A Landmark...and an Issue: how hard-line do we need to be?

Session Beer? Or not?

On Friday, Brewbound reported that Michigan brewer Founders had acknowledged that the relatively new All Day IPA (one of the exploding number of so-called "session IPAs," well-noted here by Notch Brewing's Chris Lohring) introduced as a seasonal in March, had achieved year-round status and, by a solid margin, established itself as the brewery's best-selling beer. The Brewbound story said that:

Through the end of June, Founders had sold over 130,000 case equivalents (CE’S) of All Day IPA since March 1. Sales of its next best-selling beer, the year-round Centennial IPA, have only barely eclipsed 102,000 CE’s.

Well, boom! Founders CEO Mike Stevens expanded on that, saying that he expects All Day IPA to account for nearly 40% of the brewery's total production in 2014, that the folks at Founders "are looking at this brand as a category leader in the session ale category,” and, significantly, "even though it’s called ‘All Day,’ the most important words on that label are ‘session ale.’...It’s an underserved category and All Day isn’t taking away from what is really great about well-made craft beer.” The All Day label illo is now the opening illo on the Founders website, even.

Which is causing me some seriously mixed emotions. Because while I'm thoroughly excited that a brewery celebrated for its big beers -- Devil Dancer, Breakfast Stout, Dirty Bastard, Double Trouble -- brewed a lower-strength beer and found that it sold like mad... That beer is 4.7% ABV, just over the 4.5% ABV upper limit the Session Beer Project recognizes as "session beer." ARGH!
 
So do we celebrate? Or do we tear out our hair and weep and moan, because "session beer" is tagged on a 4.7%er? Do I say, "Oh, hell, it was just an arbitrary limit anyway...yeah, it's session beer, and WE WIN!" Is this the end of the session beer universe?

Well, no, it's not the end of the world, and no, I'm not going to tear out my hair. I already said that, here. And I'm going to celebrate a little bit, because of that "the most important words on that label are ‘session ale.’" quote. But yeah, I'm gonna hold the line on this. I'd rather see All Day IPA at 4.5% or less; sure, I would, if they're going to put "session ale" on the label. 

And I'm pretty sure we will see very successful beers at 4.5% and less, and fairly soon. If this IS as hot a category as Stevens seems to think it is -- and I think he's right, been thinking that for a while now -- other brewers are going to be jumping in -- and they are; as Lohring says, it's easier hop on a train than it is to build one -- and some of them are going to differentiate themselves by getting great flavor out of beers that are under 4.5%. And they're going to serve them in larger glasses, and they're going to price them lower (not because they're significantly cheaper to make, but they may see that as a marketing cost), and they're going to change craft beer. Really, I think there's a real chance of that.

So I'm not going to celebrate All Day IPA as a session beer -- though I'm happy to drink it -- but I'm going to take its success as a harbinger. And I'm going to encourage other brewers to kick its ass by making a beer that's just as good, just as interesting...and under 4.6%. I know they can do it; they
already are.

Just a statement

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!

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

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.

Bar Owners: make more money with session beers

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

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

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