Are there low ABV saisons being brewed?

Anyone with a fully-functional brain knows that you're loading my statement. I happen to like Hennepin a lot more than most other low abv saisons, and think that its taste betters its lower abv cousins.

 

Another great one is Oxbow Space Cowboy, which is kind of a hybrid English Dark Mild and a Saison. At 4.0% it's both complex and sessionable. Terrific stuff.

 

Drinking beer isn't just about the physical act of drinking a beer. It can be, and many times is, a very social thing. Sitting with friends with a cold beer in your hand and actually drinking the entire time, without getting drunk, is pretty pleasurable.

 

Going from "I like one higher ABV saison more than a couple lower ABV ones" is a big stretch from "higher ABV saisons are better than lower ABV saisons." I know that's not what you are trying to say, but it came off a little like that in your first post.

In a style that is as loose as saisons, higher and lower ABV beers might be nothing at all alike. I happen to really enjoy the balanced, refreshing, clean aspect of the lower end of the spectrum the more I drink the style. They are a great match for the warmer weather. The fallacy here seems to be high ABV = more flavor = better beer and I definitely don't find this to be true.

 

I wholeheartedly agree. If I want to do this, I usually drink a low abv beer. For me, in this scenario, if I want a lower abv beer that's refreshing, I'll go for a berliner weisse over a low abv saison. To each their own, though.

 

I can see how you thought that. I only had hennepin in mind when writing that statement, and have been juggling between working and being on this thread, so I guess my mind wasn't all there when writing that.

 

No doubt, Hennepin is among the best on the market. It's one of the only Saisons that are higher in strength, bigger in flavor, but retain the dryness of traditional recipes. Few breweries have the talent to attenuate a beer so well.

 

Can that story be for today? I'm intrigued.

 

Not sure this is where PangaeaBeerFood was heading, but try starting here.

 

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. The bottom line is that a 3.5% beer means you can drink up to twice as much of it as you can with a 7% beer. Perhaps you just don't feel like getting a buzz, or perhaps you're less concerned with the "legal limit" as you are with how you feel. Or maybe you just want to relax and enjoy a few beers without even having to think much about it.

There is certainly a market for lower ABV beer, and saison is certainly a style that can support it, so I'm not sure what the problem is...

 

I'm not arguing there isn't room for a low abv beer, as my earlier mention of berliner weisses would suggest. My point is that I'm not a big fan of lower abv saisons (which are harder to find), when I can have a Hennepin (which is extremely easy for me to find) that I like more anyways. For me, it is more worthwhile to have 1/2 the saisons and enjoy the taste more anyways, than to load up on low abv saisons which I do not seem to have the taste for, over the same period of time.

 

I think part of the reason people responded to your question as they did is because of how you phrased your first post. "Who needs..." rather than "Why would I drink..." It sounds like you're applying your personal preference to everyone (something I've inadvertently been guilty of as well). Probably not how you intended it to come out, but such is the nature of word choice.

 

Fair enough.

 

Long story short, in the late 80's, early 90's, when I was a kid, Pepsi used to go to supermarkets and do the "Pepsi Challenge". Basically, it was a blind taste test between Pepsi and Coke, and 9 times out of 10, Pepsi would win. This always intrigued me because people largely prefer Coke, and the sales dollars prove it. Now, most Marketing people chalk this up to Coke's advertising efforts, the power of the Coke brand and the intangible effect it has on purchasing choices. However, despite working in Marketing myself, I disagree. In my opinion, I think people prefer Pepsi in a blind tasting because it is substantially sweeter, thicker, more mouth-coating. In a quick side-by-side sip, it comes off as more impactful and makes a more lasting impression. When you drink a full 12-16 ounces of Pepsi, though, it's so cloying that it literally becomes nauseating. I believe that if people drank full cans of each, instead of a tiny sample, the outcome would have been vastly different.

I actually starting using this analogy to explain to my friends why their choices in women are fucking horrible. They go out to bars and meet the girls that stand out from the crowd, the real flashy (read: ****ty) dressers, the obnoxiously loud ones with big personalities. Then they start to hang out with them, spend real time with them, and they realize that they're fucking crazy, attention-starved lunatics with daddy issues. Meanwhile, their equally as attractive but less flashy friends, who don't fight to be the center of attention, but would be awesome girlfriend material, go largely unnoticed and unappreciated.

Craft beer is the same idea. It is an extremely fragmented market with a ridiculous amount of competition. Most beers bars nowadays carry anywhere from 20 to 100+ different beers, often overlapping in style and flavor here and there, and most patrons at these bars drink several different beers throughout the course of a night. We consume so many different beers that the ones that really stand out in are minds are often the biggest and boldest. Our brains associate "stronger in flavor" to "better flavor" become there is so much cognitive clutter. I think this, to a large extent, is why the highest rated beers in each category are often the strongest, hoppiest, etc.

Just my hypothesis, though. Clearly, as a Marketing person, I largely over-think this shit.

 

Very true, I've tried several of them and they are quite flavorful for being around 4% or less. I tend to prefer the dryness of the lower ABV saisons. Sweetness is rather unbecoming of the style.

Isn't Cigar City starting to bottle Table Saison? I heard that's pretty good and only 4%.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with wanting more low ABV (and dry) saisons. The few I have seen though are still near $10 per 750ml bottle. I want more 6% and under interesting saisons in a $10 or less four pack. I don't think that's asking for much. Sofie is the closest thing that I will soon be able to get - it's tasty, dry, and has a great wine barrel and brett character yet is a relatively low 6.5% ABV and is available in four packs for just over $10.

 

Thanks for the explanation; that makes a lot of sense, and great analogies!

Side note, in regards to the thread that draheim referenced, that reminded me of a beer made by The Copper Kettle Brewing Co. here in Denver called Mexican Chocolate Stout. It took a gold medal at Great American Beer Fest last year in the Spiced/Herb category, and when I tried it there (the little 1-2 oz pour you get at GABF), I thought it was fantastic. When they announced they were going to be serving it at their taproom, I was determined to get a growler of it. However, when I got there and ordered a full pint of it, by the end of the glass, I could hardly take another sip. Very comparable to drinking a whole can of Pepsi in your example (I happen to not mind Pepsi, but you get the point).

 

That was how I felt about Goose Island Big John. My girlfriend and I cracked one of those on a night we were just going to stay in and relax. The first few sips, we were like, "THIS IS AMAZING!" By the time we were halfway through the bottle, we literally couldn't drink anymore and ended up drain-pouring the remainder. Awful stuff, so glad that didn't get re-brewed.

And, of course, Dark Lord is the pinnacle of this. I don't know how anyone could stomach drinking more than a few sips of that. The Final Gravity on that beer is higher than the Original Gravity of most other beers, and not session beers. It's like drinking booze-spiked raw wort. Bleh.

 

Jolly pumpkin makes a few that are lower alcohol, Bam biere and Bam Noire are both around 4% and both are very good.

 

You need look no further than the top 100 on this site and the top selling craft beers in the country. While Heady Topper (8%) and Pliny the Elder (8%) grab the headlines, Boston Lager (4.9%) and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (5.6%) are the best selling. Of course the latter two are produced in MUCH larger quantities, all things being equal I think they would still outsell the bigger beers.