A Serious Beer Question

This question is for the beer experts (brewers, sellers, distributors, geeks etc) that roam this forum.

Why are so many great tasting beers brewed with such high alchohol content? Does it have to be that way.

First let me say, I am a beer lover. I love craft beer that is or real ale as I first discovered it in 1989 in the UK. I learned to drink beer with complex flavor while living in England. Ales, milds, stouts, lagers, and I traveled to Belgium, France, and Germany where I found a further seemingly endless variety of great tasting beers. I am happy to say that wonderful beer can be easily found in this area produced by local brewers and imported/distributed from other brewers from across the country. In fact, for me the beers that I get regularly now I find to be superior to most of those I drank back in the early 90s (faltering memory aside). Did I mention I drink lots of beer? Oh well, the most disappointing thing to me happens fairly regularly.

I go into one of my many regular drinking palaces, NABC, Brick Street, NAX, Fireside, CPC (new for me) as well as those across the river (BBC, Cumberland, Sea Hag) and I see a new offering that intrigues me. The problem is that it is so strong that I could only drink a small amount of it before I would have to quit because I'm driving myself. So I usually just try a sample then order a much weaker (session strength) beer. This is frustrating and I just wondered if these fantastic beers could be brewed at a lower strength and still retain their other characteristics? Wouldn't it be better for everyone if I could drink more before doing the responsible thing and you know stop drinking?

Shane, I have some good news and some bad news. I've always been a fan of the "bad news first" delivery method, so here we go:

If you are looking for a powerful, aggressive, pungent complexity, yes, it has to be higher gravity. To get really strong flavors from malt, you need enough malt, which leads to alcohol. To get really strong and complex yeast character, you need to feed it malt sugars, which lead to alcohol. To get really strong hop character, you must (to some extent) balance it with malt, which leads to alcohol. In short, particularly strong flavors in beer almost always necessitate elevated alcohol levels.

The good news is that not all good flavors need be strong. There is a great deal of drinking enjoyment to be had with subtle and well crafted flavors. It could even be argued that this kind of subtlety requires more careful brewing than simply brewing for strength. Things like blondes, certain pilsners, English milds, and a whole slew of other styles allow full and interesting flavors without the heavy alcoholic load. These beers are often referred to as "session" beers for just that reason. You can have a full session of drinking instead of just having one or two. As a fun little side note, Against the Grain will always have one frequently rotating Session tap. Come give it a try in October.

Thanks Adam, that makes sense even to my admittedly limited knowledge of beer making. I am happy to drink beers up to about 7.5% and am happier at the lower gravities again because I can drink more. This includes a lot of beers and I usually end up with an IPA or other ale that I'm happy with. Lately I've sampled some of these stronger beers like the imperial porter that Bank Street has on at the moment (Thunderfoot or something) and it was delicious but it was 12%. It did not taste strong at all and surprisingly tasted of cherries! Alas, it was not to be.

I always enjoyed Brownings and often had a meal and several beers there before catching a Bat's games. So I'm quite excited about ATG and will certainly be drinking your beers as soon as they are available. I hope you can get them into the park itself so I don't have to settle for the pretend craft beers normally served there. I'm following ATG's progress on Louisvillebeer.com
Again, thanks for the explanation!

I went through my double-IPA phase a few years ago. Been there, experienced that. Now, for medical reasons, I try to stick to beers that are 6% or less. The lower the better, within reason.

But, that still leaves plenty of great options. A significant amount of Cumberland beers come in that range, as do a number of NABC beers. Just look at the NABC line-up:

Beak's @ 5.3. Bob's @ 5.5. Community Dark @ 3.7. Granted, not all in the "session" category, but, I think, in a reasonable range.

If you search the archives, I've posted on this topic before. There's a fairly popular "hip" night-scene bar I quit frequenting after visiting and noticing that 75% of their offerings were high gravity. But, I think all of the local breweries are cognizant of offering a lower-alcohol option. I'd say that especially for NABC, and I've wondered if that's because 1) a commitment to what Adam calls "subtle and well crafted flavors" or 2) a recognition that it's over there across the river and many of us are over here.

If you are looking for a session beer to put in your fridge, I'd recommend Stone Levitation Ale the most basic proof that one can marry taste with lower alcohol.

Cheers.

Mathew, I am in agreement with everything you said. Beaks is my go to beer at NABC/BankSt especially when it's on cask (and that's a subject for another discussion) I was thrilled when NABC provided Mt Lee and overjoyed when OMEGA was made available for a terribly short time. BTW a reliable source told me that there are a few more precious barrels of OMEGA still in existence and I only hope I have the opportunity to have some more when/if it's made available.

I currently have over 25 different beers in the basement and your right, Stone has a couple of offerings that hit the spot. I drive to Cincinnati a couple of times a year to get beers not distributed in Indiana or Kentucky and one of my recent favorites is from 21st Amendment. They mostly can their beer and I've become a canned beer convert (again another topic canned vs bottled). There are truly many many beers that fall into the category of beers I can be very happy with. I just feel a bit left out that I can't really indulge (to the extent I want) in the many other exquisitely tasting beers because they are so strong.

Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-alcohol. I also have developed a taste for bourbon and some scotch. But nobody gulps whiskey right?

This is an interesting topic. I understand the allure of a good session beer. The thing is I'm really not into the quantity aspect as I'm only good for 2 or maybe 3 beers tops in an evening. These can be high or low alcohol as long as the beer interests me.

It does perturb me when folks try to charge me full price for an 8 to 10 once pour just because it's high gravity. Call me a glutton or whatever, I want a full serving dang it. A full pint is even better. just to be fair to the beer guys, I don't like stingy wine pours either.

For those of you who are interested in the session beer concept you should check out the
The Session Beer Project TM at the following link. http://sessionbeerproject.blogspot.com/

For those who want to gain some insight into the brewing process and the high art of brewing a session beer (or any beer really) check out this amazing post by Chris Lohring of The Notch. It can be accessed from the SBP site or the link below.

http://www.notchsession.com/2011/09/the-bitter-truth/

It is quite a fantastic process and illustrates how brewers are part mid-wife, artist, mad scientist, and totally devoted to their craft if they are successful at all. They are very much under appreciated IMO and great beer is often taken for granted because so little is understood about how it is produced by those of us who enjoy it.

If you are looking for a powerful, aggressive, pungent complexity, yes, it has to be higher gravity.

I guess a lot of this conversation turns on what "higher gravity" means. I think there are plenty of beers with complex flavors that are within the 6-7% abv range. Like 3 Floyds Alpha King or Founders Porter for example. Those aren't exactly session beers but they are certainly more quaffable (is that a word?) than a lot of the new imperials beers that are coming out now. I'm not a big fan of liquor and beers that push past the 10% abv range usually taste more like liquor than beer to me.

My perspective on the original question is that like many things in the beer world, this is a trend, like the recent trend to see how bitter beers could be. A lot of brewers seem to like the challenge of kicking up the abv, and of course, there are a lot of drinkers out there who like it too. I think that after a couple years, the novelty of these beers will wear off and the brewers will be off chasing a new trend. Which in turn will lead to an even greater variety of beers. And isn't that what this is all about?

BTW Adam, I can't wait for ATG to open. Isn't there some magical way to speed up the process?

I have to agree with Scott on this one. There are plenty of aggresive, complex beers that are not over alcoholic. Unless by aggressive you mean 12%. It can be more diffacult and take time to develope a beer that brings balance to the table when for instance making a 70 + IBU sub 5% beer. But I am not going to concede that it can not be done.

Hi joel, I now understand that the steps necessary to produce stong complex flavors often (always?) result in higher alcohol content and I have no complaint about that. I like the taste of many strong beers.

I would just like my cake and eat it too so to speak. I want beer with lots of taste and less alcohol so I can drink more beer with lots of taste. The BBC brews great beer across the board. I had two BBC American Pale Ales yesterday at Smashburger and they were delicious. I would have preferred to have had three or four but I was driving.

There are several local beers (available locally) that I like that are on the lower end of the abv scale if not actually session strength. Beaks Best 5.3% (NABC), Half Cycle IPA 6% (Flat 12 Bierworks), Head Waters Pale Ale 5.1% (Victory) and one that can be got in Cincinnati A Bitter American 4.4% (21st Amendment). I can usually find a beer in the 6 - 7% range that I like. But I really think someone could clean up if they could produce a big flavor beer below 5%. Can it be done? Anyone?

Kentucky Light (Kolsch) and Schlafly Kolsch are both under 5% abv, medal winners at Great American Beer Festival, and delicious.

And Kentucky Ale is a hybrid of English Pale and Irish Red around 5.5% abv. OK, done plugging my beers.

Great topic.

For similar reasons I have been looking for a good tasting beer in the 5 abv arena. Along the same lines, my preference is for big ol' hoppy and bitter ales. That can be a challenge if I'm trying to watch my overall intake.

I've currently got Shiner Bock on tap at home, but I think I'm compromising too much with that. It's only 4.4 abv and has a 13 ibu, but I'm looking forward to that finshing up so I can break in to the Flying Dog Pale Ale (5.5abv and 35 ibu) waiting in the wings.

I've been getting my 1/6 barrels from Liquor Barn so I am at the mercy of what they can procure. I keep meaning to go directly to the local brewers. I started the whole kegerator at home when my sisters and brother-in-law bought me a keg from BBC.

Does anyone know if Cumberland, NABC or ATg when they open will sell kegs directly?

Thanks,

Doug

Great topic.

For similar reasons I have been looking for a good tasting beer in the 5 abv arena. Along the same lines, my preference is for big ol' hoppy and bitter ales. That can be a challenge if I'm trying to watch my overall intake.

I've currently got Shiner Bock on tap at home, but I think I'm compromising too much with that. It's only 4.4 abv and has a 13 ibu, but I'm looking forward to that finshing up so I can break in to the Flying Dog Pale Ale (5.5abv and 35 ibu) waiting in the wings.

I've been getting my 1/6 barrels from Liquor Barn so I am at the mercy of what they can procure. I keep meaning to go directly to the local brewers. I started the whole kegerator at home when my sisters and brother-in-law bought me a keg from BBC.

Does anyone know if Cumberland, NABC or ATg when they open will sell kegs directly?

Thanks,

Doug

I'm 99% sure NABC does, but I don't know about 1/6 barrels. Stone Levitation is very close to what you're looking for, 4.4% and a nice hop bite.

I started the whole kegerator at home when my sisters and brother-in-law bought me a keg from BBC.

That was probaly one of the greatest gifts that Santa has ever given me.....have had mine for 9 + years now !