Good day advocates. A question that may come as very broad, simple but (hopefully) not dumb that most everybody might be inclined to reply to in a few words or in a lengthier response. What’s your preferred ABV in a beer? I know too well this very much depend on your style of choice, the season and weather and so forth. Right now Western Europe is experiencing a heatwave and reading some posts here and there it seems like North America is also enduring hot temps. Question include a poll which I narrowed down to four options and choices. Personally, I love anything from 6 to 9% ABV which is already allowing me a very wide range of style and breweries. Pale ale, IPAs, Belgian abbey, porters or even some Belgian triple. Also love a good stronger stouts but right now in the heat of this evening and lacking one, I think a perfect summer evening drink would be Pilsner Urquell. Cheers and thanks for voting/participating in this thread.
It will be 94° while enjoying a Steely Dan show tonight- a crisp, clean, cold, straw-colored lager at 5 something % ABV will be fantastic.
Personally I like something in the 4% range as I find them to be very easy to drink and not as filling but I’m not a young buck (not too old either, just middle aged). I tend to prefer the lower ABV because I can have a couple without being too impaired or having a hangover the next day. Don’t get me wrong, I drink beers of all different ABVs but that is the sweet spot for me.
Good thread, you know my answer. Things have lead to that I only drink low abv, what's more, 0.5% max. Kind of an arbitrary limit, but consensus is that represents no alcohol, and the market is evolving. Many styles are offered as NA, waiting for more though.
I'm a big fan of the 3-6% range. Huge variety of styles to keep the palate happy and lower abv to keep the liver healthy(ier).
Put me in the 4.5% and under range. I particularly like the sub 4%, but like some others, I'm starting to show my age a bit.
...should have included "All of the above"... ...on a somewhat more serious note, lower ABV beers hit the spot, especially when 'mass consumption' through the day is expected to occur, I try to moderate my beers as such...there are some tasty sub-4 % ABV beers out there, too, that certainly are a joy to indulge in after a 10%+ behemoth... ...yet, typically, my beers weigh more toward the 'a bit higher' or 'strong' category...in which case, I'll try (yet usually fail) to moderate my intake...but of late, my total beer consumption is about 3 or 4 beers a day, so I don't find higher ABV beers that much of an issue any more...that, and consuming a lot of ice water through the day probably mitigates things somewhat...
Most of what I drink is in the 4-6% range as my favorite styles are session style brown ales, lagers of all sorts and nitro stouts.
3-10% ABV...oh wait. Real answer, whatever is appropriate for the style. I don't want an English Bitter more than 4.5%, but I don't want a Belgian Strong Dark or Quad less than 9%.
My favorites are mostly > 10%, although I try to limit my serving sizes to 4-5 ounces. There's just something warm and comforting about a toasty and chocolatey imperial stout that makes me not want to stop. (Which is what led to me once putting away a bomber of Imperial Biscotti Break Natale - Pretty Please With A Cherry On Top in one sitting. Lesson learned.)
I'll add this. Lower abv beers lack the nuance, aroma & taste that a higher abv can provide. I don't care what any of these breweries print on a package, the brewers themselves will tell you as much behind closed doors. I've been in that room. Haha.
To my regret, I agree with you especially the bolded part but didn’t want to stand alone and be literally lynched by others. It’s true though. I am a fierce believer of to each his own or drink whatever you like but under 3% ABV beers and N/A one didn’t and never made it for me. As a counterweight, the very strong industrial crappy European lager can go to the recycle bin as well. Just because they make them above 10% doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy the nasty hangover the following day, nor their artificial taste. Cheers to… whatever you like.
I'm not into drinking beer for the alcohol 'high' effect, but I'm in it for enough alcohol to provide the quality beer taste. I've been trying to drink every other beer as a NA beer, so I know the flavor is affected by reduced alcohol, and even up to around 4.5% the flavor is sub-standard to me. I voted for the 6-9 percent choice, but 5-8 percent would be more exact to my liking.
I'm all for the "standard" 4.5 - 5.5% ABV range. The styles I like most fall into that range. Most have stronger (but similar) bretheren and I prefer the taste of the milder ones. If anything, to me stronger beers lack nuance and instead hit you over the head with certain super-potent flavors. There are exceptions, but give me table strength in 8 out of 10 instances.
I could not cast a vote because my option was not there. The thing is, it depends on the occasion, my mood, time of the day and/or the condition of my palate at the given time. Need I mention, the music on WWOZ at the time.
For summer, I picked 3-6 because I enjoy those lagers even more in the hot weather. But I drink beer of all ABVs and do like those big barrel aged stouts and barleywines.
I usually prefer 6-9% beers. I buy more beers in that range. If I drink lagers i like em at 5% or around that. I do tend to drink/crave more of them when it gets hotter out. If it's a good beer I really don't care about the abv I'll drink it.
I don’t completely disagree with this statement but I do not completely agree with it either - I would have to caveat it with a “depending on the style” or maybe ABV levels below a certain point (somewhat style dependent). I can find plenty of nuance, aroma, and taste in English Milds + Farmhouse Table Beers without needing them to have a high ABV. There are many great IPAs in the 6-7% range that don’t need to be approaching double digit ABVs to have plenty of taste/aroma/nuance.
Who said anything about double digit abvs? I'm for the third tier vote, which just happens to align with most of the single & double IPAs that I drink. Cheers.
I chose 6-9%, not because I actively seek out beers in this range but because it seems like most of what I drink falls in this range. With that being said, it all depends on the style which depends on the day. I don’t tend to drink stouts below 10%. I haven’t found myself drinking many lagers over 5%. Many of the IPA’s and sours I buy are somewhere in between. Overall, if it looks good I’ll drink it regardless of ABV. Cheers.
Good question! I think it really depends on my mood. I think my two sweetspots are 3-5 or 7-9. edit: F 6%!, haha I have no objection to go higher though
Most of the beer I drink falls in the 6-9% range. My preferred ABV range? 0-11%. Above 11% they tend to get too boozy. I honestly don't care what the ABV of a beer is so long as the beer tastes good. I usually don't even look at ABV when I shop. The styles I like tend to be high in ABV, but given equivalent flavor I'll take lower alcohol content.
In the summer, I gravitate towards double IPA's, and in the winter my beer fridge always seems to be filled with imperial stouts. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with lower abv lagers. Everyone needs a yard work beer. But when I actually have time to enjoy a beer for it's own sake, I rarely find myself drinking anything much lower than 7%. And lately, I seem to be finding alot of nice summer IPAs clocking in over 10%.
Depends on the style. Stouts and barleywines - definitely above 10%. Lambic - doesn't matter. German beers - doesn't matter. Belgian dark ales - above 8%.
My philosophy is that every beer has its time and place. That time and place might be on a private jet on your way to seal a business deal overseas or it might be on a life raft after that plane has crashed in shark infested waters! I don't plan things out but I will say that the amount of alcohol I'm looking for varies greatly depending on the time and day. With that said I run the gamut and I cannot choose a preferred ABV other than to say that I very rarely drink anything under 3%.
For me, the 4.5-6.0 range is is my sweet spot. I loves me my 12+% Barleywines. I worship Tripels (my favorite style). But for example today, while chilling in the beer garden at a local brewery, listening to music, I drank several Lagers ranging from 3.5-5.0%. Several Pales in the 4.5-6.0 range, and a couple WCIPAs in the 6.5-7.0 range. I was not bored by any of them., and, they all fit their spot in the lineup. I talked with a bunch of friends, and the various situations called for different approaches. This is what makes beer so great; there's a beer for every situation. Pick one that fits your mood and situation.
