The rapid advance of the French brewing scene to have more breweries than either Germany or the UK, has seen a geographical expansion of brewing too. Ales were once only found in the area between Strasbourg and La Manche (The English Channel), in the north and east of France, but are now made across the whole country, following every tradition and none. There remain local regional traditions, however.
None of the other styles of strong beer in the world have a living link with our brewing heritage, though it is a credit to the experimental nature of many of today’s better craft brewers that they have been created. Some are indeed masterpieces of ingenuity, leading in every case to some great examples of brewing prowess.
Before the First World War (1914-1918) a typical British drinking beer was around 5.5-6% ABV. Temperance-supporting politicians used the declaration of war as an excuse to diminish the strength of beer considerably; the inter-War period brought punitive taxation; the Second World War reduced production once more; and austerity in the 1950s continued to staunch beer’s revival.
The punitive taxation applied to beer in the UK throughout the past hundred years has limited the ambitions of British brewing in the 20th century, but nonetheless the country has a richer heritage of stronger ale styles that most others.
Belgium is rightly famed throughout the world for its beer culture, in 2016 earning a place on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The country’s many beer styles reflect it brewers’ mastery of the use of yeast, all types of grain, and even the careful use of spicing, to produce beers of all strengths and varieties.
To appreciate the Belgian way of appreciating a beer, it is essential to study Belgian café life at first hand, in particular the reverence with which some beers are sipped. With several of the country’s finest beers coming in at over 10% ABV, this is understandable.
Most European countries have a tradition of stronger beer styles, often appearing mostly or exclusively during in the winter months, to as late as Easter. Because lager yeast add fewer flavours to a beer, these tend to be ales.
We have invented the term “sampling-strength” to cover those styles that are more complex and higher strength than session beers, but should not be considered as a strong beer. In this range are found some of the most characterful beer styles of all.
The term session-strength beer, or session beer, originated in North America in the 1990s, and refers to beers of roughly 3.5 to 5% ABV, which in most cultures make up the largest part of beer sales, both in bars and the take-home trade …