Session Beers

Alternatives to American Lite Lager

Let’s face it! American Lite Lagers are popular because they are low in carbohydrates, you can enjoy several over the course of a meal and not get tanked, and you can enjoy them with just about any food. This is not a bad thing. It’s a good thing. Right? The problem is with the selection. I’m sorry but Bud Lite, Coors Lite, Miller Lite, are not examples of alternatives.

Are there other beers that are low in carbohydrates, low in alcohol, and taste great? Would you like to know what they are? Where in beer land could one find such a beer?
Low alcohol beers are more popularly know as session beers among beers aficionados. What is a session beer? For the purpose of this article, a session beer will be defined as a beer with less than 5% alcohol by volume (ABV).

In Sacramento

In Sacramento, fewer calories do not meet less everything else. I will consider several breweries, which brew beer with ABV <5%. These beers will range in appearance, aroma, mouth feel, and flavor from one spectrum to the other. I will start with beers, which are lowest in bitterness. It has been my experience that the general population finds bitterness the least attractive feature of beer. I’ll work you up the hop ladder from there. For reference IBU will indicate bitterness.

Lagers: (IBU 10-25) Auburn Ale House, Beermann’s, both carry a flavorful lager. In fact these are the beers, which fathered the lite lagers. Go back to lager roots and discover what all the fuss was about. You will find more flavors. These are inspired by German heritage and the bittering profile will be very low. I like to think of lagers as the “champagne” of beer. You can drink this beer with spicy food.

Hefeweizen: (IBU 10-15) BJ’s, River City, Rubicon carry this is the ever-popular wheat style beer. It can have banana and clove aroma and flavor if you are drinking a German style. American styles will have a more subdued flavor profile. This beer is typically hazy due to the wheat proteins in the beer. Unless it has been filtered. This beer is also low on the bittering hops. This beer goes well with savory dishes

Kolsch: (IBU 20-30) BJ’s, Pyramid, and River City carry Kolsch style beers. While this style can exceed the range I checked the website and these beers are less than 5% ABV so I included them in the list. You will find these styles similar to lagers yet with a little fruitier in the aroma and flavor because it is lagered at ale temperatures to bring out the yeast character. This beer will go with anything. It’s great to pair with salads.

Pale Ales: (20-40) River City, Town Lounge carries this style. Now we are moving up the hop ladder in terms of bittering. Here we will find a little more aggressively hopped beer. There is also more flavor. Bittering hops along with the aroma and flavor it can provide can be very enjoyable. Although there are some that are sensitive to hops many women are. I brewed a very hoppy beer however because it was so well balanced with the malt my friend who stated she didn’t like hoppy beer had two glasses! This beer wants something substantial. If you eating beef, this will wash it down nicely.

Stouts: (IBU 30-45) River City, Elk grove, Rubicon have nice examples. The hop profile will be the same for this style. The big change here is the specialty malt. A very small percentage of roasted or black patent barley gives this style its characterful color. Most people are surprise to learn that is a light beer. They associated the color with the alcohol. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If you like dark chocolate, if you like espresso, then try this one out. It is a great flavorful beer all by itself without knocking you out. Light food goes well with this. Dark meat fish works well.