A ‘session beer’ means something different everywhere you go, so we got author and international beer judge Melissa Cole to offer us some insight into the style, where its roots first came from in the UK, and how it differs the world over.
In today’s 24-hour society, when news hits our phones at all hours of the day, food is just a click of an app away and both salubrious and dodgy late night (or early morning) drinking dens can be found in any major city, the idea that pubs used to have ‘sessions’ feels like a quaint one.
I am just old enough to remember when pubs had to, by law, close during the afternoon generally, although not homogeneous across the UK, it was between 3pm and 5.30pm. Although this restriction was repealed under the 1988 Licensing Act, the idea hung around for quite some time; in fact, the first pub I worked at in Burnham Beeches still used to close between those times, leading to some legendary afternoon lock-ins… a story for another time.
But what led to this? Well, as with many sweeping changes to our lifestyles, it was war, WWI to be precise. An act of Parliament was passed in 1914 called the Defence of the Realm Act which, among other things, looked specifically at the hours publicans could sell alcohol, in the belief that the unfettered sale of intoxicating drinks could negatively affect the war effort.
Originally the hours were limited from 12-2pm and 18.30-21.30, and then came further restrictions. You see, despite a campaign in 1915 led by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George, to get people to drink less, it wasn’t really happening, so they introduced the ‘No Treating Order’ whereby you couldn’t buy rounds, only drinks for yourself, and no credit was to be offered. In fact, breaking these rules could lead to up to six months imprisonment and in some cases, men were even fined for buying their wives a drink.
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There was even something enacted that came to be called the Carlisle Experiment. In 1916 central and local governments joined together to form a Central Control Board that spanned parts of south west Scotland, Cumberland and the city of Carlisle, due to concerns over drinking by workers at the enormous cordite factory in Gretna, which was vital to the war efforts. This scheme meant the authorities took control of five local breweries and 363 licensed premises ‘for the duration of the war and 12 months thereafter’.
You can read far more in the link above, but the main upshot of the takeover of the breweries and pubs was that lower alcohol beer was brewed and licensees, who had become government employees, were subject to serious scrutiny, and held severely accountable for any outbreaks of anti-social behaviour, it even saw the introduction of 18 as the legal limit for drinking in those areas.
The big one, however, was the introduction of a higher alcohol taxation rate, which was mirrored in WWII, but the attitudes towards actual drinking and the role of alcohol in national morale were significantly more relaxed during this conflict, with rum rations given to troops and keeping the beer flowing was considered extremely important. In fact, in 1940, Lord Woolton, the British Minister for food, insisted it was vital to keep the country’s spirits up, whilst acknowledging that both the rations on raw ingredients and increased taxation would make the beer weaker.
But it didn’t end (or even begin) with the two world wars, alcohol had proved far too useful to the Exchequer to abandon higher alcohol tax. It was not only a fund raising method, but also a public health issue now, and with the addition of the Purchase Tax in 1940, which later became VAT in 1973, the alcohol industry had firmly entered the era of balancing the demands of the drinker against the cost of producing booze, and beer in particular bore the brunt of that.
Gone were the days of the 7% pints, and what came next was the resurgence of mild (originally the dominant style in the late 1800s-early 1900s), but in a weaker form and it’s worth pointing out that they weren’t only dark either, light milds were equally popular, as were sweet stouts and light bitters, and eventually bitters (or pale ales depending on brewery and regional preferences) and lagers took hold. And whilst the introduction of Small Brewer’s Relief in 2002 meant that ‘craft’ brewers were able to make lots of weird and wonderful higher ABV beers, once again taxation changes to Small Producer Relief in 2024 have now taken hold, along with other commercial pressures such as austerity, the war in Ukraine and energy hikes, meaning brewers are once again turning to lower ABV beers just to stay afloat, and consumers equally are turning to them through a mix of lifestyle and financial choices.
But, to go back to the start, where does the phrase ‘session beers’ come from? Well, there is some debate but, as ever, when it comes to all things historical about beer, the late, great Martyn Cornell provides some insight, if not direct answers. The earliest reference he was able to find was in Samuel Beckett’s first novel, Murphy, published in 1938: “He was turning into the station, without having met any considerable receptacle for refuse, when a burst of music made him halt and turn. It was the pub across the way, opening for the evening session.”
And he notes that the phrase ‘lunchtime session’ doesn’t seem to turn up until 1956 in Nicholas Montsarrat’s novel The Tribe “the usual lunchtime session was in progress – both men and women, some drinking determinedly, some passing the time without urgency, some munching their sandwiches.”
But has the idea that the closing hours of British pubs have shaped the whole idea of a certain type of beer got any merit? I’m not so sure we have firm evidence, but it does strike me that the evolution of language is imbued with social habits, and vice versa, so even thought there may not be anything written down, I suspect it’s certainly had a very strong bearing.
So, finally, we come to the tricky idea of what makes a session beer itself, and here’s where the argument starts!
Whilst there are codifications of styles like session IPA, mainly for judging purposes, there is no real definition of what makes a session beer. My good friend and talented beer judge and whisky writer Lew Bryson, has long tried to encourage lower ABV beers in America, with his Session Beer Project, but due to the flat taxation system and higher alcohol rates over there, he had to set the floor for the idea of a session beer at 4.5%, whereas I think that it should be 4% and below.
My reasoning for this may be based on personal preferences and tolerances, but also quite a few hours in the pub with myriad different people, and it’s mostly because it helps prolong the fun, ending merry not blotto, and with memories built not erased.
But there’s more to a session beer than just the strength, because that removes the idea of actually enjoying a beer! And if you’re not drinking for enjoyment then perhaps you might need to have a little think about why you are.
My perfect session beer has to hit a number of notes, and this applies to cask, keg and packaged offerings, and as I’ve already covered the ABV, here are my other requirements.
- The look - there’s nothing that disappoints me more than a poor head on a beer (well, that and a dirty glass with all the bubbles sticking to the side, but that’s another topic altogether)
- Subtle balance - I want the first sip to interest me, but not scream for my attention all through the drink, I’m there to socialise, not analyse
- Lacing – a lace-like pattern of parallel rings of residual foam, which forms with each sip as you empty your glass. This is a visual representation of a beer that can be drunk with gentle frequency.
- The Trigeminal effect - there is nothing worse than a watery, low ABV beer, without anything to recommend it to one of the body’s most powerful feedback mechanisms. To me the true brewer’s craft in session beer creation is making something that has textural interest.
- Refreshment - possibly the most important element of all, a session beer should be one that you return to the bar to order again, and again, and possibly again!
