Esquire: Why the "Session" Beer Trend Makes Zero Sense

A generalization, but German lagers, British ales and American Pils for the most part are "session". Not too high in alcohol, yet fairly full in flavor. This allows for the gathering of friends and family over food and football (futbol)? and having splendidly good times. For a good while.

 

I agree with your point, however @marquis is referring to 7 pints of a British mild.

If you consider a 12 oz. 5% abv beer a standard drink, then 7 pints (16 oz.) at say, 3.5% abv (a fairly standard abv for a mild, many are lower at 3%) would equal 6.5 regular strength beers .

Over the course of 5 hours , the same amount of time the author of the Esquire article used, that's only slightly more than one drink per hour. I think at that point you can still detect complexities in a beer.

 

I'd like to point out something regarding English and German culture. Yes, much of the volume consumed is lower abv. But these cultures also consume higher alcohol styles. I hate this cliche term, but it applies here. There's a time and a place for all styles AND alcohol percentages.

Remember, the IPA came from the British. And they have English barleywines and Russian imperial stouts. In Germany, the doppelbock is imperial strength. Heck, at Oktoberfest thousands will consume 6% abv beer by the liter.

More often than not, in Germany they're drinking a 5% pilsner and the English are consuming a 3-4% cask ale. This doesn't mean every now and then a higher alcohol style isn't enjoyed.

 

Time to redo your math.

The pint in the UK pub is 20 oz.

 

19.2 U.S. oz.

 

:-)

A well and proper run pub will "top it off" if asked by the patron.

 

A pint is 16 oz. In my world. Y'all can quibble all ya want. It is what I say it is. Yeah, 16. No more, no less.

 

An Imperial Pint of 3.5% ale has about the same amount of alcohol (.67 oz) as a 12 oz 5% beer (.6 oz). A US pint of 5% contains 0.8 oz of alcohol.

7 Imperial Pints of 3.5%, then equals a little less alcohol than 6 US pints of 5% or 5 US pints of 6%.

 

Who is drinking anything with "worse flavor?" That's not the motivation behind me reaching for a lower abv beer. I go for them precisely because they are very tasty and I can enjoy several of them.

 

I don't understand this rationale at all. I don't want session beers so I can drink something just to drink it. I want session beers so that I can enjoy good beer without having to worry too much about how fast I am drinking it. With an 11% abv. stout, I have to pay attention to how quickly I consume it so that I'm not all sorts of drunk. With a pint of 4% bitter, I can drink away with less hesitation. Of course the session beer has to taste good, but I assume any beer we are choosing is being done because it tastes good. Assuming that something with a higher abv has "more flavor" and thus is "better tasting" is a strange rationale to me. If higher abv equated to a better drink why not just drink grain alcohol?

 

US fluid ounces aren't the same as UK ones so 19.2 US floz equate to 20 UK ounces. The US fluid measure is based on the Imperial wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, used in England prior to 1824.The UK gallon was redefined as the volume of 10 pounds of water.

 

Again, the label of session beer is only about the ABV, nothing more. Your assumption it requires drinking many is no different than saying drinking an IPA implies you are in India or drinking an RIS implies you are in Russia.

 

A well run pub will top it up without being asked.I frequently get more than a pint , either I'm asked to take a couple of gulps to leave room in the glass for a top up or as in my nearest pub , I'll be given some more beer in a smaller glass to add later.

 

“Assuming that something with a higher abv has "more flavor" and thus is "better tasting" is a strange rationale to me.”

Jesse, permit me to pose a question about a ‘regular’ IPA vs. the new ‘trend’ of Session IPA: do you personally note a difference from a flavor perspective between a ‘regular’ IPA vs. a Session IPA?

Cheers!

 

Not to speak for Jesse, but for me if the "session IPA" is a UK cask IPA, then no, I think that both beers are very flavorful (albeit in very different ways).

 

I posted: “the new ‘trend’ of Session IPA”. That is not a UK cask IPA.

 

You mean IPA Lite? Of course there's a difference in taste....

 

I note that some of the "session" IPAs are not very good, just as I note that some of the "regular" IPAs are not very good.

However, I'll let the members here speak for one particular "session" IPA (exerpts from posted reviews... identifying the beer is left as an exercise to the reader)

 

"Session" beers for me are about getting more flavor vs alcohol.
If I can get a full IPA taste at 4.7 abv, I will take that over the 7.2 abv.
Not because I want to guzzle it all day, but because there's a bigger flavor / alcohol ratio.
That means I can savor the flavor more without getting hammered. Me likey.
Especially in the summer. I can't face a 7% IPA in the hot summer months, but I still crave the full hop flavor.

On the other hand, the trend of branding beers as "session beers" is stupid.
Terms such as "Everyday" or "Go to" should be adopted instead.

I didn't read the article.
Cheers

 

He's entitled to his opinion. We're entitled to know he's wrong. A "session" beer doesn't have to be sessioned. It's beer and if it's good, it's good.