Session beers are getting a lot of attention these days, which seems like a good thing. To be honest I've never really had any session beers, mostly because the vast majority are made in the UK, and very few make it over here to the US. Still, from a brewing perspective, cramming lots of flavor into a small beer presents a challenge, but there are a few tricks that I've gleaned from books and forums. First is to use an expressive yeast strain and ferment at somewhat elevated temps (fusels aren't a huge concern at such low starting gravities). Second is to use relatively high percentages of crystal malts. Third, a beer like this requires richer base malts like Maris Otter, although next time I might try to use Mild malt as a base. I hadn't really planned on brewing any low-abv beers till I tried an English Bitter brewed by my friend Tommy. It was flavorful, hoppy, had a firm malt backbone, and weighed in at less than 4% alcohol.
Cami's Bitter
6.2 gal batch, brewed 8/28/2010
6 lbs Maris Otter
1 lb Crystal 40
1 lb White wheat malt
1.75 oz Fuggles/EKG mix (4.5% aa) 60 min
1 oz Fuggles/EKG mix 20 min
1.25 oz Fuggles/EKG mix dry hop, last 4 days of fermentation
1.041 OG
1.010 FG
4.0% abv
35 IBUs
Yeast propagation: Wyeast 1968, 1/2 gal starter.
Single infusion mash approx. 152 F
cast out 6.2 gal, 85% brewhouse eff.
fermented at 68 F first 4 days, let rise to room temp (75 F) last 4 days.
carbed to 1.2 vols CO2
8/28 Brewed
9/6 Down to 1.010
9/7 Bottled
9/12 Bottles have cleared up and are carbonated nicely.
Review (9/14, one week in bottle. served at ~50 F)
Aroma - Musty fruit, earthy. Hops pretty faint. Maybe an apricot/peach note. Caramel.
Appearance - Polished orange, exceptionally clear. Moderate white head which retains throughout, good lacing.
Flavor - Sweeter caramel malt up front, some faint toastiness in the background. Finish has a long, lasting bitterness which is really nice. Needs a little more in the way of biscuity/toasty flavors. If there is any diacetyl I can't really pick it up.
Mouthfeel - To me, perfect. I thought it might be too thin at 1.010 (we were aiming for 1.012) but it isn't. Creamy & full, carbonation level is perfect and it just glides across your mouth.
Overall - Good, solid brew, especially for the abv. Lasting bitterness brings a lot to this beer, otherwise it would be too 'drinkable' in the sense that sips might go down unnoticed.
Next time try to get more biscuit flavor in it. Could try to a) add some amber or biscuit malt, b) use an English crystal malt rather than Briess, c) use some (maybe half) Mild malt as a base. I think b & c together would improve this beer. The yeast is a winner, don't change that. Dry hops might be unnecessary. Either ditch, or use leaf hops, as Tommy's version seemed to have more aroma. Corey mentions it tastes like 'tea'; to me it is ok but it sounds like we might have sparged too hot. With such a small grain bed, we should sparge with 170 F water next time.
