 4.5% rather than 5%. This is more about another great idea, though: craft CAN get big numbers if they make some great interpretations of beers that are quite drinkable and craft-respectable: helles, bitter, dunkel, kölsch, English summer ale, mild, brown ale, just to name a few. You'll notice that there's cross-over with session there, and if you can put out a great-tasting sub-4.5% beer, you'll have a beer that people will have more of, and more people will have. What's more, the Miller Lite guy in this story will learn how badly he muffed it.

Session's getting its due! Which means, of course, the backlash is coming in about six months. Be prepared...

About that 4.5% number...

2011-04-07T09:06:00.001-04:00

A lot of discussion around the blogosphere lately about what the top "limit" on ABV should be for a session beer. There are some militant Brits who loudly proclaim that it's 4.0, and anything above that just isn't session; there are militant Americans who say beers as high as 6% are session beers "for them." Plenty of people say I have no authority to set a limit (they're absolutely right, too).

And then there's this brilliant bit from Martyn Cornell.

Martyn doesn't consider the ABV as important as the "quaffability." When I started this thing, I agreed with that, mostly, but "quaffability" doesn't lend itself to consensus, at least not among U.S. beer blog-readers and BeerAdvocate/ratebeerians. So I used a number.

I still like a 'definition' I came up with almost 20 years ago, when Malt Advocate was still a beer magazine. I was at John Hansell's house, tasting some aged Belgians with him and a couple other friends. They were great beers: fruit lambics slowly giving up their character, some nose-opening lambics (Boon just ain't what it used to be), a vertical of Chimay Blue. But I said (something like, can't remember the exact words), "These are great, but sometimes I like a beer that doesn't stop conversation, a beer that you can all simply enjoy without constantly interrupting your friends' stories to say, 'Yeah, that's great, but do you taste those coffee notes? That's awesome!' There's a lot to be said for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale." Even then, I was groping toward this idea.

Drink Session on April 7th!

2011-04-05T14:51:00.000-04:00

Thursday, April 7th, marks the 78th anniversary of "Repeal Lite," the enactment of the Cullen-Harrison Act, which made 3.2% ABW beer legal once more in the United States. Full Repeal, the ratification of the 21st Amendment, would not occur until December of that year, but starting at 12:01 AM on April 7th, 1933, Americans could drink beer that wasn't just "near beer." They drank it with gusto, too, consuming huge amounts as bands played "Happy Days Are Here Again" over and over and over, and no one seemed to mind at all. If it had been written yet, they probably could have played "It's a Small World After All," and everyone would have sung along...

3.2% ABW, of course, is 4.0% ABV, so I intend to celebrate the anniversary with a good healthy helping of ≤4.0% session beer. Please feel free to join me.

Hell, today's date is 4.5! Next year: this is Session Beer Project Day! Wish I'd thought of that sooner...

Another "session IPA"

2011-04-04T13:35:00.000-04:00

Just got a press release from North Peak Brewing in Traverse City, Michigan about their new "Session India Pale Ale" they call Wanderer. It's...well, I'll let them describe it:
"...a wonderfully-refreshing Session IPA, brewed with locally-grown hops on Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City. Session IPA is an exciting new style, balanced with malt and hop characters with a clean finish. Hopped with Perle, Willamette, Centennial and Citra that give it a citrus and pine finish, Wanderer is rounded out with a generous amount of dry-hopping with Citra hops to fill the nose to give it a light, clean and stimulating body. This combination of full-hop flavor and lower alcohol gives Wanderer a wonderful drinkability, allowing the craft beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or “session.”"

Hmmm...not sure about that "reasonable" time period! But otherwise? These guys seem to get it, even though I'm guessing it's probably over-hopped for my tastes. I'm seeing more of these hoppy session beers; smart brewers trying to give the people what they want.

Wonder what they charge for it...?

Great Discussion at NERAX!

2011-04-03T23:26:00.002-04:00

The folks at NERAX asked me to come speak to their industry session last Friday afternoon. I'd never been to the New England Real Ale eXposition, and it was a chance to see Thomas (and they offered to throw me a room), so I jumped on it.

NERAX is a 15 year thing, a unique event that takes place in a VFW hall about the size of two double-bay garages. It's determinedly low-tech (as befits a cask festival), but the beer's tremendous -- they pour about 90 British and American cask beers (and a few ciders), all in beautiful condition -- and the food is barbecue sammiches from Redbones. You pay to get in, and you pay for your beer, but you can get 1/4, 1/2 or full imperial pints; your choice. Awesome. You know how good it is? Paul Pendyck from the Bulls Head in Lititz was there Friday afternoon...and he had his own cask event the next day back home. He flew up and back on Friday because he wasn't going to miss NERAX.

Deep Ellum's Max Toste and Chris "The Notch" Lohring at NERAX

Naturally I said I'd speak on session beer, and how cask is a natural expression for it. After getting in Thursday (and not making it to that night's NERAX session because I, well, got to drinking at Cambridge Brewing and just didn't feel like leaving; more about that at my other blog soon), I got in a bunch of work in my room Friday morning, and headed over to Davis Square to make the 1:00 opening. What a prime crew! Tons of New England brewers (I'd already run into Paul Davis at my hotel), and the NERAX folks (very friendly), Paul Pendyck (we ran out for lunch at a nearby diner), Chris Lohring (The Notch), my colleague Andy Crouch, and the BeerAdvocate Brothers, Jason and Todd Alström.

And all those casks. I chatted politely for as long as I could stand it, then excused myself to get a beer. I had -- that I can recall -- Portsmouth Whipper Snapper, Wachusett Black Shack Porter, Brains SA, Breconshire Cribyn, Meantime Yakima Red, Bray's Old Church Pale, and Gritty's Blue Porter...I think that was it. Half-pints, over three hours, and most under 4.5%. All very nice, though the Whipper Snapper and the Blue Porter stick out. I got a few in, filled up with the Yakima Red, and hung out in the foyer as I was introduced. Chris Lohring was there, and I asked him if he was available for tagging when I got into the cage match with the Alströms: he said he'd be on the turnbuckle waiting -- then grinned and noted that it was the first time he'd said the word "turnbuckle" in years.

The idea was to do what the Session Beer Project is all about: stimulate discussion. I got up there, talked about what session beer was and wasn't, and why I set my ABV number at 4.5% -- and why I was reluctant to set a limit -- and what session beer was and wasn't in the U.S., and how I'd be happy with another, better name for it, and ways to make session beer interesting (cask being a big one, of course)...and it was all stuff they pretty much knew, although the parts about how well session-strength beers are selling around Philly seemed to make them pretty happy.

Then things went off: I brought up the price issue. In a nutshell: session-strength beers cost less to make than "normal" strength craft beers -- say, 6% ABV beers -- but only a little: every cost is the same except for a small amount of materials costs, and maybe shorter aging time. The brewers nodded in agreement when I asked them if it was fair to say it was about a nickel a pint less, or about six bucks a half-keg. Now, you're talking about a keg of craft beer that's up in the neighborhood of $130 to $170, retail, less than that to the bar...six bucks cheaper? Even if it's ten bucks cheaper: the bar's going to charge the same for both beers, because "pint" prices generally increase in 50 cent increments...if you're lucky, and they don't jump by a buck. I'm running that, and the brewers are all nodding.

But the punters and the pundits weren't buying it. Andy and The Brothers were saying that it should be less anyway. (One brewer texted me later: funny how after all the brewers said the beers don't really cost less to make, the drinkers all said they should cost less anyway.) (Or maybe not: see the comments below, and my apologies to Andy: it was a bit fevered and multi-threaded!) Why, I asked, what are you getting less of if it's a good, flavorful session beer? Alcohol? In which case...why are you drinking, again?

The English folks in attendance (and those who have experience with English beer prices) know that the alcohol level has a clear link to increased price: that's how their taxes are set. But that's not the case in the U.S., and it's not even the case in mainstream beer pricing: Bud Select 55 is 2.4% ABV, and it sells for the same price at the bar as Miller Lite -- 4.2%.

Every time the discussion would flag, I'd toss something in. "How much do you pay for Taras Boulba?", the session-strength Belgian beauty from De La Senne, that goes for around $10. And they were off again.

Some interesting points did come up. I suggested that bars should charge a premium for cask, which upset some: it's hard enough to sell already, was the general tenor, don't make it harder (to which I'd reply, you have to give the publican something for all the extra work!). Andy made a good point: if you're charging "normal" prices for a beer you can and want to drink more of over a longer time, well, that adds up fast.

And both he and the Alströms were citing high prices in the area already; they wanted relief. I felt their pain: I'm still wincing about paying $10 for a pint of Cain's bitter at Dandelion last month. But that made me think of something smart people say about the "underage drinking problem," both here and elsewhere in the world: we don't have an underage drinking problem, we have a drinking problem. You don't have a session beer pricing problem; you have a beer pricing problem. Which is what they've been saying for quite a while; the session beer cost issue is, like I said, just a hope for some kind of relief.

I don't see that coming, and it's got nothing to do with session beer. When demand continues to be high -- and everyone knows that craft beer sales are still up, and growing -- and price increases seem to have no effect on it, let alone any effect from the worst economy in 70 years...I don't see anyone dropping prices. And piss you off or not, higher prices reassure the craft novice that this stuff really is good. After all, like I said: you don't think a case of Corona costs $28 because of cost of materials, do you? Price is part of the marketing equation, and it works. It's not lucky for those of us who already know the stuff is good, but there you are.

As Chris Lohring tweeted later that evening: "After a heated debate @NERAX on #sessionbeer price, taste and ABV, selling the hell out of Notch at 8.99 a six pack at an in-store tasting." The people have spoken. For the record, I was drinking the new Notch Pilsner at Deep Ellum the day before. And it was delicious.

It was a great afternoon, and a great talk. Afterwards I went to The Burren with Andy, The Brothers, Dann and Martha Paquette, Jaime Schier from Harpoon, Max Toste, and some other people (whose names I've clearly forgotten, and I apologize), and we all had some superlative Guinness. We talked some more trash, but mostly just talked. I think the Goose Island thing came up, and the Bourdain/Brew Masters thing, but mostly? Just breezin'. Perfect session stuff.

More new session beers...

2011-03-09T15:57:00.000-05:00

Not only are The Notch Session Pils and Session Ale now out in bottles, I just got news from Ale Industries (in Concord, California) that they're celebrating their second anniversary -- congrats! -- with the release of two new beers, one of them a session beer! Check it out:

The first is simply named “2012 Table Beer, the Beer of the Future”. This beer is what we call a Light Belgian Dark Ale, and has a very sessionable 3.0% abv. The beer was brewed with a blend of yeasts which were borrowed from the newly formed Oakland Brewing Company. Go co-operation! 2012 Table beer, the Beer of the Future was brewed in the same vein as many Ale Industries beers, to achieve layers of depth in the simple but under-rated form of session beer.

Gotta love the name, gotta love the love.

Session Beer Poll?

2011-02-26T09:54:00.000-05:00

Yes, "Drink Craft Beer" has put up a TwtPoll asking "What is your abv% cut-off for a 'session beer?'" Choices are 4%, 4.5%, 5%, and "Over 5%."

Well, you know where I stand. And I think it's blazingly typical of American craft beer that currently "Over 5%" has a commanding lead. Go vote, folks, go vote. I'm perfectly happy to drive traffic to this poll, because it does fuel the discussion!

Interesting trends on the west coast

2011-02-15T01:10:00.000-05:00

Just got the following note from Ratebeer.com's Joe Tucker about a San Francisco Beer Week event he attended Sunday night, and of course found it intensely interesting. Read on...

I just wanted to drop you a brief note on something Ken Weaver and I took note of at last night's Nanobrewers mini festival at Social Kitchen in SF last night. More than several of the brewers:
were brewing session beers under 4.5% abv
presented beers of English and non-English tradition (cask and non-cask, traditional hops and recipes and not)
Additionally, several brewers articulated:
a market demand-related reason for brewing lower abv beer
a business/cost-related reason
a business/sales reason (sell two or three pints of session instead of one burly beer)
a health and safety reason
While these weren't the dominant styles of beers offered at the event, the number of low abv offerings were grossly over-represented relative to their numbers in the existing market.

So...trend? Interesting question, considering that Social Kitchen had named the event "Breweries of Tomorrow." If you haven't hit the link, do so, and read how the breweries described their output. "Subtle yet complex session ales intended for the social drinking style of a traditional pub," and "session beers with character – the kind of brews you can enjoy more than one of, and won’t get bored with."

The Session Beer Project, bearing fruit? I suspect it's more a case of being sensitive to the first small stirrings of a new direction in brewing. Whatever, we'll take it. Cheers to the choices!

"Dry-heathering"

2011-02-11T14:35:00.000-05:00

Scott Smith is making it work in Pittsburgh. His incredible Session Beer Series just keeps knocking out really interesting session strength beers. Witness the latest:

Session Ale #52 "Drayman's Heather Ale" is a long-boil Scottish ale that's been cool fermented, and has 3 separate heather additions. One for flavor, one for aroma, and another "dry-heathering" done in the fermenter. This beer is 4.2% abv, fitting nicely into our "Under 4.5%" Session Ale guidelines, that we follow... most of the time.
Some history: You may already know that hops don't grow well in the Scottish climate, so rather than pay the high prices for the hops imported from their "friends" in England, the Scottish crafted their beers to have very low hopping rates... certainly very little hops were used for such frivolities as flavor and aroma hop additions. At those prices, hops were just used for bitterness, and even then as few as possible. (Don't let Ron hear you say that...) Local plants were often used as a substitute bitterness source, and since Heather was in abundance, it seemed the likely choice. So we thought we'd give it a try here.
The long boil used to brew these beers develops more carmelization in the kettle which carries through to the glass. And the cool fermentation temps give them a bright clear malt profile without all the esters you'll find in an English Ale.

The Scottish hopping theory aside (and I'll admit, I used to repeat it), this sounds like a truly interesting beer. Again. Cheers, Scott!

Some Consistently Interesting Session Beer Commentary

2011-02-11T10:36:00.000-05:00

Joe Stange's blog Thirsty Pilgrim has featured some interesting posts on session beers, and I've been neglecting reposting them here. So...

From October, a post about "session" as both adjective and verb, something that's gotten a few knickers twisted -- relax, it's just beer.

And from November and January, Joe notes the Public House Brewing Company in Rolla, Missouri is opening as an all-session beer brewery, and then visits and tells us about their "toasted-bready, dryish, full-flavored mild weighing in at 2.5% strength."

Keeping it up, he posted this week about the trumped-up "Session vs. Extreme CAGE MATCH!!!"...and suggests we should trump it up even more. And you know? Might be a good idea!

Check out Joe's blog; it's a good one.

(And thanks for reading the Session Beer Project! It's actually passed my 'main' blog in the Wikio ratings, which is kinda cool.)

Brilliant

2011-02-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

Nicely done reaction to Jason Wilson's session beer piece here. It truly does my heart good to see this kind of discussion taking place; this is what the SBP is all about.

Extreme Session Beer, Part II

2011-02-07T09:34:00.001-05:00

After that last post about the Alström's Extreme Session Beer Project, it was interesting to see this post on The Notch blog. Chris Lohring is brewing a grodziskie, a mostly extinct Polish style of beer he described as "a beer made from 100% smoked wheat malt, very low ABV, very high hop character, fermented with an ale yeast, and served unfiltered yet with out yeast turbidity...True Grodziskie involves oak smoking green wheat (steeped and germinated wheat) while being dried and kilned."

I've had a shot at a (I guess non-traditional) grodziskie made at Yards, and it was really interesting and bold -- bacony, really, but refreshing.When I read that Chris was brewing one for The Notch, well, that's kind of exciting.

I was let down to read this, though:

"...the email came regarding Extreme Beer Fest. I was not on the invite list for participating brewers, as invites go to “brewers known for brewing extreme beers.” And it didn’t surprise me, as I understand I am the new kid on the block (at the same time being from the old school). We built our reputation at the Tremont Brewery on well balanced beers and were quick to call out extreme beers as gimmicks. So I had this coming to me.

Quite phlegmatic, Chris; tip of the hat to you for being mature about it. Why invites wouldn't go to both brewers known for extreme beers and session beers, I'm not so sure, but it is the Extreme Beer Festival, and the "Extreme Session Beer Project" is a subset within that, so... Anyway, the cool thing is Chris's reaction to suddenly not having an automatically appreciative audience for this quirky beer:

"I was too far down the path to Grodziskie to turn back."

Atta boy! He got the smoked green wheat malt (at Valley Malt, in Hadley, Mass., a very small husband-and-wife-run custom maltings) and went ahead and brewed a pilot batch. And now he's waiting on, as he put it, maybe the most important question:

how does Grodziskie taste? Is it in the dustbin of history for a reason? Well, it’s been one week in the fermenter, and I should have some sense of what this beer tastes like in another week. And then I can make the decision if this beer can scale to a commercial brewery, with commercial potential. With no captive audience to rely on at EBF, this beer will need to be sold to bars, and willingly purchased by craft beer fans. Something to ponder while I gear up for the bottle release of Session Ale and Pils later this month. Sleepless nights are becoming common.

That's ballsy. Session beers are not for the faint of heart when it comes to brewing and selling them; at least, not yet. Tom Baker tells me that the session beers are a tough sell at Earth + Bread and Brewery (and they don't have one on, currently), only Victory seems to have no problem selling bitter at their pub (or maybe they just always have Uncle Teddy's on because Ron likes it, I dunno). All I ask: if you see a session-strength beer on at your local brewpub or bar, try it. And if it's good, tell me -- and I'll help get the word out, here, on Twitter, and on Facebook -- and most importantly, have another.

Cheers!

This is: Getting It.

2011-02-05T12:45:00.001-05:00

Jason Wilson wrote a piece on session beers for the San Francisco Chronicle (which is just now starting a beer column? WTF?!) that definitely gets it. And not just because he quoted me extensively. Really. No, he clearly gets the whole thing, to the point where he recognizes that he has to up his session beer ABV ceiling to BeerAdvocate's 5% ceiling to come up with some beers to talk about...because there just aren't that many sub-4.5% beers out there.

Using BeerAdvocate's 5% is no real surprise: he quoted Todd Alström (and Sam Calagione, too) about the Extreme Session Beer Project. Which, by the way, is fine by me, great idea...except for the 5% top end and the totally misplaced anger. (And it's not new anger, either.) Check this out!

As you might imagine, the editors of Beer Advocate, Todd and Jason Allstrom [sic] - who run the annual Extreme Beer Fest in Boston - take the opposing view. In December, Todd Allstrom announced the launch of an Extreme Session Beer Project. "For too many years the mainstream press and haters have attempted to pigeonhole extreme beer as being just about high-alcohol and unbalanced beers," Todd Allstrom says. "Let's be honest, they're f- clueless."
Todd Allstrom's project co-creator is Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head in Milton, Del., a renowned extreme beer producer. Calagione sought a more evenhanded tone. "I totally agree and find it really destructive when beer folk say session beer needs to supersede extreme beer. Or vice versa. Like they're mutually exclusive."

Who the hell's saying that?! I know damned well I never have. I've made fun of some extreme beers; hell, why not, some of them deserve it. I've poked at people who only want extreme beers, who only want brewers to make extreme beers, but it's because this whole thing is about variety, dammit. If all the brewers made session beers, I'd be bitching about that. I have not heard anyone say extreme beers have to go away so session beers can thrive. Period.

But you know, extreme beers, big beers? They don't need a lot of help right now. They don't need me saying "Come on, people, open up your minds a little and try this stuff, it's frickin' awesome!!" Which I would be, if they were being ignored. However, they ain't, and the extreme defensiveness of some people about them puzzles me. In fact, as Wilson quoted me:

Bryson remains perplexed by the defensiveness. "It's like session beer is a threat of some kind to the extreme beer guys," he says. "Well, bite me. I want my choice, too."

And I do! Happily, articles like this...help.

This is: not getting it

2011-02-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

First: 21st Amendment's Bitter American is a delish session beer, and I can't wait till it shows up in Philly, and I will drink it.

Second, this guy got that...but that's the only thing he got. There is so much wrong with this, it makes me want to cry, vomit, and commit mayhem.

RateBeer Top 100 reactions

2011-01-31T11:31:00.000-05:00

The Rate Beer Best Beers in the World list is out -- which is nothing more than an aggregate of the 100 beers with the highest rating on the site -- and yes, no surprise, it is heavily weighted towards big beers, and heavily weighted towards a relatively small group of pants-wettingly hyped breweries (over half of the 100 "best beers in the world" come from only nine breweries?). I have no real problem with the second issue -- things like that happen in this kind of rating/voting -- but the first one? As Stephen Beaumont said,

"In the style listing of the top 50 beers, the word “Imperial” appears 39 times! The word pilsner? Zero times, in the entire 100."

Beaumont titles that post "Why Brewers Make So Many Strong Beers." Martyn Cornell, a strong voice for session beers and traditional British beers, takes it a step further, titling his post on the subject "Why extremophiles are a danger to us all," a post that has set off a tiny bit of a firestorm. Both posts point out that this kind of widely-reported excitement -- in what is essentially a niche within a niche -- has an effect on what beers are available for the average craft beer drinker.

It is not my intention to set off a firestorm today. Not my nature, you know. What I do want to say is that this is exactly the reason this blog is here: to draw more attention to session beers, beers "to the left of the dial," that are under the big ABV radar but still have deliciously full flavor. It's working, but maybe we need to deliver a louder statement. You know...set off a firestorm.

Accordingly, I am reading manifestos this week, learning from the masters.

A specter is haunting American craft breweries -- the specter of Session Beer.
All the Powers of extreme craft brewing have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter. Where is the beer under 6% that has not been decried as "weak session beer" by its opponents in extremism? Where the extreme brewer who has not charged that session beers take attention from the extreme beers that fire the public imagination?*
Two things result from this fact:
I. Session Beer is already acknowledged by all extreme craft brewers and drinkers to be itself a Movement.
II. It is high time that Session Beer brewers and drinkers should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies, and meet this nursery tale of the Spectre of Session Beer with a Manifesto of the movement itself.

Or:

When, in the course of enjoying beer, it becomes necessary for one portion of the family of drinkers to assume among the beer drinkers of the earth a position different from that which they have hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to such a course.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all good beer drinkers are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are beer, variety, and the pursuit of hoppiness; that to supply these rights breweries are instituted, deriving their just powers from the purchases of the drinker. Whenever any form of beer hype becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of those who suffer from it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon the institution of a new movement, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its definition in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their drinking pleasure and happiness.

Hmmm...who would have thought Elizabeth Cady Stanton's writing would serve as a model for a drinking platform? Will wonders never cease? I am liking the manifesto idea. But I think I'll keep it shorter. Much shorter, it's got to fit on a t-shirt!

*Guys...absolutely all in fun. I know that all involved have made or enjoyed session beers. I'm just riffing on Karl Marx here, and his Manifesto is the most famous...and required a bogeyman. The manifesto I write for the SBP will not. Promise you that.

Mustang Brewing: gotta call you out, folks

2011-01-25T11:01:00.002-05:00

Mustang Brewing has been out about two years now, but they've just come to my attention. They're Oklahoma-based contract brewers, and...well, here's their mission statement-ish manifesto from their website (emphasis added):

We created Mustang Brewing Company to make great, easy-drinking, session beers the people of Oklahoma can be proud to call their own. All our recipes are developed in our pilot facility in Oklahoma. We brew through partnerships with some of the country’s finest breweries. The end results are consistent, quality, craft beers that are full of flavor but light enough to enjoy.

Sounds good, right? Our kinda place? Check the beers.

Mustang Harvest Lager: 5.6% ABV.
Mustang Amber Lager: 4.5% ABV.
Mustang Washita Wheat: 5.3% ABV.
Mustang Golden Ale: 5.3% ABV.

And the latest, Pawnee Pale Ale? Read what Mustang president Tim Schoelen said (at The Thirsty Beagle blog):

“Bringing the best of Old World East and New World West together is what makes Pawnee Pale a truly American-style pale ale. A tantalizing blend of German Perle and U.S. Pacific Northwest hops give this beer a moderate, citrus, hop quality. American, British, and caramel malts provide a rich maltiness not found in most pale ales. At 6% ABV and 42 IBU’s, Pawnee Pale is distinctly hopped, yet still carries that session beer quality you have come to expect from Mustang.”
Schoelen said Mustang has received many requests for an IPA, but struggled with how they could make one in the session beer range. Thus an American pale ale was the answer.

Actually, turns out that it isn't. When I see "6% ABV," I'm not thinking "session beer range." I'm thinking IPA, or bock, but not session. If 6% is a session beer, then 7.5% isn't strong beer? It's just...beer? The whole brewery seems to have this messed up: they want to be a session beer brewery, but four out of five beers are over 5%?

I'm not doing this to be a prick. Really. The last thing I want to see happen here is have it become all about a couple tenth-percentage points of ABV. Is your beer 4.7%, and you really want to call it a session? I'm not going to jump on you. I'm happy to encourage people who want to make session beers.

But. I see that the Session Beer Project is working, that people are talking more and more about session beers, that people are hating on session beers (sad, but at least we're talking!), that session beers are getting press...and that people are jumping on what they see as a bandwagon without really getting what it's all about. Not cool.

So I am going to say something, like I did about Full Sail's Session Lager. We're going to carve out an area here, an area where there's a real difference: lower alcohol beers with flavor. If the beer's over 5%...it's not lower alcohol. (Yeah, I know it's "lower alcohol" than a double IPA, but that's hardly the point.) I wanted to avoid this, but...I think it's time for a manifesto. Time to get militant.

Oh, and...enjoyed the hell out of the return of Milltown Mild at Victory last week -- took a growler home, and Cathy liked it, too; plenty of roasty malt in there -- and had a snappy Notch Hoppy Session at Redbones (great with the Arkansas ribs). And I got me a SBP hoody from CafePress (using that link up in the right-hand corner), and wore it all over Boston/Cambridge on Saturday: that baby is warm. Represent the Session Beer Project!

WTF, GABF?!

2011-01-14T10:34:00.000-05:00

The new Style guidelines for the 2011 Great American Beer Festival's competition are out, and once again, there's a clear disconnect on what Session Beer is, isn't, and can be. Or at least...that's what it seems like at first. Lemme 'splain. No, that would take too long. Lemme sum up.

Here's the style guideline for "Session Beer," under Hybrid/Mixed Beer Styles.

Session Beer
Any style of beer can be made lower in strength than described in the classic style guidelines. The goal should be to reach a balance between the style's character and the lower alcohol content. Drinkability is a character in the overall balance of these beers. Beers in this category must not exceed 4.1% alcohol by weight (5.1% alcohol by volume). Original Gravity (ºPlato) 1.034-1.040 (8.5-10 ºPlato) ● Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato) 1.004-1.010 (1-2.5 ºPlato) ●Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 3.2-4.1% (4.0-5.1%) ● Bitterness (IBU) 10-30 ● Color SRM (EBC) 2+ (4+ EBC)

So when I first saw this (thanks to Chris Lohring at The Notch, who brought it to my attention), I about went ballistic. The description sounds like a category for 'dialed-down' versions of other beers -- like a 'session bock' -- a low-alc counterweight to the "Other Strong Ale or Lager" category. Except that, unlike Other Strong (and wouldn't that make a great beer name?), Session Beer not only has an upper limit on ABV -- a way too strong 5.1%! -- it has an even more WTF-inducing lower limit on ABV: 4.0%!

Like I said, "when I first saw this." Then I poked around some more -- and it's a huge document, with even more incredibly sub-divided categories (meaning many more medals...) -- and found some other stuff. Like Ordinary Bitter (3.0-4.1% ABV), English-Style Summer Ale (3.6-5%), Scottish-style Light Ale (2.8-3.5%!), English-style Pale Mild and Dark Mild (both 3.2-4.0%), Classic Irish-style Dry Stout (3.8-5%), Berliner Weisse (2.8-3.4%), Leichtes Weizen (2.5-3.5%), Belgian-style Table Beer (0.5%-3.5%!), and German Leicht(bier) (2.5-3.6%). (I'm skipping the American Light categories on purpose, yeah.)

The upshot? There are actually more categories than ever for lower-alcohol, tasty beers (I guess we'll have to wait for next year for the Lichtenhainer and Grodziskie), which should mean that brewers will be encouraged to brew to those styles in hopes of scoring medals (the good side of category/medal multiplication). That's a good thing.

But the catch-all Session Beer category just baffles me. If it is intended to catch any beer that doesn't fall into the 'normal' low-ABV categories listed above...why have that lower limit? And if it's really about session -- and they have the courage to put low ABV ranges on those other categories -- why an upper limit of 5.1%?

Look, I don't pretend to have the last word on session beer. Plenty of Brits believe -- and tell me! -- that 4.5% is too high for session. Plenty of Americans believe it's too low for an upper limit. But 5.1%? I'm sorry, I see this as kowtowing to the west coast, where they seem to think that 5.5% is session-strength. It's not. That's too strong for session. Period.

If we're going to have a "Session Beer" category at the GABF in addition to all these traditional session/worker/table beer categories, why not borrow the language from other catch-all categories: "varies with style," and give it an upper limit of 4.5%. How's that sound?

New brewery to start out working the session angle

2011-01-13T09:11:00.000-05:00

I've been corresponding with Jeffery Stuffings at Jester King Craft Brewery in Austin, Texas, a new and ambitious craft brewery that's just opened. JK is starting up with barrel-aging, bottle-conditioned 750 ml bottles, and...two year-round session beers in their line-up. Here's what he had to say about that:

I just wanted to e-mail you to say thanks and offer our support for The Session Beer Project. We wholeheartedly support the mission. One of our frustrations is that our bigger beers tend to be rated higher and sell better simply because they are more "extreme". We've actually made two session beers part of our year-round lineup: a 3.3% ABV English-style dark mild and a soon to be released ~4% ABV farmhouse table beer.

What Stuffings didn't tell me -- I found it on the brewery blog -- is pretty interesting, too.

Dickel barrels full of aging mild at Jester King.

The farmhouse table beer -- "Das Wunderkind" -- sounds like a smaller version of another farmhouse beer they're making, Boxer's Revenge, an idea I wholeheartedly applaud.
Some of the dark mild is being barrel-aged for blending with the regular mild to create more depth of flavor; brilliant, innovative -- dare I say...extreme? -- way of adding flavor to a session beer without overwhelming it.
And they clearly have a sense of humor: the dark mild is named "Commercial Suicide Dark Mild."

So I'd like to take this opportunity to invite those of you in the Austin area to go out for Jester King's grand opening on Saturday the 29th of January, 1-9:00, for food, live music (in their large beer hall, and what would an Austin opening be without live music?), and lots of session-strength beer. Mind you, they've got their 10% Black Metal imperial stout, too!

Just a statement

2011-01-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

I went to Boston to get my son home for break. We were figuring to leave the following day, so I took him to dinner at the Sunset Grill, an old fave, just off campus. The Sunset has a ton of taps, but it's a big place; they go through them. So...I've gotta drive five miles to my hotel after, and I figure, go easy. Happy thing: the draft menu lists ABV! Sad thing: very few choices under 5%. Like 8 out of 100+ taps. That's it. Okay, I'll take what I can get. Waiter comes. He's out of every single sub-5% beer. HELLO! What's that tell you?!

The lack of session-strength beers at beer bars reminds me terribly of the situation I used to run into all the time back in the early 1990s. "Those microbrews? Nah, we don't carry them: they don't sell." Hey, Einstein: if you don't carry them, they can't sell!

This year, I'm talking to bar owners/managers, and I'm encouraging you to do the same. And when you do, tell 'em you'll be there to drink the stuff! We're getting some momentum here...let's push.

Cheers! Happy New Year!

"People should not be confused about the name 'session.'"

2010-11-04T00:17:00.000-04:00

First, before we get going, let me say: I love Full Sail, and I really love Jamie Emmerson. He is (like Ferris Bueller) a righteous dude, and a great interview, and he let me drink pretty much all the Old Boardhead I wanted when I visited the brewery.

That said, Full Sail's "Session Lager" and "Session Black" aren't doing me any favors. I love 'em, good lager beers (which 'Cascadia' needs more of), but the name! They're 5.5%! What's Jamie say about that? I'm tearing my hair about it:

The Session is an old-fashioned lager, based on German lagers. The Session Black, which is less than a year old, is a Czech-style dark lager. "The Session Black is the perfect ying to Session's yang," Emmerson said.
Emmerson said people should not be confused about the name "session." In beer geek language, session usually refers to a low-alcohol beer, usually less than 4 percent alcohol by volume. Both of these session beers are over 5 percent.
The Session actually refers to windsurfing sessions on the Columbia River, although Emmerson said, compared to other West Coast beers, the Session and Session Black are low alcohol.
"In the Northwest, that is a session beer," he said.

Right. Sure it is.

That's from an article in the Brockton, Mass. Enterprise News by Norman Miller ("The Beer Nut"), who, I can tell you, definitely knows his ass from his elbow about beer. And I don't envy him trying to explain this one. It's kind of like how Widmer's Hefeweizen...isn't a hefeweizen. Dear me.

More Session beer coverage!

2010-10-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Steven Herberger (who is also the designer of our nifty logo!) for sending this link to a story in last Friday's Chicago Tribune on "Session Beers: Easy drinking beers, yet still flavorful." The story mentions Revolution Brewing's Workingman's Mild, Metropolitan Krankshaft, and Two Brothers Long Haul Session Ale (great name for a session beer!), and here's the money quote:

"I'm a fan of less is more and balance," said Doug Hurst, Metropolitan brewer. "It's about subtlety rather than being hammered over the head."

Right on, brother Doug!

Steven and I were kind of curious, though...how do you do a story on session beers in Chicago and not mention Goose Island Honkers Ale? It's 4.2%, it's a good drinker, it's everywhere, it's Chicago-brewed... (I forgot to mention Goose Island's equally good Green Line; not just session-strength, but ecologically sustainable, too!) Is it the "not a craft brewer" artificial stigma? Is it "too big"? Is it too well-known? Dunno, but here's my suggestion to folks in Chicagoland: go get some of all of these beers, and let us know what you think?!

The Diamond ups the ante

2010-10-22T16:55:00.003-04:00

David Pollack started The Diamond in Brooklyn a couple years back with the idea of doing a wine and beer-only bar/restaurant that featured session beers. We talked, it was good, until...he went to try to execute the SBP idea of 4.5% and under, and found that there were nowhere near enough of such beers available -- tasty, interesting session beers -- to pull it off. Grudgingly, he upped his limit to 5%, and still had add stronger beers to round things out.

Well, okay. You do what you can, and I loved the idea, and put him on the SBP "At The Table" list over to the right. He's got an SBP sticker on the door, too!

Last Monday, Dave was in Philly on a scouting mission, and we met up at Memphis for an early dinner and a couple pints (session-strength, natch). He told me that he'd managed to bring together enough beers for a "Session Obsession" event tomorrow: beautiful!

He just sent me the event announcement:

10/23, Saturday, 3pm, Session Obsession
10 killer beers all under 4.5% abv
Many beers making their NYC debut
Stuffed cabbage, spaetzle, and pretzels
Real Pennsylvania ring toss tourney for free bar tab (yeah!)
We’re obsessed and possessed to find fantastic beers with relatively moderate alcoholic content. It seems an ironic thing to promote in a craft brewing world that often equates quality with strength. But, look closely at these Diamond featured brews and you will find some of the most challenging, exciting, and rewarding beer being made. As a matter of fact, if you are in for the long haul playing quoits in our yard all day, they might be just the ticket to keep you going!

All this, and quoits too? Damn me, why am I going to Boston?! Oh, right, to see my son. See you next time, Dave!

Uncle Jack Asks A Question

2010-10-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

What is "a session"? What's a "session beer"? How are the two related, if they are?

Jack Curtin, a fellow beer scribbler and a good friend, poses "A Question" that is getting some discussion. We love discussion about session beers! Have a look, join in.

A Virtual Session Beer Summit

2010-10-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

Sean Ludford creates a "virtual summit" on session beer at his BevX site by quoting "James Murphy, proprietor of the famous Murphy’s Bleachers in Chicago, Aaron Zacharias, proprietor of The Bar on Buena and the Fountainhead in Chicago, and Lew Bryson, a great Beer & Whiskey writer, when Lew has something to say about Beer – you listen." Sean says quite a bit as well, and it's more proof that session beers are getting more attention.

Still More Session Beer Notice

2010-09-30T10:21:00.001-04:00

One of the first session beer posts I made, back in February of 2007 (I was so prescient...), was a re-post of action steps for session beer suggested by Stan Hieronymus. Take a look.

Now take a look at this: "When You're Having More Than One", in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, by Tim Redmond. I'll cut to the somewhat buried lede:

I've taken quite an interest in session beers — craft brews with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level of less than 4.5 percent. You can drink a session beer at lunch and still go back to work. You can drink a couple-three after work and not be too blotto to make dinner and put the kids to bed.

Ah... I'm well-pleased. More and more folks are picking up on the 4.5% and under number, and that's good. It's kind of like the speed limit: you know where you're supposed to be, and you're going to push a few mph over, so it's good to have it a little under where people should actually be driving. If we had given in and said 5%, sooner or later we'd have 6% beers people were calling session beers...kind of like you still see people doing on BeerAdvocate and west coast beer blogs. I'll stick with the 4.5%, thanks.

Is this victory, triumph, success? No. It's another step, another notch along the way. We're getting there; time to celebrate with a few rounds...and then get back to work!

It's not just beer

2010-09-24T16:20:00.001-04:00

Camper English writes about cocktails in San Francisco, and has a blog called Alcademics that at times is pure booze porn: check it out. Nice guy; I met him through WhiskyFest, and we shared a pleasant lunch at Tales of the Cocktail back in June in New Orleans. He wrote this piece on low-alcohol cocktails for the San Francisco Chronicle this past Sunday. Hey, session cocktails! We used to call them "long drinks." No, those are just the same old highballs with more mixer; these are true lower-alcohol drinks, using new ingredients and a wider range of flavors than SWEEEEEET and fruit and bitter.

Hey, again, it's all about choice, right? Right, and again...well, just read the comments. Haters, man. Did Camper say, "We're going to take away all the wonderful, delicious classic cocktails and replace them with these lower-alcohol drinks"? No, just that they make a nice choice to have, an alternative. You'd have thought he said "No more liquor, forever, not for you."

Come on, people! Why do you give a damn what other people drink? It's going to kill you to watch me drink a lower-alcohol drink...that you won't really be able to tell is lower in alcohol in the first place?

Sheesh.

The Notch: Success!

2010-09-22T15:26:00.002-04:00

The Notch, a brand/project that has kind of become the poster child/test-case for the Session Beer Project, has apparently succeeded! Owner-creator Chris Lohring has posted the following at his blog:

Back in April I launched a limited Summer roll-out of Notch Session Ale with the hope of proving out a theory that session beer had a rightful, more visible place in the US craft beer scene. The goal was small – bring session beer back into the conversation – but success was uncertain. Was a session beer brand viable? Where it went beyond this summer was truly anyone’s guess.
Four months later, with Summer now in the review mirror, I am happy to announce that Notch is real. We passed the test.
What does this all mean? Wider availability of Notch in draft this October, and Notch bottles following this January. I’ll also have a few surprises along the way, and the one-off small batches will continue.
Availability will be spotty until mid-October, but hang in there, it will be worth the wait. Exciting times!

"The goal was small -- bring session beer back into the conversation." Yup. That's all we're trying to do here, too. And this has succeeded -- like The Notch -- beyond anything I'd hoped for. Check out what my colleague in beer-writing Jay Brooks has to say here, for instance.
Cheers to The Notch: up Session!

Session Beer? That's Gy, Rearded, Pointless, Hipster, Stupid...

2010-09-06T11:02:00.000-04:00

Came across this thread on a skiing forum that started off a post I made here. Wow. Lots of hostility, lots of not getting it, and lots of dissing of the term "session beer." I've made it no secret that I'm not in love with the term, and will happily switch to another if I hear (or think up) a better one, but these guys really hate it. And think it's new, and faux-hipster, and just marketing, and "flavor of the month." Wow, no, guys. It's not schwag lager, either.

This is why I'm pushing so hard to define session beer, and encourage people to go with that definition, and why I'm so pleased to see that definition being quoted -- and debated! -- in newspapers, magazines, and on-line forums. Not only does it advance the cause and the image, it gets people talking...which is what this whole damned thing is about. Away we go...

Session Beer Boosted in Asheville

2010-09-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

Asheville, North Carolina, has quickly developed a well-deserved reputation as a beer town of note; it has sprouted cluster of top-notch breweries, beer bars, and beer stores. But as Mountain Xpress blogger Justin Farrar points out here, they still have a ways to go on session beer (as most American beer towns do). Well-done piece that quotes both Notch brewer Chris Lohring and yours truly (they've got the SBP definition in there, and Justin's behind it; great to see).

Check it out, and then take a look at his list of session beers in Asheville. This is where Justin took the SBP definition and put it in the face of big-beer geeks:

I employed the guidelines recently established by longtime beer journalist Lew Bryson.
1) 4.5 percent alcohol by volume or less.
2) Flavorful enough to be interesting.
3) Balanced enough for multiple pints.
4) Conducive to conversation.
5) Reasonably priced.
There are more than a few beer fanatics, as well as industry-types, who are right now reading this and bristling at guideline no. 1. Way too low, they firmly believe; the ceiling for alcohol by volume (ABV) should be 5.0 percent, not 4.5. That is, in fact, the more popular number when defining session beer. However, at a time when inflated ABV-levels are all the rage in the craft-beer industry, I’ve noticed that ceiling has become taller and taller. Over the last month I’ve had two beers with ABV-levels of 5.4 and 5.5, respectively; both times my servers described them as session. So yeah, it’s best if we err on the side of caution these days.

Well-put, Justin. Time to get more militant about this.

DSSM IV: Session Beer in Southern Oregon

2010-09-04T16:08:00.002-04:00

K.M. Weaver continues his posts on session beers at The HopPress with the latest Desperately Seeking Session Beers post: Southern Oregon. Believe it or not, he found some session beers, deep in this double IPA territory. Have a look.

K.M. also notes Imbibe magazine's recent article on lower-alcohol wines, and sharply tags them for how not-so-low their lower-alcohol wines are:

The author picks a number of different varietals and styles that offer a lighter alternative to those hefty, New-World-y renditions that tend to push 15%+. These can be hard to pair with food or imbibe appropriately on a warm summer weekend. And many of the lighter suggestions were spot-on: German Rieslings at ~11%, Portuguese Vinho Verde similarly sized, Moscato D’Asti at 5.5%. But beyond that… The lowest ABV listing beyond those above is an 11.5% Syrah. The rest of the list is occupied by 13.5% Pinot Noir, Chenin Blancs, Gamays, etc.

Well, hell. Vinho Verde, yeah. But 13.5% as "light" wine? I had a 12%er Thursday night (a slightly astringent but still pleasant Dolcetto d'Alba), but it's really only light in comparison to the 16% head-thumpers that seem to be taking over the shelves.

I guess we're not alone in not being able to pass up the big and the boozy. Allow me to quote myself:

Good God, MUST we be hit over the head by a beer to like it? Are we cartoon cavewomen??

That said, Imbibe also ran a list of 'best low alcohol beers' in the same issue (compiled by the knowledgeable and personable Adem Tepedelen), and you should check it out. He cheated and used a 5% top limit, but if that's what it takes to introduce more people to BridgePort's excellent Blue Heron Pale Ale, well, I can be flexible.

The Notch: my experiences

2010-09-03T12:09:00.001-04:00

I've mentioned Chris Lohring's session beer concept here before: Notch is a planned brand of all session-strength beers. He's currently brewing test batches at Kennebunkport Brewing (where he brewed back in the 1990s before opening Tremont) and selling them in the Boston area. As some of you may know...my son's started at Boston University, so I've had a couple trips to Boston this summer, and got to try two of Chris's beers.

The first occasion, which led to the picture at right (that's Slowfest* co-founder Jim Stanton, Chris, me, and Slowfest founder Jeff Lawrence) at the Lower Depths, right on Commonwealth Ave after the first day of BU Orientation (Thomas was off getting acquainted, Cathy was off to the right, having some well-deserved quiet time with her beer). We were sampling the Notch Summer Session. It was light, just a bit hoppy, refreshing, and three-pint drinkable. Really, I know! (Afterwards, we rolled out and grabbed a Sazerac up the street at Eastern Standard, where we ran into about four BU deans...getting drinks and dinner. I like this school.)

The next time was when we dropped Thomas off this past weekend. After moving him in (fourth-floor walk-up...oy), it was time for lunch. Where to, I asked him. "How about Deep Ellum?" he said, making me feel so good about all the money we'd spent on his education! Not only did they have Notch Hoppy Session, they had it on cask! Man, that was excellent, and the way session ales should be: zippy bitterness and puffy hop aroma, with a great depth of character you can only taste in a low-alc beer when it's on cask: malt, esters, and bitterness rolling around and loving your tongue. I had another.

Notch works, and it's selling, too. As I would urge you with any session beer, please support them whenever you can -- assuming you find you like it. This is all about good session beer, after all; this is not like the early days of craft brewing where we bought it because we were supporting them, not supporting them because we liked it. But...I'm pretty sure you'll like Notch!

*Is this awesome, or what: Slowfest was(and will be again) a festival of local food and session beers.about killed me that I couldn't make it up there to attend. What a fantastic idea, and why can't we have this in Philly? Steve Mash, I'm looking at you, brother. You're the man to make this happen! Need help?

**Despite Chris wearing the shirt, and pimping SBP at every given opportunity, there is no financial link between The Notch and me. I may well end up doing some events with him at some time, but other than that? I just love promoting any kind of session beer, and Chris happens to agree with just about every tenet of SBP. It works.

DSSB III: Interview with Dan Carey of New Glarus

2010-06-13T15:33:00.000-04:00

Ken Weaver departs from the standard in Desperately Seeking Session Beer this time around, with excellent results: he interviews New Glarus founder/brewmaster Dan Carey. Ken maybe bores in with the "session beer" angle too much -- particularly since Dan steadfastly resists the bait...mostly. But good points are made, and that's more than I've seen Dan talk in quite a while. Nice!

Good press: Session Beer getting more respect

2010-06-10T09:08:00.001-04:00

Today's Google Alerts bring me news that interest in session beer is growing. A Web article on session beer at The Website Formerly Known as Chowhound showed up; I was interviewed for this one. Jordan Mackay (who is apparently one of the three Californians who don't like hops hops and MORE FREAKIN' HOPS RIGHT NOW) writes:

The problem is, drinking lots of beer isn’t as easy as it once was. In recent years, beer has gotten both stronger (higher in alcohol) and more flavorful. You can only drink one or two intense, hoppy beers such as IPAs before suffering from both tipsiness and palate fatigue. They also don’t really pair well with food. One antidote to this problem is Kölsch, which I wrote about recently. Another is session beer. In fact, the support for session beer is so enthusiastic that it’s at the point of transcending being just a brew and turning into a movement.

Oh, dear. A movement? That's going to piss off the big beer huggers even more. I did hear an interesting argument from Uncle Jack Curtin yesterday. "Session beer" is unnecessary, he said, explaining (I think...) that there's always some lower alcohol beer on tap. Keep in mind, Jack lives in southeastern PA, where thanks to Yards (Brawler) and Philadelphia Brewing (Kenzinger, Walt Wit) there is almost always something under 4.5% available on tap. And there's always Guinness. So Jack sez, you're crying about nothing, it's already there. And he doesn't like the term "session beer," either.

My response to his second point? Honestly, I'm not really nuts about it myself. But I don't care for the terms "gastropub" or "beer geek," either, and I'll be happy to switch to a new term if one that's better comes along...still waiting for that. His main point? I say, what's 'already there' isn't enough, even here in Philly (where we do pretty well, to be honest). I want a kaleidoscope of choices. I'm not talking about forcing it down people's throats, that's not how it works. I'm just talking about getting more people aware of it, and fostering some respect for it.

Which appears to be working, because in this piece about this weekend's World Beer Festival in Richmond, All About Beer editor Julie Johnson picks "Session beers" as one of five trends going on in beer right now (the others were more predictable: extreme/imperial, inventing a new style, soured beer, and barrel/bourbon-aging). Here's what she said:

"We've been infatuated with really strong beers, hoppy beers, beers aged in whiskey barrels, but a certain group of beer fans will say, 'What do I drink if I want more than one?' The term is a 'session beer.' That's the backbone of pub life: a good beer that you sit down with and that doesn't dominate the conversation. Craft brewers are trying something that was not in their nature: which is to dial it back, but to keep all the flavor and character that is part of the craft brew revolution.
"[Full Sail Session [Black] Lager is more full-flavored. It's a black lager that is lovely, full-flavored but not so heavy that you can't have a couple through the evening and enjoy the conversation."

Yes indeed. It's sweet to see this catching on. Makes me want to spend the afternoon on the deck drinking beer.

Shirts and stickers available, too!

2010-06-04T11:04:00.001-04:00

By the way...I've put some shirts up on CafePress with the SBP logo. I wear mine, and one of these days, I want to do an event centered on them. For now, though...they just let people know you like to drink great-tasting beer in large quantities.

I also have a sticker available there for bars and brewers that want to display that they support session beers. It ain't the Good Housekeeping seal, but if you get one and put it up, let me know (and let me know why you got it!), and I'll put your link up here on the blog.

The Session #40: Session Beers

2010-06-04T10:23:00.001-04:00

I haven't participated in our monthly 'blog carnival,' The Session, since November; a couple of them I wasn't interested in, I was really busy finishing up PAB4, and, well, once or twice I just dropped the ball. But this month, The Session is about just that: Session Beers. As our host, Top Fermented blogger Erik Myers, put it, "There are a thousand ways to approach this." Indeed.

Turns out that I've got a pretty acute sense of hearing.

Back in February of 2009, not long after I started this blog (itself an outgrowth of a two-year series of session beer-related posts on my main blog, Seen Through A Glass, that started here), I wrote a piece for Ale Street News in which I suggested that the faint, first rumblings of the collapse of extreme beers could be heard. Earlier, I did a piece titled "Extremely Annoying" for BeerAdvocate magazine (which you can find here, and thanks to Teri Fahrendorf for that!), a single contrarian voice in an entire issue devoted to -- pardon the expression -- ball-washing extreme beers in which I suggested that making extreme beers wasn't that big a deal: throw more stuff in, get a bigger monkey. That, in turn, was an expansion of my "it's just a bigger burrito" argument, originally made here in October of 2006. In short, and in a nod to Barbara Mandrell, I was session when session wasn't cool (that's assuming, of course, that it is now...but we'll get to that).

At the time, I was excoriated for this. Sam "Mr. Extreme" Calagione wrote a response to the Ale Street piece, crying that I'd dissed extreme beers, that I was wrong, that I was portraying an opinion as a trend (one thing I definitely did not do, Sam), and that I was saying imperial beers must die so that session beers could thrive (Oh, please. I bent over backwards to avoid that impression: "I’m not saying the imperial beer is dead, and I hope it never dies." Direct quote, dude). There were angry responses to the BeerAdvocate piece before it even saw print. And The Brothers Alström penned an editorial in which they accused unnamed people of dismissing extreme beers (“their target enemy”) to call for more session beers: unnamed, but when you’re the guy behind The Session Beer Project, quoted and cited in every recent major piece on session beers, it’s hard not to feel targeted yourself.

I wrote a really, really long response that I never posted. Here's some of it:

At no time did I ever intend or say that this [increased] attention [to session beers] should come at the expense of extreme beers, I didn’t even wish for it. In fact, two years ago, when that was obviously unclear, and I felt uncomfortable with the people who were allying themselves with me on that basis, I made this statement on my Seen Through A Glass blog:
I guess I'd better clear this up now. Just because I'm starting this blog partly as a platform for this loosely defined Session Beer Project, it does not mean that I do not like big beers, do not like experimental beers, do not like (deep breath here) extreme beers. I do like them – to a point.

The main point of the Session Beer Project is to give session beers a little tiny bit of equality of attention, attention that's mainly going to the so-called extreme beers right now. Because, really: most of the world, every day, drinks beers that are under 5% ABV. Really.
Note that I did not say “take away attention from the so-called extreme beers to give session beers a little tiny bit of equality of attention.” Nor did I say I intended to stop talking about extreme beers, and I have not; just put ‘tasting notes’ in the Search box [on STAG, not here], and you can see how many big beers, beers with unusual ingredients, sour beers I’ve reviewed, and liked (or not liked; I never said I’d give them a free ride, either). I have occasionally drawn direct comparisons between the two categories, because they represent two poles of craft beer, but I’ve presented them simply as two choices, not Good Choice, Bad Choice.

I always planned, intended, and promoted The Session Beer Project as something that would add to the excitement and acceptance of beer in general, that would bring to the fore an under-represented, under-appreciated meta-category of beers. If I ever wanted it to come at the expense of another category, fear not, true believers, I was with you: let it come at the expense of macro-brewed light lagers (if only because they have so much to give!).

There’s plenty of room for both session beers and extreme beers to thrive, because they are so entirely different – they do not compete! That is the beauty and main raison d’etre of the Craft Beer Revolution: difference, variety, choice. It always has been, and I have been saying that for years, while other voices talked about quality, and smallness, and artisanal craftsmanship. Those things are great, but they are part of the variety that is the overarching theme.

To sum up, I wasn’t talking about crushing imperial beers to make way for session beers; I never have. I was only speculating about whether they might be coming to the end of their fifteen minutes of fame…which would only mean that it was some other beer’s turn, and I’ve observed that session beers have been doing well in my local market lately. No beer stays on top forever, whether in sales or hype. That’s been true since way before the Craft Beer Revolution.

Can we stop the rabble-rousing? This is not about “Session Vs. Extreme Beers,” there’s no “versus” involved. I want to see craft brewers do well. I want to see the variety of beer choices increased, everywhere. I don’t want whole categories of craft beers slammed. (Okay, maybe American hefeweizen. And pumpkin beers. Maybe.) What I really want is for session beers to get some more attention – and that’s working, and I do see a few more session beers on taps – and maybe for the brewers and promoters of extreme beers to be a bit less defensive. Is that too much to ask?

Told you it was really long: that was about a third of it. But writing it was cathartic: I got over it, and moved on.

That's when things started to percolate. I started getting e-mails, and seeing results on my Google Alert on "session beer" that were more than yet another blogger saying something like "at 8.5%, it's no session beer" (guys...you say that way too often), and hearing from brewers who were making session beers. Philadelphia Brewing has two great year-round beers that are session-strength (Kenzinger and Walt Wit), as does rival Yards (Brawler and Philly Pale), right here in America's Best Beer-Drinking City™. Chris Lohring, who's boomeranging back into brewing, has started Notch, an all-session brand that's currently in joyously experimental test marketing in the Boston area.

I heard the first faint trickles back in 2007, more of them last year. It's still no flood, or even a stream. But session beer is catching on in the American market.

So...I should maybe stop there, but I won't. Instead, a bit of a manifesto. I'll start by reiterating the session beer definitions I've been working with here:

For our purposes, 'session beer' is defined as a beer that is:

► 4.5% alcohol by volume or less
► flavorful enough to be interesting
► balanced enough for multiple pints
► conducive to conversation
► reasonably priced

If that seems vague...it is. Here's another definition: low-alcohol, but not low-taste. It's subjective.

I think any definition should stick closely to that 4.5% ABV figure. I'll admit, it's my figure, but I reached it after much consideration. Simply, it's like speed limits. No one goes 55 mph in a 55 mph zone; you'd get run off the road. By saying 4.5%, we're letting you know that your 5.4% pale ale simply is not a session beer, quaffable and delightful though it is...which a 5% definition would make harder to sustain. I'd like to see American brewers working to get good flavor under 4.5%. It can certainly be done -- I've had them -- and you can do it without tart/souring or hopping to the bejayzus, although that works too (Lambrucha and Stone Levitation being excellent examples). Work with malts and yeast, and you can achieve amazing things; I've had them, too.

But don't get completely caught up in the number game. Zythophile blogger Martyn Cornell told me that defining “session beer” was not about alcohol percentages. “What makes a good session beer,” he said, “is a combination of restraint, satisfaction, and ‘moreishness.’ Just like the ideal companions on a good evening down the pub, a good session beer will not dominate the occasion and demand attention; at the same time its contribution, while never obtrusive, will be welcome, satisfying, and pleasurable.”

That's what this is all about. Session beer is about enjoying the totality of beer, the entire beer experience and culture. I have a dream about a session beer festival. It's not a bunch of brewers and sales reps standing behind a bunch of tables hawking 3 oz. samples of 4.5% beers to standing crowds who dawdle in front of the tables, pissing off everyone in line behind them. It's a hall, where a variety of bars serve a wide variety of session beers...but the real focus is on the people drinking the beer, and what you're talking to them about, or the next hand of pinochle, or a quiet contemplative smoke of a nice pipeful of good tobacco (yeah, really; they can have their own room), or a round of pool. We'll stay all afternoon and into the evening, have four or five pints each, and it will never get out of hand, just loud and happy with the sound of chatting and laughter, the clink of glasses.

The Year of Session Beer is not here yet. It's coming. When it gets here, we're going to drink to it. Cheers!

Blowing 0.01: gotta love the sessions

2010-05-29T21:20:00.001-04:00

I just went out for dinner in Philly; I'm on my own tonight. Went to Old Eagle Tavern; had an O'Reilly's Stout but didn't like the vibe in the place, too many Flyers fans carpet-f-bombing. Drove down the hill to Dawson Street, had two Victory Uncle Teddy's with a bowl of their always excellent vegetarian chili and a quesadilla. Felt fine: three beers in 90 minutes. Drove home, and got out the breathalyzer: I blew a 0.01.

I love drinking session beer.

Notch-ing up a Month

2010-05-25T00:09:00.000-04:00

Chris Lohring's Notch Session beer brand has hit a month, and the initial supply of the first two beers in the experiment is running low. He's going to have two new beers out in mid/late-June, and more coming every five weeks. I think the idea is to do market research...but maybe he'll just keep messing around. In any case...I kinda wish I were drinking in Boston!

DSSB II: Valley Brew London Tavern Ale

2010-05-16T16:05:00.000-04:00

Ken Weaver's next Desperately Seeking session Beer installment is up.

Collaborative Session Beer effort

2010-05-04T11:02:00.001-04:00

Brewers are getting together to brew beers all over the country (just read about another one on Facebook this morning); why not beer bloggers? With that lame intro (coffee's just not doing it this morning...), let me introduce Desperately Seeking Session Beer, a project that's been started by blogger Ken Weaver (of The HopPress) who, you'll recall, wrote the piece I discussed here. Here's how Ken explained it to me (edited from an e-mail):

I'm planning to introduce some shorter, recurrent (and biweekly) themes into the column that will allow me to get a bit of breathing room from the larger-scope topical pieces I tend to focus on. One of these added elements will be a "Session Beer Spotlight" column, with a focus on West Coast beers. This is a topic about which we both feel pretty strongly about, and it seems like there might be some way to coordinate the effort on my end. I'm not sure what exact form this would take, but I could imagine something along the lines of a clarifying statement at the top of each column stating something like, "The Session Beer Spotlight is an auxiliary project to Lew Bryson's The Session Beer Project, serving to highlight session beer offerings from the West Coast and beyond"

Which sounded great to me, and I told Ken so. He and I did a little bit of detail discussion, and I'll be posting each one of them here, as long as he maintains his interest. Might even prod me to do more. Yay.

Here's the first one, on a session beer from what might seem an unlikely source: Russian River Aud Blonde. It's a great post, too: not just tasting notes, he talks to Vinnie Cilurzo about how and why he's doing lower-ABV beers, and the reasons and techniques are quite interesting.

Cheers, Ken! Thanks, and welcome aboard!

Brilliant! Celebrate New Beer's Eve with 3.2 beer!

2010-04-05T09:58:00.000-04:00

The Brotherhood of Appreciating Repeal Day, an absolutely fantastic group in Sharon, PA that celebrates the anniversaries of Repeal -- God bless 'em -- has had a brilliant idea that ties right into session beer enjoyment. On April 7, they're having a New Beer's Eve party (in Sharon) to celebrate the first step of Repeal: the 1933 amendment of the Volstead Act that allowed "3.2 beer" -- beer at 4.0% ABV and below -- to be sold (on the grounds that it was 'non-intoxicating'). They are serving 4.0% -- and less -- beer at the event, which is a membership drive for the group.

This is genius! If there is a natural day to serve session beer to Americans, this is it!

More beers: Fratellos in Oshkosh has an English Mild

2010-04-02T09:01:00.000-04:00

Just heard from Joe Walts at the Fratellos brewpub in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; he's brewed an English Mild that's selling well.It's even innovative:

I rejected the conventional wisdom of U.S. craft brewers in a couple of ways:
-I mashed at a low temperature to avoid the syrupy viscosity that kills sessionability.
-I used Belgian dark candi syrup to prevent the beer from being too thin (Shut up about Barclay Perkins deserves credit for highlighting sugar usage in British breweries).
The beer selling well and customers are enjoying it!

And that's more than being innovative by just throwing in more malt and hops. Nice job, Joe. Keep 'em coming, folks!

Foggy Noggin: Bit o' Beaver Bitter

2010-04-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Got an e-mail from Jim Jamison, the brewmaster at the new Foggy Noggin Brewing, located north of Seattle in a little town called Bothell. It's tiny -- 1/2 bbl. brewery! -- and it's new -- opened March 20! -- and their flagship is Bit O'Beaver Bitter, which weighs in at a non-hefty 3.4% ABV. Welcome aboard, Jim!

NOTCH: an all-session beer brewing project

2010-04-01T14:23:00.001-04:00

I've been talking to Chris Lohring -- some of you may remember him as the guy behind Tremont Ale, the all-too-short lived brewery in Boston in the 1990s -- about a session beer brewery project he's been working on, and it's time to mention it here. It's called Notch, Chris is having two ales brewed at Shipyard in Portland as trial batches, and will be debuting them at the Slowfest in Boston later this month -- which is a session beer and slow food festival! If I weren't already committed to WhiskyFest Chicago that weekend, I'd be there, that's for sure. All brewers at the fest will be bringing at least one beer under 5% (they had originally called for beers using our definition, but too many brewers didn't offer anything under 4.5%...which kind of proves my point that there aren't enough of these beers out there), which is GREAT.And this is NOT any kind of April Fool's joke!

Check out the Notch blog/site here. Welcome back Chris!

Oh, hi there! While you're here, look at this...

2010-03-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long silence. Truly. I've just been wicked busy. That's going to ease up this week.

In the meantime, great piece here on how American brewers ARE leaving session beers behind and pumping up the ABV, with some numbers to back it up, not just anecdotes. There are some holes to poke, but overall it's pretty sound. So...how do we reverse this?

More Session Beer Love

2009-11-04T12:01:00.001-05:00

BevX has a new piece up on session beers. Thanks, Sean, welcome aboard!

Another from England; just a good day for it

2009-10-27T12:42:00.004-04:00

Martyn Cornell, one of the new breed of beer history revisionists (and a fearless writer), has a piece up on his excellent blog The Zythophile about "The mystery of sessionability." Martyn was nice enough to provide a quote for me for a piece I did on session beers earlier in the year, and has taken that original quote, in its entirety, and put it here; it was, as he says, much too long for me to use.

But I think that's part of the issue about 'session beer.' It's NOT an easy concept, and that's part of why so many people here in the U.S. don't get it (right, Keith?). Here's the first part of what Martyn says:

I love session beers. I love the way they make a good evening down the pub with friends even better. What makes a good session beer is a combination of restraint, satisfaction and “moreishness”. Like the ideal companions around a pub table, a great session beer will not dominate the occasion and demand attention; at the same time its contribution, while never obtrusive, will be welcome, satisfying and pleasurable; and yet, though each glass satisfies, like each story in the night’s long craic, the best session beers will still leave you wishing for one more pint, to carry on the pleasure.

That's just the start. Go read the rest. It's lovely. And Martyn? Thanks again for the quote!

Oh, now look at that!

2009-10-27T11:52:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite 'beery' blogs, Jeffo's Beer Blog, is from a former beer geek/lawyer who threw it off (young, before he got stupid rich) and took over a pub, The Gunmakers, in London. He's quite staunch on real ale, and low-alcohol ones to boot. So when he posted this, I had to pass it along to all of you here. That's five pints of mild, all going to the same lunch table.

Sigh. Makes you thirsty, don't it?

Kennett Square Conn-O-Session a success...mostly

2009-10-24T15:08:00.005-04:00

The Kennett Square BrewFest's session-strength Connoisseur Session happened two weeks ago, and it was a lot of fun...for most of us. Some very good beers: my favorite was probably McKenzie Brew House's Gringalet ("Weakling"), a 4%...I think Ryan Michaels said it was a 'French lager' with black pepper. I went back several times on that one. Flying Fish -- once they got there, the traffic just purely sucked -- had a real simple special; Casey Hughes took a keg of Xtra Pale Ale, dosed it with a brett culture, and let it sit on the brewery floor for a couple months (I think he said 'months'). Beautifully balanced, not nail-in-the-head funkified, and drink-o-matic. Erie Brewing had a Banana Nut Bread Brown that was dead-on to its name, and had a line most of the session. Stone brought Levitation Ale, Anchor brought Small Beer. Triumph had the GABF gold-winning Kinder Pils...but couldn't serve it, they hadn't realized that they needed two set-ups for the two different sessions, so I just went over there after and drank some. And there was another brewery there that was under the PA radar, so I won't name them, but their Summer Ale and Oatmeal Stout were brilliant, and I drank them more than once, too. Thanks for coming!

The picture -- two bums who insisted I take their picture* -- shows what a gorgeous day it was, after a thoroughly wet, raw, and nasty morning; it cleared up literally as I was walking down the hill to the fest grounds.

Now, about that "...mostly." The most common comment I heard during the session was "I didn't see the thing about session beers on the website!" There were people complaining about the session-strength thing, feeling like they'd been had because they weren't getting their big 'complex' beers. I actually felt bad: I didn't want anyone to be there under circumstances like that. Besides, they were taking up space that real session beer fans could have been in!

Otherwise? Plenty of folks were very happy about it. I drank so much I had to hit the heads three times in two hours, and never caught even the hint of a buzz. Well, maybe a little, after the main fest opened up and I was drinking Otter Creek imperial stout mixed with Wolaver's pumpkin beer. Yum. Groundhog's Kevin (hell, Kevin, I know your last name but I don't have a clue on how to spell it other than it's not "Crucial," sorry) gave me a bottle of spiced cider, and I was embarrassed to admit how much I liked it. But I did press it on a bunch of other people to taste, and they almost all liked it too...with a similar reluctance. We're all babies.

Anyway...was it a success? Yes. It could be better, especially if brewers gave it a better shot; some scrambled to throw something together, some just brought their regular sub-4.5% beers (not that I'd kick either Victory Donnybrook Stout or Sly Fox Chester County Bitter -- on cask! -- out of bed). Will Kennett do it again? Doubtful, because the reason they did it in the first place was to do something different. It wouldn't be different next year. So we'll look for another venue, or maybe try an idea Brendan at Memphis Taproom gave me...we'll see.

*Two bums named Spencer Niebuhr and Ric Hoffman, who, okay, are two of the coolest guys in the biz. The bums.

Avril 'blowout' tonight at Tria in Philly

2009-09-16T10:03:00.003-04:00

Just got this tip from the folks at Tria Cafe, about one of my favorite session beers, Avril. Get down there and help drink it up!

We're in love with a rare brew from Belgium's legendary farmhouse brewery, Brasserie Dupont. It's called Avril and at 3.5% ABV it's significantly lower in alcohol than domestic light beers. Oh, and it tastes better.
We're taking Avril off the menu for the colder months, but we're sending it off with a super low price tonight only, at both Tria locations. Help us kick the kegs starting at noon at Tria Rittenhouse and 4 pm at Tria Wash West - while supplies last.

If I could, I would be there...but I'm packing for my trip to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival tomorrow and writing a story that's due...er...yesterday. So go drink my share.

Brilliant idea from CAMRA (no, really!)

2009-08-06T08:24:00.002-04:00

The Campaign for Real Ale has a fantastic idea they're pushing to the UK government, which is simultaneously struggling with the country's boozing problem (drunk youth violence) and imposing ridiculously high and unpopular taxes on beer (whilst claiming there's a connection between the two). CAMRA's brilliant suggestion: zero tax on beers that are 2.8% ABV or lower.

What? 2.8% ABV? Yes, really. CAMRA is showcasing Welton's 2.8% ABV Pride'n'Joy ("Strong in Character. Weak in Confusion.") at the Great British Beer Festival this week. CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: "Zero duty on low-strength beer is a win-win scenario for brewers, pubs and consumers. Low-strength beer can be packed with flavour -- low strength does not translate into a reduction in flavour. It also makes it easier for people to drink responsibly."

And with over 100,000 members, its biggest membership ever, CAMRA may have the voice to be heard. The organization estimates that the zero tax option would drop the price of a pint of 2.8% beer by about 60p, a substantial amount that should encourage folks to grab a pint of something reasonable -- and sessionable.

Seriously, this is genius. I think the key to successful alcohol policy is not to merely punish folks for doing the wrong thing; we have to reward them for doing the right thing. You're drinking responsibly? Hey, we'll knock down the price of your beer! Question is: will the UK government put its tax policy where its mouth is?

Stone Levitation Ale

2009-07-23T09:51:00.005-04:00

Small is beautiful.

Less is more.

Who would have thought I'd ever be using phrases like that to describe a beer from Stone, the people best known for Arrogant Bastard (7.2%), Ruination IPA (7.7%), Old Guardian Barley Wine Style Ale (9.5-11.25%), and Double Bastard (10.5%)? Hell, who'd ever have thought I'd be reviewing a Stone beer on the SBP blog? Yet here it is: Stone Levitation Ale, at a lovely and quaffable 4.4%

And it's good. If you're looking for a real California-style pale/amber/red ale, with that pine/citrus wash of hop flavor and tingly hop nose, that you can drink all night...here it is. I cannot fault this beer; it's clean, it's tasty, it's balanced -- on the hop side, but balanced -- and it passes the quaff test. Hats off, Stone: nice job!

Another Voice in Support of SBP

2009-06-17T11:48:00.002-04:00

Got this note from Steve Gale, one of the founders and operators of the Burgundian Babble Belt, the place to go for talk about Belgian beers (and Belgian-style, and European beer in general, and other stuff). He tried to respond to the previous post, but his software didn't want to talk to Blogger's software, so he just e-mailed it to me. Take it away, Steve.

Kennett Square BrewFest planners - my hat's off to you. I have been to too many tasting events where it has become apparent that the beers which are held in high esteem are the extreme ones. It breaks my heart that the beer world seems to have become so hard of tasting. So I guess it's no big surprise that some would see a session beer direction as limiting choice and variety. My God. I mean, would anyone say that about the Extreme Beer Festival? How much more limiting is an event that only offers behemoths? But that's sacred, it doesn't matter that the world offers far more variety with low to medium alcohol, non-hop monster brews, if you only offer beers that bludgeon your palette you're a hero.

I don't mean to suggest insult, but IMO if you cannot see variety and choice potential in a strict session beer environment, you really don't get beer. Session beers can be sour, spicy, malty, hoppy, smoky, funky, sweet, bready, fruity, dry, chocolately, roasty, simple, complex, etc. Thank you, Kennett Square, for standing up to the "if its not >9% its not top 10 material" mindset that has taken hold. And thank you Lew, for working to bring back value to non-sledge hammer brews.

For Those of you Against the Conn-O-Session...

2009-06-16T13:12:00.005-04:00

There have been a number of complaints about the Kennett Square BrewFest Connoisseur Session going all session beer this year. The easy response would be, "Bummer, dude. Open your damned mind a little." But that's not right: people are used to the idea of "extreme" beers being where the innovation is taking place in American craft brewing.

So take a look at this -- Shaun Hill, hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to extreme beer -- is returning to the U.S. (to open a new craft brewery) and returning to the Kennett Connoisseur Session...with the following: "I'll bring along some one offs - like a 2 year old Flemish Red, Fresh/Wet Hopped IPA, Smoked Sour Wheat beer (loosely based on a Lichtenhainer - a suggestion by Loren (aka Venom)) - 50% home smoked malt, fermented with Brettanomyces and conditioned with Lacto)." That last one's going to be at the Conn-O-Session, weighing in around 3.9% ABV.

Yeah. Session beers are dull, just bitters and milds. See you at Kennett!

Great session beer coverage in DRAFT magazine!

2009-06-10T07:52:00.004-04:00

Zak Stambor interviewed me a while back for a piece on session beers for DRAFT magazine, and the article's out and available online. It's a good piece, and has links to SBP, but the great thing is that it covers session beer in a national beer mag, quotes folks from two exceptional brewers (Greg Hall of Goose Island and Tom Kehoe of Yards) that both have session beers as strong-selling year-round beers, and Stambor doesn't feel the need to take Maxim-style shots at session beer as being weak or unmanly. Thanks for that, Zak.

It's a good piece. Go read it, and send it to your friends.

Mikkeller? A Session Beer? Alright!

2009-06-10T07:45:00.002-04:00

As a spelling geek, I hate the construction "alright." It's "all right," dammit. But I'm willing to let the Danes at Mikkeller use it, since they've put it on the label of a brett-fired session beer, It's Alright, which is a spunky, funky 4.5%. Read Minnesota beer blogger ("Legal Beer") Beckel's review of it here.

With darlings of the extreme beer set like Mikkeller (Beer Geek Brunch (Weasel), Black As Hell, Mikkel's Monster) making session-strength beers, maybe we'll start getting through to people who think life begins at 8%.

Conn-o-Session tickets selling briskly

2009-06-01T10:56:00.003-04:00

Folks, the Kennett Square Brewfest organizers took a bold step this year. Their Connoisseur Session has been one of the real showcases for adventurous brewing, an anticipated and greatly enjoyed event. This year, they decided to have a "Conn-o-Session," a Connnoisseur Session of all Session Beers.

To tell the truth, we -- the brewfest organizers and I -- loved the idea, but didn't know how it would go over with you, the beer festival-loving public. It was a gamble. We'd received some very negative feedback from folks who, honestly, sounded like they were only interested in high-alcohol beers. Hmmmm... We worried a bit.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. I just heard from the festival organizers: tickets went on sale this morning at 7, and at 10:30, they had already sold 104 of the 300 tickets. You like session beer, you really like it!

Get your tickets: I'll see you there!

Bars, Brewpubs: Show Your Support for The Session Beer Project!

2009-05-26T15:26:00.008-04:00

The sticker I talked about just below? I did get a sample, and today I went down to Memphis Taproom and watched Brendan and Leigh proudly place it on the side door to the bar (the front one has that nice decorative ironwork). "We have session beers," the sticker says, "come on in!" We toasted it with Cantillon Vigneronne (delicious), and then talked about a big session event for this fall; more about that later.

In the meantime...bar owners, brewpubs, brewers! Show your support for sub-4.5% beer with flavor and balance, and let your customers know you have session beer available, by displaying your own sticker. (The link takes you straight to CafePress, where you can buy the sticker direct; realized that was easier for everyone than having me buy them and have to charge twice for postage.) If you get one and display it, let me know and I'll put up a list here and on our Facebook page.

The rest of you, I decided to scrap the idea of putting something on the back of the t-shirt. I couldn't come up with something I really liked, and it was an additional $4. The logo's good enough. So you can get a Session Beer Project t-shirt here. I wore mine to Mahar's in Albany over the weekend, while I was drinking Fuller's Chiswick Bitter.

Drink up!

More evidence

2009-05-17T09:16:00.001-04:00

Boak and Bailey go on a session beer bender...and wake up "fresh as a daisy." Please, more good low-alcohol beers!

Some projects advance

2009-05-13T14:36:00.005-04:00

I know some of you have asked, 'Now that you have a logo, when can we get t-shirts?' Well, I'm experimenting. I got a larger version of the logo, loaded it up on CafePress, and had myself a t-shirt made, in black. It looks good, and that's how we'll go...but I'm thinking about what to put on the back, because the logo deserves (and maybe needs) an explanation. I'm thinking about the definition we have over to the right, tweaked a bit:

Session Beer!

► 4.5% ABV or less

► flavorful and balanced

► conducive to conversation

► reasonably priced

"Thanks, I'll have another!"™

How's that look?

I also had a sample window-sticker run up for bars and breweries to put in their front window, indicating that they endeavor to have at least one session beer (not a mainstream light, and in addition to Guinness!) available at all times. That's the graphic above: what do you think? I think the wording and line graphics enhance the 'interwar" look of the logo itself.

Finally, here's a nice bit about session beer from Stonch's Beer Blog, explaining how Jeff made the progression from big head-bangers to appreciating session beers (and it's not just in there because he says nice things about my blog).

Harpoon Brown Session Ale

2009-05-02T08:49:00.005-04:00

I was in the midst of posting this over at STAG when I realized it would be better to put it here. So here we are.

The good folks at Harpoon recently asked me if there was anything in their line-up that I hadn't tasted, anything I'd like to get a sample of (believe me, folks: this does not happen every day! I have a long relationship with this particular brewery). Yeah! Send me some of that Brown Session Ale, if you could. Harpoon's head brewer Al Marzi had told me that he was going to add a session beer when I interviewed him back in 2007, and this was it, but I hadn't had a chance to taste it. So they very nicely sent me some (along with some UFO White, which was real nice, but at 4.8%, it's a STAG review).

I chilled some, and broke one out yesterday afternoon. It does pour brown, and it's aromatic, too: a chocolate touch wrapped around a malt sweetness in the nose. Don't expect cloying, though. It's nicely attenuated (that means it's fermented long enough to eat up most of the sugars), and has enough hop to tidy things up. My only reservation is that it may be a little too dry; I'd almost like to see more malt left in there to bulk up the body just a touch. Good beer, though, and definitely sessionable: I opened another bottle when this one was done, and it held up fine on the 'volume test'!

Sorry, I'm under the weather

2009-04-30T12:58:00.003-04:00

Haven't been doing much drinking or blogging lately. Allergy season is starting up, and that always makes me stupid and lethargic. (Please, spare me the cheap shots!) Hope to have some good session beer news for you in May, and we should have some SBP-logo merchandise for you as well. Have to figure out what to do with any profits; my taxes are screwed up enough as it is. Wonder if there's a charity for retired beer styles...

ReSession™ Ale at Elk Creek

2009-04-15T12:06:00.008-04:00

From my friends at Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks, a new beer that seems to embody the idea of session beer:

Still waitin’ for your bailout?

Well, we got a bucket for you. Of beer.

Introducing our own little community stimulus...

ReSession™ Ale.

A British-style Best Bitter

Nitrogen-dispensed, dry hopped w/East Kent Goldings

ReSession™ Ale, our first session beer

brewed to give something back:

High quaffability, moderate alcohol, economical price

(Imperial Pints only $3.00)

“pleasing on the palate, easy on the wallet”

Starts pouring tomorrow.

And "tomorrow" is today. So if you just happen to be up near Millheim...embrace the ReSession. Elk Creek is really a great place for a session, and one of these days...I'm doing it. (They've still got a little of the excellent -- and also sessionable -- Big Trout Stout left, too!)

Logo Announcement

2009-04-15T11:47:00.004-04:00

Well...it wasn't easy.

I'm not sure what I expected when I asked for logos, but the response was great. After evaluating all of them, and your comments, and my own tastes and preferences, I've finally decided to go with Steve Herberger's design, which you see posted here (in a version that incorporates a few post-choice tweaks: the color of the glass outlines and the lettering, a slightly deeper red). Steve gets the $50 honorarium and a firm handshake, and we get a common image: three beers, three different beers, and our tagline: "Thanks, I'll have another!"

Thanks to everyone who designed a potential logo for The Session Beer Project!

Errr... Anyone know how I go about copyrighting this image? Trademarking it? Whatever?

Logo selection: we need your comments!

2009-03-30T09:39:00.008-04:00

I need some help.

I asked for submissions for a SBP logo (offering an admittedly scrawny fee) and got seven. They were all good, but I've been unable to pare them down past these four, which I present in random order. (And yes, some of the logos are being tweaked by their designers in response to comments, so keep looking!)

So I'm asking for comment. Not votes, mind you, because as the guy who's doing most of the work for now, I have to live with the winner, so I'll make the final decision, which I will announce next Monday, April 6.

In the meantime, I have decided on the slogan, a last-minute tweak to an earlier suggestion. We're going with Thanks, I'll Have Another! It's friendly, personal, and encompasses the message: good beer, lower alcohol, sessionable, social.

So comment -- and keep it friendly, this is session beer, not e*treme mud-wrestling -- and I'll make my decision in a week, and announce the winner then. Thanks!

My own comments. First shown: I like the font, like the glass graphic a lot; not sure about the red. And I do like using the full name "The Session Beer Project."

Second shown: Like the three different beers. Didn't like the arms at first, but they're growing on me...so to speak. Drew the most positive comments from you.

Third shown: Dramatic, and real beer. Nora's favorite.

Fourth shown: very suitable for a coaster, a project I'd like to try to fund. Maybe too much like a Guinness ad? The shamrock should probably go. Like the compact arrangement.

Chris Leonard on Brewing Session Beer, Part II

2009-03-09T08:37:00.003-04:00

General Lafayette owner/brewer Chris Leonard has posted another part of his 'treatise' on brewing session beer at his blog. This one's about how to make session beer that's more than light beer. Interesting stuff, and I'm looking forward to this continuing. The first part is posted here.

The Tiedhouse: details on the Session Beer Project event

2009-03-08T15:55:00.002-04:00

The Tiedhouse, the Philly outpost of the General Lafayette Inn brewpub (20th and Hamilton), has invited me to host a session beer event Monday night, March 9th (tomorrow...). I first mentioned that here, and now I have more details from Chris Leonard.

It all starts at 6 PM. There's a $5 cover, and the session beers will then be available by the flight or full pint. I'll be there with Chris's brewer, Russ Czajka for an exploration of these full-flavored, low alcohol beers. We will discuss history, styles, brewing techniques and nuances that make these beers so appealing.

Beers we have on-line so far include:

General Lafayette’s The Economizer (a new, very hoppy 3.5%er from the General)
Earth Bread + Brewery Stout (part of 'Philly Weak Beer' at EB+B)
Philadelphia Brewing Company Kenzinger (crisp, refreshing)
Yards Brawler (the surprise hit from the new Yards)
Sly Fox Seamus Irish Red (rolling with fruity esters)
Conniston Bluebird Bitter (a classic)

With more to be added! Possibly the largest selection of session beers Philly has ever seen, all at The Tiedhouse tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

(Double-posted from my regular blog, Seen Through A Glass.)

It comes down to a personal decision

2009-03-05T09:29:00.003-05:00

The tagline run-off poll was too even to be effective, so I'm just going to make a decision. The number of logos submitted is at six, with one still being tweaked, so I think we'll have a decision there soon. And when that happens, we'll have a logo and a tagline, something we can think about making into coasters for events, and window stickers for participating bars and brewers, and shirts, and tattoos...temporary tattoos, of course: we're not extreme types.

Got two more logos since I posted this, so it ain't over yet!

"Part of a growing trend in craft brewing..."

2009-03-02T12:05:00.004-05:00

Session beer continues to get more press: whether it's because of any push from the SBP or not, it's a good thing. Today's Inquirer had another of food critic Craig LaBan's short beer reviews in the "Drink" featurette: Yards Brawler.

One might expect a "pugilist style ale" to pack a knock-out punch, but the Brawler, the latest hit brew from Yards, scores points like a crafty lightweight with distinctive style and malty finesse.

The Brawler is a "session" ale, a relatively low-alcohol approach (about 4 percent) that's part of a growing trend in craft brewing to counter the high-octane extreme beer movement. It doesn't sacrifice flavor, though, with a malt-forward amber richness that won't cloy or weigh you down after a few rounds (thus the name.)

You bet, brother. A growing trend indeed. More and more session beers are hitting the taps, and they are no longer afraid to flaunt their low alcohol status. The hard-core geekerie may still be calling for big beers -- and I don't mind 'em at all! -- but finally, session beers are getting some attention. That's what I said I wanted over two years ago...and it's happening.

Session Beer Evolution

2009-02-28T23:52:00.001-05:00

Chris Leonard has written Part I of an exposition on session-strength beers, and how he's tried -- and tried, and tried -- to sell them at the General Lafayette Inn, and is finally succeeding. Well worth reading for anyone who is learning to love these beers, and there's more -- more technical -- to come.

Session beers at Devil's Backbone

2009-02-28T13:46:00.003-05:00

Just heard from Jason Oliver, who's opened a cool new brewpub in the mountains of Virginia, Devil's Backbone. Jason's been brewing at Gordon Biersch DC for years (and other DC-area breweries before that; he's a pro on both sides of the top/bottom-fermenting divide), and has now gone out on his capable own. And he's a big fan of drinkable session beers:

Right now I have two seasonals that fit the bill, the Ale of Fergus English Brown Ale on at 4.5% and the Ramsey's Draft Stout at 4.1%. My year round Helles, called Gold Leaf Lager is around 4.5% as well.

Sounds like a hill trip for a Session is in order.

Recessionale at Flossmoor, Golden at Fifty Fifty

2009-02-27T10:43:00.004-05:00

Just heard from the outgoing Matt van Wyk at Flossmoor Station (he's moving on to Oakshire Brewery in Oregon, and good luck to him!):

Hi Lew-
I currently have a beer called RecessionAle. It's a 3% small beer that leans towards American Pale Ale. American mild, if you will? We serve it as the lowest priced beer, to go along with the name. It certainly is not getting the love of our 7.5% IPA (which is $1.75 more per pint) but I love drinking a whole growler at home. Delish! Oh, and our two lightest beers (Golden Ale and American Wheat) hover around 4.5%. Cheers!

And then this from Todd Ashman at Fifty Fifty in Truckee, CA:

We are currently making 'Blonde #1' which is a Golden Ale that clocks in at 4.2%. Selling well and gaining new friends all the time...

Sessionate it!

Session Beer is Without Honor at Devil's Den

2009-02-21T18:09:00.006-05:00

Oh, depressing. Cathy and I went out to test-drive TDI Jettas today, then popped down to Devil's Den to sample Flying Fish's Belgian Mild, a second-runnings beer (off their Imperial Porter). It was good, full of flavor, herbal and fresh (and Cathy's Weed Brewing Shastafarian Porter was good too), but the bartender dissed it! Compared it unfavorably to Brooklyn Blunderbuss Old Ale. "A lot better than that stuff," he said. Now, he was good enough to offer a taster of the Blunderbuss, and it was good, but...come on. It's like comparing a dirt bike and a tank for cross-country performance.

Then I asked about the Eel River Organic Pale Ale, and the dude disses pale ale! Said he just didn't think pale ale had much to say. Then he dissed the flagship lineup of Philly Brewing and Brooklyn -- now wait a minute, I said, Brooklyn Lager is delish, I could drink it all day. And the waiter, walking by, does a spit-take laugh and blows a raspberry! "Grow up!" I bellowed. "No one appreciates subtlety any more." So I got a 16 oz. glass of Eel River, at 4.5%, and enjoyed the hell out of it: crisp, hoppy, grassy, light and nimble on the palate, delightful. Ah, me.

Truthfully, the guy did a great job tending bar, talked smart, right on top of things. We had a great time, too, and the apps we got were very nice. But damn me, this strong beer madness gets irritating sometimes.

More press for Session Beer

2009-02-20T11:32:00.002-05:00

I just got interviewed for a piece on High-ABV vs. Session Beer for the Philadelphia Weekly, part of their Philly Beer Week coverage. Like I keep saying, this is the Year of Session Beer. No way this story would have even been thought of two years ago. We need to keep talking it up. Thanks to the Philly-area brewers who are backing SBP up with great beers!

Philly Beer Week gets Sessional

2009-02-18T11:13:00.005-05:00

We have a (soon-to-be) official Philly Beer Week/Session Beer Project event! Chris Leonard is still working out the details, but we'll be doing an all-session beer event at The Tiedhouse (Chris's new place in Philly: 2031 Hamilton St., 215-561-1002) on

Monday March 9th, at 6 pm.

Still to come: price, menu, beer list, and all that jazz, but we'll have that soon, and I'll just post it here as it comes in. I'll be talking about what session beer is and why it's getting popular, and I hope to get Chris to talk about how brewing session beers is different from brewing big beers. (Chris won't actually be there; he's got an event at the General the same night, but his brewer, the beloved Russ Czajka, will be there, and can get down and geeky with you. I'm trying to talk Chris into writing us a treatise on session beer, to be posted here.)

If you can't wait that long, Chris also told me that he's got a new session beer coming on next week: "Our new low-alcohol offering -- a dry-hopped, hop infuser-poured APA (Columbus and Cascade hops) at 3.5%, called The Economizer -- will be ready to go next week." Looking forward to that.

Do we have a winner?

2009-02-18T08:59:00.004-05:00

The poll's over, and the winner, with a solid plurality, is Good Enough to Have Another. But since I posted that poll, someone sent in a logo proposal with a tagline on it: "Good beer is good company." I like that, too, and both of them really get at the idea of session beers.

So I think we're going to have a run-off. Please take the time to vote again, thanks!

Session beer in the Times

2009-02-17T13:50:00.004-05:00

Forgot about this one: there was a piece in the New York Times last August about session beers. I do feel foolish about forgetting this one, because this quote, from well-known importer Don Feinberg, was what really re-kindled the session beer fire for me:

“A bunch of guys talk in the market,” said Don Feinberg, a founder of Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, N.Y., and an importer for Vanberg & DeWulf there. “We’ve all been saying the same thing for about 18 months now, which is, enough of the high octane.”

I was quoted briefly, but my main contribution to the piece was directing the writer to some of the other people she talked to. Which is just what I want to do with the Project. I want to help brewers, publicans, retailers, and beer drinkers get together over session beers. That's all. We can do it together: spread the word!

Philly Weak Beer!

2009-02-17T11:51:00.004-05:00

As Uncle Jack has reported (and used as a springboard for yet more regrettably personal abuse of my own sweet self), Earth Bread + Brewery has scheduled an session beer 'event' during Philly Beer Week. They're going to expand their session-strength taps to run all session beers all week, house-brewed or local, from March 6 through the 15th, an idea they're calling Philly Weak Beer.

Ordinarily, I'd say this was a good thing. However, I've been sampling Tom Baker's session-strength beers at EB+B since he opened, so I'm going to have to say that this is a totally brilliant thing.

What's even better...I'm putting together another all-session event for Philly Beer Week, and if we can pull it off, I'll make an announcement about that later this week.

We have a festival!

2009-02-12T21:01:00.003-05:00

I am very pleased to announce that the Kennett Brewfest for 2009, a noted beer festival in Kennett Square in suburban Philadelphia, will be featuring Session Beers at their perhaps even more noted connoisseur session, a Conn-o-session, they're calling it. Brilliant.

Here's the release, from Brewfest beer honcho Jeff Norman:

The board of Historic Kennett Square, along with the Kennett Brewfest committee enthusiastically approved the concept of the Kennett Conn-o-session serving all 4.5% (or close) or less session beers during this years Connoisseur tasting. We are thrilled to follow the lead of “the year of session beer” and look forward to unique offerings from local, regional, national, and international brewers. This is a 180 degree departure from previous Connoisseur tastings at Kennett but no less exciting. We constantly strive to make this event unique with respect to brewfests. I already have commitments from 8 breweries and all have been very enthusiastic.

Sorry about getting carried with my usual enthusiastic bolding, but I was pretty excited. Jeff and I have been back and forth on this for about a week, wondering about how to best do this, whether it would be well-received, whether it would even be possible. But Jeff took the bull by the horns, presented it to the Committee, and made it happen.

As Uncle Jack has already noted (Jeff sent the release to both of us, Session Guy and Favorite Son, at the same time, but I was at rehearsal), this may cause some wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the geekerie. They're used to getting their big fat double everythings with extra helpings of hops and brett. It's risky to piss these folks off, but if they don't want to buy the Conn-o-Session tickets, maybe someone else will get a chance to go!

I've also got word of another session beer festival forming up in California. And the year's just beginning. I'm telling you, folks: this is The Year of Session Beer!

Is the End of Empire Near?

2009-02-12T14:56:00.005-05:00

Okay, I doubt that the big imperial beers are going to disappear any time soon. But I do sense just the beginnings of a shift in the tides away from the big fat beers that keep getting crazier and crazier.

That's why I wrote this piece in Ale Street News, called "An End of Empire?" Here's the heart of it:

Big beers inevitably cost more, and as layoffs domino through the economy, there are fewer dedicated followers with the money to buy them. But still they get bought, because the hype on imperials is reaching into the mainstream, and trendy consumers are willing to pay wine prices for them – for now. One example: Samuel Adams Double Bock was about $8 for a six-pack, a very reasonable price. The new, bigger Imperial Double Bock, part of the Samuel Adams “Imperial Series,” is $10 – for a four-pack, an increase of 80 percent. Beer enthusiasts are getting vocal about prices they think are gouging them.
It isn’t just price, either. With the sale of A-B to InBev, craft brewers are thinking about how to capitalize on their status as true American-owned breweries, and it’s a snap that most Americans don’t want anything imperial. The most common complaint about craft beers is that they have “too much flavor.” Brewers are making the adjustment. Full Sail is doing well with its Session Lager, Harpoon’s booming along with their American hefe, UFO. They’re smelling opportunity, and it’s not in another small-batch, high-end imperial whatzit.
Beer drinkers may be sensing it, too. Here in Philly, Tom “Heavyweight” Baker’s new brewpub, Earth Bread + Brewery, is successfully selling two out of four taps at under 4%, and Yards Brawler, at 4.2%, is seeing a lot of interest and attention. Scott Smith’s East End Brewing in Pittsburgh has a line of Session Ales that have been consistent sell-outs, interesting and drinkable. It’s quiet — no dance music — but it’s happening.

We'll see what happens. I just got word of a major session beer event...and I don't think it's going to be the only one this year.

Smallville: another article on session beers

2009-02-11T17:42:00.003-05:00

There's another article online about session beers, in Imbibe magazine. I'm quoted in it, but it was written by Adem Tepedelen, who I was fortunate enough to meet in Denver last fall when we both won Michael Jackson Beer Journalism awards. Adem's a good writer and a nice guy, and he did a great piece here. Take a look.

Session Beers in All About Beer

2009-02-10T14:28:00.003-05:00

I've got an article on session beer in the latest issue of All About Beer. I've picked up some nice compliments on it already from brewers and drinkers, and one just suggested I share it here. So I am. Pick up a copy at your local beer or homebrew store.

Two sample paragraphs:

"Strength doesn’t, I think, have that much to do with it," [Martyn Zythophile"] Cornell said firmly. "What makes a good session beer is a combination of restraint, satisfaction, and ‘moreishness.’ Just like the ideal companions on a good evening down the pub, a good session beer will not dominate the occasion and demand attention; at the same time its contribution, while never obtrusive, will be welcome, satisfying, and pleasurable. And yet, though each glass satisfies, like each story in the night’s long craic, the good session beer will still leave you wishing for one more pint, to carry on the pleasure."

and...

Then relax and enjoy. That’s one of the best things about session beers: you can think about something besides your next beer. You can finally become more of a beer drinker, and less of a beer geek. And you and your friends will find that you have more in common than just beer, and maybe you’ll learn a new card game, and maybe – could we get another round? Yeah, the same – you’ll make some new friends, and maybe instead of constantly beer-hunting, you’ll become a regular and develop a local pub. Hey, even Michael Jackson had a local.

Hope you can find it, hope you enjoy it!

SBP on Facebook

2009-02-09T14:41:00.001-05:00

I've created a Session Beer Project page on Facebook. If you do that thing, have a look. It's all about spreading the word. Do what you can.

Homebrewing Session Beers

2009-02-06T05:11:00.002-05:00

I took your suggestion, and suggested a Session Beer homebrewing competition to the American Homebrewers Association. Here's their response, from Project Coordinator Janis Gross (who we like; check out what she's brewing!):

Thanks for sending us your link and your thoughts about something I'm really big on too! I'll definitely check out your blog, and I may even be able to post the link with one of the Big Brew recipes this year, English Mild. (It appears that this year's Big Brew recipes aren't up yet; I'll link to them here when they are. Meantime, here's last year's Chiswick Bitter recipe (in all-grain, or extract-plus), an ordinary bitter brewed in honor of the extraordinary life of Michael Jackson.) I have been championing session beers for some time now, and the mild recipe will be the one I brew for Big Brew.

As for your reader's comments about having a competition for session beers, we had a Low Gravity/Session Beers Club-Only Competition 2 years ago (February 2007) that was hosted by the Maltose Falcon Brewing Society club who are renowned for their giant beers. (Results are here; and the Maltose Falcons may be renowned for giant beers, but as I found out, they do a pretty damned good mild, too!)

The Club-Only Competitions (COCs) are the only competitions the AHA puts on apart from the National Homebrew Competition. The COC schedule is currently booked through May 2012 and there is one session style competition scheduled for January/February, 2010, a year from now. That competition is being hosted by the Impaling Alers in Kent, WA.
The styles for the COC are for the most part chosen by the hosting club from a list I provide. My policy is to not repeat a BJCP style for 3 years, so my available BJCP style list is always changing. I don't see the AHA specifying a Session Beers competition to be one of the 6 COCs each year, but I could be wrong.

So there you have it. Now...if any of you who homebrew would want to start up a session beer competition in their local club (ahem...Bob), I'd be happy to post about that here if you let me know. Meantime, I'll see what I can do about prodding the Philadelphia homebrew scene on sessions.

Bar Owners: make more money with session beers

2009-02-05T08:45:00.004-05:00

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.