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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Big Beers Going Busto?
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 7:38 AM
The NYT confronts an issue that has been plaguing me for years now -- why so many high-alcohol brews? For a decade or so, beer has experienced an alcohol-content creep. Go into a restaurant or bar with a good beer selection and they'll likely print the ABV percentage on the list. People adore the idea of knocking back a Canadian pseudo-Belgian triple with 8, 10, or 12 percent alcohol. Me? I'm tired of it.
The new style of lower alcohol -- often lower than mass-market domestic lagers, around 4% -- is called session beer, meaning you can down several in a single session at the pub. Craft brewers and restaurants are, slowly, getting behind the trend.
Besides the benefit of being able to drink more with fewer harmful effects, this also serves as a challenge to brewmasters. Can they make beer that has interesting, intricate flavors without resorting to multiple fermentations or in-your-face weight? Sure they can.
Will people buy them? Eventually, I hope. Then again, one dejected softball player summed up his own personal feelings thusly: “I wanted a stout, and I don’t want a 3.7,” he said. “We lost by 12 runs tonight.”
Anyway, I'm tired of the standard Belgian and Belgian-esque beers that tend to dominate fancy beer lists. Although there are variations in flavor and style, they all have that same, unctuous extraction that tends to tire me out, physically and psychologically. But don't blame the Belgians, most of them aren't downing hefty triples during business lunches. They have their own versions of session beers.
Lets raise one -- or three, I guess -- to session beers.
Comments (2)
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i think you're just getting old. what kills me more about the "craft" beers is that most are too heavy on the hops. i tend to choose a beer on flavor first, then the APV. if i can find a nice mirco that is perfectly hopped and has a nice APV, then it's a good night. i recently had Weyerbacher Merry Monks' Belgian style Abby Trippel; it was perfectly hopped and weighed in at 9.3%. good times right there.
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I agree. I am also getting older. I want more than one 12% beer when I go out. I think it is because Belgian style beer has come to the US fairly recently in significant volume and many are delicious. I am a beer nut and I think this is OK. Americans tend to super-size everything; ABV, IBUs, etc... Eventually, the fad will diminish. Be glad we are in America. Go to an average pub in England, Germany or Japan and ask for something other than a lager - good luck.
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