Low ABV in U.S. beer to be popularized in the future?

I have never had anything lower than 3.8% honestly.

 

You'd never catch me drinking a no-alcohol beer, which is just flavored carbonated water, so pop (soda to some). I'll drink O'Douls...with a shot, as a boilermaker. Make that 2 shots.

 

I will consider hop flavored barley water as a refreshment only when it's as cheap as store brand cola.

 

Maybe Mio will come out with a beer flavor

 

Im open to 3.5-4% stuff. I truly like some of the hoppy session beers and light pilsners.

Easy jack, all day etc are in my rotation fairly often

 

one can only hope lower ABV beers become the trend. as someone that likes to put in a good session it is hard to find a suitable beer in the bar to do the trick that isnt macro swill or guiness. and while i do enjoy a good guiness session sometimes id like a bit more variety when im watching football all day.

 

I quite like the low ABV beers that taste good. The taste good is the big part - but I really appreciate being able to have a beer and not clock 350 calories like with some of the 9-12% beers.

 

I'm just not sure how to get a low/no alcohol beer without making a tasteless AAL even more tasteless. How do they propose making them more flavorful, with artificial additives? If consumers want lower ABV, I think they'll get very bland beers as a result. Thanks but no thanks.

 

For me, mouthfeel is the catch on these lower abv brews. I like a smooth, slick, creamy mouthfeel, and that's one of the biggest reasons I tend to gravitate to 6%+ beers. I don't want my beer to taste like water, like most of these session IPAs. Maybe you could brew them with a crapload of oats or wheat or something. Low abv beer can be extremely flavorful, though. One of the best sour ales I ever had was a Berliner weisse that was 3.5% abv.

 

British cask ale is the epitome of big flavour / low ABV. I rarely find the need to go above 4%. That said, there is a lot of boring, groggy shit in our pubs as well.

 

Permit me to use an English Mild Ale as an example of a low alcohol beer that can be flavorful. A big difference between a Mild Ale and an AAL is the grain bill. An English Mild is an all malt beer and by using a judicious selection of malts (e.g., Maris Otter Pale Malt as the base malt plus maybe a bit of Flaked Oats for some body/mouthfeel plus some Medium Caramel Malt for color and flavor and ...) along with an English yeast strain that produces esters (fruity flavors) and a fair bit of English Hops (e.g., earthy flavors) the net result is a flavorful low alcohol beer (if brewed properly).

Cheers!

 

Just had a couple of pints of mild this lunchtime and a couple yesterday too at a different pub. Exactly what you say. The difference between brewing with floor malted Maris Otter and some generic everyday barley is eye opening.

 

I love the wording you used here. This the exact wording I was looking for to try to describe the rationale so many people have quickly jumped into the Leinenkugel Summer Shandy beer of choice. My wording wasn't quite as good as how you explained above.

 

Thank you.

While it was a long time ago (to young people) that I was employed at retail -and even though I was in the prime of my gonzo lifestyle- the stories told by the "old timers" (many still driving vintage Caddies and Lincolns), especially, made am impression.

Most remembered their own youthful heyday and the vintage brands (Blatz Cream Ale, etc, which I'd been collecting for years) fondly, and beer was still a normal part of their routine. I did my best to hand-sell the better European imports, and was always quick to point out the new ones (even though most were already set on their usual: Buckler or the still sorta-new Labatt's Nordic.)

The reasoning used by the "health nut" crowd was more curious to me. Most of these folks were quite fit and didn't appear to need to worry about an extra hundred calories or 1% ABV, here or there. They also weren't too much older than me!

But not long after that came the Low Carb craze, and many of the low-carb beers were also low-alcohol.

This gets us back to the long history of dietetic / "diet" beers. Which reminds me: Does anyone remember Dry Beers?

 

I hate to say this but... don't hold your breath here.

Yards Brewing (local to me) produces a Dark Mild they brand as "Brawler" (notice the interesting branding?). I suppose it sells sufficiently (I have not heard any rumors that they will discontinue it) but it is by no means a top seller for the Yards portfolio of beers.

If I was a brewery owner I suspect that I would not make a Mild Ale since it simply is not a popular beer (i.e., not a big seller) in the US. Maybe that will change in the future? Who knows!?!

Cheers!

P.S. To provide a more positive message: If you really want to drink an English Mild Ale I would encourage you to homebrew one. I will even offer to help you craft a recipe here.

 

Fair enough but that is the only way that you will be assured to drink English Mild Ale. I may be wrong here but I doubt that any of the craft breweries that are available to you in Illinois will fulfill your demand here.

Cheers!

P.S. Maybe there are some imported English beers you could buy? My personal experience with imported English ales is that they are old and tired tasting; not worthy of being purchased.

 

Well that is at least something.

I am personally not a growler beer guy so this situation would not be ideal for me either. But I do have a batch of homebrewed English Bitter Ale in my basement (bottled 1.5 months ago).

Cheers!