Low alcohol craft beer: what to look for

What low alcohol actually means

The words get used loosely. On a taproom menu, "session" or "low alcohol" usually means a beer somewhere around 2.5 to 4.5% ABV, against 5% for a typical lager and 6 to 7% for many IPAs. Non-alcoholic beer is a separate category, with almost no alcohol at all. Legal definitions for both vary by country and by Indian state.

This guide is about full beers brewed to a lower strength. They are fermented normally. There is simply less sugar in the wort to begin with, so the yeast makes less alcohol.

Why it is harder than it looks

Alcohol does a lot of quiet work in a beer. It adds body, a little sweetness and warmth. Take it away and a recipe can taste thin and watery, with the hops sticking out awkwardly.

Brewers have several ways to put that body back:

• Mashing hotter. A mash held around 68 to 70 °C instead of 64 to 65 °C favours sugars the yeast cannot ferment, so more body stays in the finished beer.
• Speciality malts. Crystal, Munich and other flavourful malts give malt character without adding much fermentable sugar.
• Oats and wheat. Their proteins and gums give a rounder, softer mouthfeel.
• Yeast choice. An expressive ale strain adds fruit and depth that a neutral one would not.

A low-strength beer also has nowhere to hide. Any fault, from a touch of butter to wet cardboard, shows up clearly. Small beers reward clean brewing.

Styles that were always low

Some of the best low alcohol beers are traditional styles that never needed to be strong.

English mild is usually 3 to 3.8% ABV, dark, malty and gentle, with notes of toffee and bread. English bitter in its ordinary strength sits around 3 to 3.8% too, with more hop bite. Both were built for long evenings in a pub where people drank several pints and needed to walk home.

Berliner weisse is a tart, pale wheat beer, often around 3 to 3.8%, light and refreshing. Czech pale lagers at lower strengths are another fine example, crisp and bready with a firm hop finish.

Modern session beers

The session IPA takes the hop aroma of an IPA into a lighter body, usually 3.7 to 5% ABV. When it works, you get the mango and citrus without the weight. When it fails, it tastes like hop water with a bitter edge.

Table beers, low-strength saisons and light lagers are also common on craft menus. In Indian heat these make a lot of sense. A 3.8% beer with plenty of flavour is a better companion for a long lunch in April than a 7% IPA. It also leaves you more able to enjoy the afternoon.

How to tell a good one from a thin one

Read the menu first. A low ABV beer with a decent malt description (bready, biscuit, toffee) is more promising than one that lists only hops. Then taste for three things.

Body. Does it feel watery, or does it fill your mouth? A good mild feels fuller than its strength suggests.

Balance. Bitterness should match the malt. In a thin beer the hops often seem harsh, because there is nothing to soften them.

Finish. It should end cleanly, with a reason to take another sip. A finish that just stops is the giveaway of a recipe that was cut down rather than designed.

Telling these apart becomes easy once you have tasted a few side by side. The differences between a 3.5% beer designed from scratch and a 5% recipe watered down are small on paper and obvious in the glass.

Lower strength still counts

A low alcohol beer is still alcohol. Three pints of a 3.5% beer add up. A lower strength is no reason to drive. Count your drinks the same way you would with any beer. Eat alongside them too.

What lower strength gives you is choice: a beer with real flavour that fits a work lunch, a hot afternoon or a long conversation. If you have only tried big IPAs and stouts, ordering a mild or a Berliner weisse is a good way to learn how much flavour a brewer can pack into a small beer.