
Why you still get drunk drinking “session” beers - sp332
http://draftmag.com/science-session-abv-processing/
======
Pxtl
I feel like that article was unnecessarily complex to simply say that your
body can metabolize a set amount of alcohol per hour and given a reasonable
drinking rate, the 5% beers are over that and the 4% beers are not.

I mean, how many different units of measurement did the article go through?
ounces, pints, units-of-alcohol, percent, "standard drinks", yadda yadda
yadda.

~~~
lojack
I got the feeling the article was about how the information we're given about
the strength of beer is misleading. Partially because the units of measure are
flawed, partially because of how our bodies metabolize alcohol, and partially
because the label given to a beer is often misused.

------
mistercow
> Let’s say you’re drinking only one beer per hour—you’re probably not, but
> for simplicity, let’s say you are.

The problem with that is you don't really get to make an assumption "for
simplicity" if the assumption makes your result stronger. And that's exactly
what happens here. If your argument is in favor of "much more than 25%", your
simplifying assumption needs to work _against_ that argument.

As intake interval approaches 0, the BAC difference between the two beers
approaches 25%. As the interval approaches 1.4 hours, the difference factor
approaches infinity (0 units from the 4%, 0.4 units from the 5%).

So if you're going to make an honest simplifying assumption for this argument,
you have to pick a _shorter_ interval than you expect is realistic.

~~~
rblatz
I think they point is most people will drink more than one beer an hour. Lets
double it and say 2 an hour to see a trend.

2 beers * 1.4 units = 2.8 2 beers * 1.8 units = 3.6

Subtract 1 from each and you get 1.8 and 2.6 which is roughly 44% more
residual alcohol in your system.

Lets try 3 beers:

3 _1.4 = 4.2 3_ 1.8 = 5.4

residuals: 3.2, 4.4 Which are 37.5% away. Still much more than 25%.

So I guess if you are drinking 4 beer per hour his argument breaks down. But
I'd also think that a multi hour 4+ beers per hour bender isn't going to last
long on 5% beer.

~~~
mistercow
You're correct. I'm not a beer drinker, or a social drinker at all, so I'm not
well calibrated on what would be typical. So I was certainly not arguing that
the conclusion was wrong. Just that the argument the author presented didn't
make a very strong case.

------
mafro
The English ales of old were often between 3% and 4% - classic session beers.
Greene King still make an IPA available all over which is 3.4% (traditionally
IPA was supposed to be weak!)

There's also a style of English beer called a "mild" \- called so for its low
alcohol. However, the beer itself is dark and thick like a stout - often
confusing people who expected "mild" taste.

Another useless fact: in England you sometimes hear of "continental strength"
lager - which means it's 5%.

------
thieving_magpie
Who is this written for? Where are these people that are unaware alcohol gets
you drunk?

~~~
moftz
I think its not telling you that alcohol gets you drunk but showing how
quickly a 5% beer can get you drunker than a 4% beer over the course of a few
beers. People may think that its just 1% extra, it can't be that much more but
when you factor in the alcohol metabolization speed, that extra 1% adds up.
The extra alcohol in the bloodstream will make the buzz last longer.

In short, you might be ok to drive an hour after a couple 4% beers but not ok
an hour after a couple 5% beers despite just the perceived slight increase in
alcohol percentage.

~~~
leni536
That "1% extra" is actually already 25% extra pure alcohol, even if you don't
take metabolization speed into account. Comparing to the whole volume is a red
herring. Although who drinks heavy beer the same speed as light beer? I don't.

------
kjdal2001
Ive been thinking about exactly this recently. I will go out sometimes after
work with some coworkers for a few hours, maybe talk shop, talk about movies,
books, whatever. But afterwards I want to be able to go home, make some
dinner, and read for a bit (or whatever else). If I had 3-4 6+ABV IPAs, then
Ill be too drunk to enjoy the rest of my evening. So Ive started drinking
light beers after work.

I enjoy good beer quite a bit, but it seems that every micro brew is at least
5% ABV. That simply doesn't fit with my typical pattern of drinking now that
I'm several years away from college. I wish there were more truly "session"
beers available in my local bars.

~~~
e12e
Drink smaller beers, with a glass of water (or two) on the side. Just like
wine (Few people drink wine from pint glasses). Allows you to taste more
different (craft or otherwise) beers in one sitting, and you won't get as
drunk/hung over.

Say you drink 0.25l of a 9% beer along with 0.25l of water (probably a bit
more water, actually). The water fills you up, breaks your drinking "speed"
\-- and now you've technically had 0.5 of 4.5% beer.

In my experience, what really matters is how much pure alcohol is consumed per
unit of time (assuming you're not actually drinking something stronger than
60% at an unnaturally high rate). Shotting hard liquor is a strong outlier -
but sipping doesn't have to be. I find that drinks and strong beers generally
end up being about the same -- if you drink at a natural pace, and no water on
the side, you'll get drunk -- slow down and drink at least as much water (in
volume) as alcohol and you'll be fine. Personal tolerance/degree of alcoholism
will vary from person to person, of course. Adjust to what pace suits _you_.

We can say 0.5l/500ml of 5% beer ~ 25ml of alcohol. If we calculate 5 glasses
to a bottle of wine, a glass of 13% wine is 750ml/5 = 150ml ~ 19.5ml of
alcohol. This happens to be about the same as a pint of 4.5% (455*0.045) --
but it's more concentrated.

Might want to add two glasses of water to each glass of wine. Uptake will be a
bit slower without gas in the mix.

------
dmourati
What about those of us regularly consuming 22oz "bombers" of wonderful 10%
beers like Ballast Point Victory at Sea?

I feel like the lower alcohol content session beers are working against you.
More time drinking, more raw volume, and more time spent going to the
bathroom.

I suppose a session beer would make a nice choice for drinking in the
workplace. You could have 1 or 2 and still function at your job. Beyond that,
I don't get the allure.

~~~
sanderjd
> I feel like the lower alcohol content session beers are working against you.
> More time drinking, more raw volume, and more time spent going to the
> bathroom.

I won't speak to the other two points, but "more time drinking" in conjunction
with less time actually being _drunk_ (which honestly sucks) is what many
people are optimizing for, because going out drinking is about the socializing
far more than the drinking, but it isn't "cool" to participate without an
alcoholic beverage in hand.

~~~
moron4hire
There are so many reasons why someone wouldn't drink, even beyond just
recovering alcoholics. There are various types of medication that react poorly
with alcohol. A person might be trying to lose weight. Or maybe they're a
pregnant women. Plus, if you're out as a group, someone needs to be the DD. If
one's group isn't understanding and accepting of people not drinking, then
maybe one needs to find a new group of friends.

~~~
sanderjd
Bah, I was afraid that throwaway part of my comment would end up getting the
focus. My point is just that most people are somewhere in between "want to get
drunk" and "don't want to drink at all" when they're socializing, so drinks
optimized for that make a lot of sense.

~~~
moron4hire
"want to get drunk" and "don't want to drink at all" is literally the entire
spectrum, so I think it's safe to say that "most people are somewhere in
between" :P

~~~
sanderjd
Well, no, the alternative perspective is that most people are at one of the
two extremes, which seems to be common, hence the idea in the comment I
originally replied to that "more time drinking" is "working against you". My
point is very simple: I think lots of people want to spend time drinking
(while socializing) without getting drunk.

------
couchdive
Beers have changed through the decades.

Faro beers and similar old style session beers would usually be in the 2 to 3
percent range. People drank them while that worked. It was not intended to get
you drunk but energized.

Today's sessions are 4 percent and as high as 5 percent, which is
significantly more and quite frankly silly to be called a session beer, since
most pilsners and light beers are in the same range naturally.

------
chipgap98
I had no clue the etymology of session was a drinking session, kinda
interesting

~~~
moron4hire
What did you think it meant?

~~~
sp332
My first thought was of a musical session, like at a studio.

------
werber
I remember getting drunk on crappy kegs of god-knows-what in college that were
close to the same alcohol content of a session beer.

~~~
acveilleux
Well yes but you were probably drinking a wee bit more then 12oz or even 20oz
an hour back then too.

------
nsxwolf
I don't like low alcohol beers. I want to experience all aspects of the beer
right away, including the alcohol. Imagine if someone asked how a beer tasted,
and you answered "I don't know yet, I'll tell you after a few more".

Really into the Belgian trippels these days.

Edit: Wow. People really like low alcohol beers.

~~~
Retra
Maybe people don't find your personal taste relevant.

~~~
nsxwolf
Or maybe SV types can't handle real beer.

~~~
peejaybee
Yeah, it's obviously that and not anything to do with the attitude you
project.

~~~
nsxwolf
I projected no attitude in my original comment.

