Drink Session on April 7th!

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...

Brilliant idea from CAMRA (no, really!)

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 tasty.

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?

Is the End of Empire Near?

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.

It's Official

After a couple years on this thing -- on and off, actually -- I'm doing what I should have done then, and giving The Session Beer Project a home. I'm sensing a shift in the beer currents -- that's what my February "Steaming Pile" column in Ale Street News is about, I'll link as soon as it's up -- and I think that this is going to be a big year for the comeback of session beer in America.

What's going to happen? Don't know yet. But I'm going to do what I can to get the word out on session beers -- see the definition at the top right of the page -- and see what we can do to get brewers to make them, bars to carry them, and you, my friends, I'm going ask you to drink them.

Brewers and importers: if you've got year-round beers that are under 4.5% ABV, that are flavorful -- sorry, no mainstream light lagers need apply, that's just how it is -- and available, let me know. If you can, send samples (along with notes on distribution): I'll be happy to post tasting notes here. If we're right -- and by 'we' I mean myself, some influential bar owners I know, and some industry people -- there is a market waiting for tasty, lower-alcohol beers, and the good one that makes it to market first is going to have a substantial edge. Start thinking.

Bar and restaurant owners/managers (and that means you brewpub folks, too): if you get the right session beer on -- meaning one that tastes good -- you can substantially increase your sales. Think about it: would you rather sell thirty glasses of El Mondo Grosso Imperial Stout at $6 a glass, or seventy-five glasses of Lulu's Luscious Ale at $4 a glass? Session beer is good at the register, and it's safer for your customers (and your liability). It also makes your bar a more attractive spot for folks who want to hang out for more than an hour, and not get all drunked up (and isn't that the kind of customer you want?).

Drinkers! It's a common taunt: "People who drink light beer don't really like beer; they just like to pee a lot." Well...if you're going out to drink beer, why get hammered on two or three huge beers? If you really like to drink beer, why not find a good, flavorful session beer and have five? I mean...if you like drinking beer, and the conviviality and social fun that goes with it, why not have a beer that lets you keep doing that longer?

Session Beer in '09. Working to make it happen.