Brewed Beverage of Choice: Adnam’s Suffolk Special Bitter
One of my favourite types of beer, the British Mild Ale, falls into an often ignored area by the microbrewing industry in the states - the session beer. For whatever reason, American drinkers more often than not will choose the 6.0% IPA over the 4.2% Special Bitter. Their choice, also more often than not, is because of the higher alcohol content and not by flavour. But the session beer has much more to offer than one would expect. It offers flavour, hops, history, and a bit of the social aspect of the pub. If all we drank in the pubs was the higher alcohol beers, we would get blasted and hate our neighbours for what they left in the yard after a night of drinking.
First off, what is a session beer? The definition on the Beer Advocate website is the best one I have found and cannot word it any better.
session beer - n. Any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish - a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of a session beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication.
Historically, workers in the UK during WWI were allowed by law to drink during two different ’sessions.’ During these 4 hour sessions, workers could find ales, and sometimes lagers, that could slake their thirst while not getting them too drunk so they could not go back to work. The mild ale, for one, was typically consumed by thirsty coal miners after work to replenish the fluids they lost while on the job, and in turn they could have a couple before heading home without being too intoxicated. So, session ales and lagers, without our knowledge, promoted responsible drinking. Who would have thunk it?
Much like the altbier from a previous BrewU (which incidentally can also be considered a session beer) the production of a great session beer takes a patient and passionate hand. Because the flavours of the malt and hops have to be just at the right proportion, not every brewer can create a decent session beer. They can produce one, but the thought behind a session beer is to get the drinker to get another one, and a subpar session beer will turn the drinker onto something else. Milds and Special Bitters are the oft ignored brothers to the Porter and ESB respectively. It is unfortunate that most brewers in the states tend to ignore these two beers because they are a flavourful brew and pleasing to many a tongue.
I must say that I am limiting my opinion on the limited selection of session brews to what you find in bottles, and not the brewpub where the brewer is brewing for a smaller audience per se. But there are commercial examples of session beers that I would recommend for those interested. Goose Island in Chicago makes a mild which is tasty. Adnams is being imported to the states and their SSB is delicious. Also from the UK is Young’s Dirty Dick. Full Sail produces a ‘lawn mower beer’ called Session and and English Special Bitter called Rip Curl. The fun again is going out and actually finding these wonderful brews. And in turn then telling me about ‘em. Here is a short list of session beers: Milds, Bitters, Special Bitters, Alts, Kolsches, some Browns, Biere de Table, some Pilseners. The list could go on and on.
I hope you can go out and find a great example of this fine brew, sit down with neighbours, and watch winter pass you by. Session ales promote sociability and community. Plus, the next morning you can remember that you drank a couple of ‘em.
Prost!
the confucian session brewer