Beer - Summer’s in session

Five samples into the East Atlanta Beer Festival and I have yet to sample anything with less than 7 percent alcohol. They have names like Dark Lord Imperial Stout and Old Horizontal Barleywine. I am smiling, but my head is swimming. I actually start throwing out perfectly good beer (I am sorry, Dark Lord) to keep from wilting in the heat. I gain a sudden appreciation for the concept of “session beers” — subtle beers with low to moderate alcohol, intended for drinking over the course of an evening.

The term “session beer” probably originated in England, when workers drank beer during breaks from work and wanted something they could drink over a period of time and go back to work without being so drunk they’d lose a finger in the machinery. My first session beer was selected for a different reason. In my grad school days, my friends and I referred to Milwaukee’s Best, aka “the Beast,” as “the beer to drink when you are having more than one.” This had more to do with the fact that we were dirt poor and the Beast was $1.79 a six pack at the Food Lion than its drinkability; although, we could drink 10 or 12 in a “session” back then. As my tastes matured and I got a job, I found new go-to beers: Bass Ale, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sweetwater 420. These beers are excellent because they are not extreme. A tad boring, maybe after a double IPA, but comfortable.

Beer writer Lew Bryson feels the same way. He is part of a vocal minority of beer snobs that are championing low-alcohol styles. His blog, Seen Through a Glass, promotes the Session Beer Project, which organized the recent Session Summer of Love beer festival held over Memorial Day weekend in Zieglersville,  Penn., where all the beers came in at 5.5 percent ABV or less.

And the first night of Beer Advocate’s upcoming American Beer Festival in Boston (June 15-16) is a “Night of the Lagers.” Jason and Todd Alstrom, founders of Beeradvocate.com, are presenting this third annual session as “a challenge  to American brewers to bring their most interesting and flavorful lagers, thus destroying the popular misconception that all lagers are yellow, fizzy and boring.” It’s true. At a recent Creative Loafing Beer Club event, I was quaffing a Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and I was reminded of how delicious the sweet malts are in this old standby.

Low alcohol ales can be positively bursting with flavor. Contrary to expectations, Guinness Stout has a less-than-manly 4 percent ABV despite its dark color and roasted malt flavors. Samuel Smith’s famous Nut Brown Ale is a modest 5 percent ABV, and Anchor Steam, a unique lager-ale hybrid, is a fine session beer at 4.9 percent ABV.

British “milds” and “bitters” are the original session beers, with some examples having 3 to 4 percent ABV. Both styles are difficult to find in the United States, in part because they are best served fresh. Tetley’s and Boddington’s are English Pale Ales that are about as close to an authentic English bitter as you can find on a regular basis, and both are on tap at the Prince of Wales pub across from Piedmont Park, one of the best places in Atlanta to sip on a pint during the summer months.

So this weekend at the Creative Loafing Beer Fest, try starting the day with some modest, well-balanced session beers. You won’t have to fight through a big line, you might last a tad longer, and you may find a new drinking buddy, or rediscover a long-lost one that you carelessly discarded when that flashy Belgian blond came along. Shame on you!

Talking Head columnist Jeff Holland can be reached by e-mailing jeff.holland@creativeloafing.com.