4 ms·

> One of my friends is a very dedicated home brewer, and he's recently taken an interest in a lost class of 2-3% beers that have fallen out of fashion. Isn't t

> One of my friends is a very dedicated home brewer, and he's recently taken an interest in a lost class of 2-3% beers that have fallen out of fashion. Isn't that what a session beer is supposed to be?

TylerE 10y ago
Sessions are typically 3-5% ABV. Not sure there is anything commercially marketed that is under 3% ABV, really.
- dpark 10y ago
  I don't think I've ever seen a session beer for sale under 4%. Most seem to be between 4.5 and 4.9, just low enough to be "less than 5".
  - ch4s3 10y ago
    You'll find a handful in the 3-4% range if you look around a nice beer shop.Look for session IPAs, "table beers", and maybe some Goozes.
    - dpark 10y ago
      I've not checked for "table beers" and don't know what that actually is. Goses aren't my style. IPAs are, and I've seen few if any session IPAs in person that hit at or below 4%. Just looking at the top 10 session IPAs that show up when I search for "session" on Untappd, I see only one below 4%, Even Keel at 3.8%. So I guess someone's making them, but no one's making them at 3 and almost no one is making them below 4. Although honestly I don't think I'd want a session IPA at 4 or below. Most (though not all) session IPAs are pretty terrible at ~4.5. They'd probably taste like watery trash at 3.5.
      - wahnfrieden 10y ago
        Btw, I think OP meant Gueze / Gueuze lambic which is quite different from Gose though similar in many ways too.
  - gabemart 10y ago
    That's a real shame, they're ubiquitous in Scotland; any brand's "70 shilling" will be in the 3.5% range. Belhaven Best is also extremely common, and that's 3.2%. It's common in England for pubs to have at least one bitter that is below 4%.
    - david-given 10y ago
      They're awesome, too. Tonnes of flavour, huge variety, thoroughly drinkable, and low enough in alcohol that you can usually get an extra pint in. There are what the USians call microbreweries everywhere and any decent pub is likely to have a local session beer, frequently very good. I live in Zürich now. The local lager's okay, but it's all lager, and it's all 5%, which is the upper limit of what I like. I miss good old fashioned ale.
      - saiya-jin 10y ago
        if you mean stuff you can buy in shops like COOP, then local lager is piece of s__t. if you mean some local small breweries then it might be different
        jacobush 10y ago
        But ... try Falcon Bayersk and tell me you don't like it.
    - jacobush 10y ago
      3.5% beers, if well made well, to my taste are better than the stronger ones of the same brand.
- dagw 10y ago
  Not sure there is anything commercially marketed that is under 3% ABV, really. In Norway and Sweden beer under 2.8% is is exempt from most licencing and excise regulations. So there is large market for that sort of beer.
- SFJulie 10y ago
  Personal experience, yes. The ancester of carbonated soda, called «limonade» in France and given to kids cannot be naturally obtained without alchohol. As an experience I did make some (water, citrus, a little exposition to air (thus yeast)) and anaeroby fermentation will give you the expected result: - an acid, sugarish refreshing drink - with bubbles, - and ~2-3% alcohol My experiments confirm what is said on a chemistry forum. http://forums.futura-sciences.com/chimie/410527-limonade-artisanale-alcoolisee.html http://forums.futura-sciences.com/chimie/410527-limonade-art... Kids, were given alcohol in the old days, no wonder why they were calmer, lol. My look at older german polish recipies makes me suspicious that a common drink of the old ages their the «brotbier» (you put old bread in a jar of water and let it ferment in anaerobic conditions) should also have been alcoholized. And yes without Chaptal (17g/l of sugar = 1% alcohol, how to dope your alcohol fast) (not Gay Lussac) obtaning strong alcohol is tough.
  - WorldMaker 10y ago
    The ability to carbonate water (for soda) without yeast/alcohol is very much a relatively modern industrial invention. Root beer and Ginger ale are named as such for the obvious reason. My small disappointment in the current fad of "hard" sodas is that they are often malt beverages/"distilled" beer at ~5% alcohol rather than, say, traditional recipes in the ~2-3% range.
    - SFJulie 10y ago
      make yours :) it is easy and fun.
- phillc73 10y ago
  There are many in this range in Australia, where they are known as Light Beers and have almost 10% market share. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Market_characteristics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Market_chara...

TylerE 10y ago

Sessions are typically 3-5% ABV. Not sure there is anything commercially marketed that is under 3% ABV, really.

dpark 10y ago
I don't think I've ever seen a session beer for sale under 4%. Most seem to be between 4.5 and 4.9, just low enough to be "less than 5".
- ch4s3 10y ago
  You'll find a handful in the 3-4% range if you look around a nice beer shop.Look for session IPAs, "table beers", and maybe some Goozes.
  - dpark 10y ago
    I've not checked for "table beers" and don't know what that actually is. Goses aren't my style. IPAs are, and I've seen few if any session IPAs in person that hit at or below 4%. Just looking at the top 10 session IPAs that show up when I search for "session" on Untappd, I see only one below 4%, Even Keel at 3.8%. So I guess someone's making them, but no one's making them at 3 and almost no one is making them below 4. Although honestly I don't think I'd want a session IPA at 4 or below. Most (though not all) session IPAs are pretty terrible at ~4.5. They'd probably taste like watery trash at 3.5.
    - wahnfrieden 10y ago
      Btw, I think OP meant Gueze / Gueuze lambic which is quite different from Gose though similar in many ways too.
- gabemart 10y ago
  That's a real shame, they're ubiquitous in Scotland; any brand's "70 shilling" will be in the 3.5% range. Belhaven Best is also extremely common, and that's 3.2%. It's common in England for pubs to have at least one bitter that is below 4%.
  - david-given 10y ago
    They're awesome, too. Tonnes of flavour, huge variety, thoroughly drinkable, and low enough in alcohol that you can usually get an extra pint in. There are what the USians call microbreweries everywhere and any decent pub is likely to have a local session beer, frequently very good. I live in Zürich now. The local lager's okay, but it's all lager, and it's all 5%, which is the upper limit of what I like. I miss good old fashioned ale.
    - saiya-jin 10y ago
      if you mean stuff you can buy in shops like COOP, then local lager is piece of s__t. if you mean some local small breweries then it might be different
      - jacobush 10y ago
        But ... try Falcon Bayersk and tell me you don't like it.
  - jacobush 10y ago
    3.5% beers, if well made well, to my taste are better than the stronger ones of the same brand.
dagw 10y ago
Not sure there is anything commercially marketed that is under 3% ABV, really. In Norway and Sweden beer under 2.8% is is exempt from most licencing and excise regulations. So there is large market for that sort of beer.
SFJulie 10y ago
Personal experience, yes. The ancester of carbonated soda, called «limonade» in France and given to kids cannot be naturally obtained without alchohol. As an experience I did make some (water, citrus, a little exposition to air (thus yeast)) and anaeroby fermentation will give you the expected result: - an acid, sugarish refreshing drink - with bubbles, - and ~2-3% alcohol My experiments confirm what is said on a chemistry forum. http://forums.futura-sciences.com/chimie/410527-limonade-artisanale-alcoolisee.html http://forums.futura-sciences.com/chimie/410527-limonade-art... Kids, were given alcohol in the old days, no wonder why they were calmer, lol. My look at older german polish recipies makes me suspicious that a common drink of the old ages their the «brotbier» (you put old bread in a jar of water and let it ferment in anaerobic conditions) should also have been alcoholized. And yes without Chaptal (17g/l of sugar = 1% alcohol, how to dope your alcohol fast) (not Gay Lussac) obtaning strong alcohol is tough.
- WorldMaker 10y ago
  The ability to carbonate water (for soda) without yeast/alcohol is very much a relatively modern industrial invention. Root beer and Ginger ale are named as such for the obvious reason. My small disappointment in the current fad of "hard" sodas is that they are often malt beverages/"distilled" beer at ~5% alcohol rather than, say, traditional recipes in the ~2-3% range.
  - SFJulie 10y ago
    make yours :) it is easy and fun.
phillc73 10y ago
There are many in this range in Australia, where they are known as Light Beers and have almost 10% market share. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Market_characteristics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Australia#Market_chara...