Evening Beer

The other week during the recording of one of our podcasts, we started to discuss the concept of Evening Beer, and what it meant. After a bit more thought, this could become a definite category for ales – more or less the exact opposite of Session Beer, that great British invention. I mean that sincerely by the way – the traditional 4%abv beer definitely still has its place, even if some more modern brewers look down their noses at the thought. A visit to the pub – surely one of the great things about being British – requires a few hours (unless it’s lunchtime). Drinking lower abv beers is really the only option, unless you possess a lead-lined stomach.

The new wave of American or US-inspired breweries may not like the idea, but session beer still has a concrete place in the British pub-going setup. That’s not to say we’re a nation of effeminate 3% drinkers, unable or unwilling to tolerate flavour – there’s just a time and a place. This is where Evening Beer comes in. When drinking at home many people I know would prefer one or two full-flavoured stronger beers, rather than attempting to replicate the pub experience and have half a dozen bottles of Cairngorm’s Trade Winds and a packet of dry roasted. So the criteria for an Evening beer are along the following lines:-

Pack a punch
This can be either pure alcohol strength, or simply a hefty taste from a specific ingredient. Session Beers are usually rounded and moreish, Evening Beers need to give you that bang for your buck if you’re only having the one. Anything from Stone for example, such as their Supremely Self-Righteous Ale (8.7%).

Go overseas
Certainly pubs are now very different to ten years ago – even average boozers will have a few imported bottles or (dare we suggest) foreign lagers. The good ones will have a range of US-imports or Belgian sippers. At home of an evening, the wallet’s the limit – time to break out the Westmalle Tripel (9.0%), assuming you’ve got the correct glassware.

Something exceptional
The pub is all about the experience, outgoing, sharing. As Evening Beers are usually drunk alone, and in a more refined setting than somewhere with sticky carpets and strange smells from the toilet – time to break out a collaboration beer, or a limited edition. BrewDog Abstrakt AB:02 for example, a mighty imperial red ale. And at 18%, not one for the weekly darts night at the Red Lion.

Go seasonal
Again, the modern British pub should give you a range of golden ales in the early summer and porters once the clocks go back, but for that one-off wonder at home, get it right. Saisons, Harvest ales, Pumpkin ales – match it to the season and find that bottle opener. Sierra Nevada Estate (6.7%) is king of the harvest ales.

It’s up to you
Having said all that, the prime criteria for an Evening Beer is that it’s whatever you say it is. If you’re at work and looking forward to that one bottle once the kids have gone to bed, it doesn’t really matter what it is. Drink a Dark Island Reserve in summer. Pair a Goose Island Matilda with lukewarm fish fingers and chips. Take a Westvleteren 12 into the shower. You’re the boss, after all…