Here for the Sesh

Yes, it has taken an embarrassingly long time for me to get round to writing about these, but if there's ever a time of year where self-consciously low ABV beer is a good idea, this is it.

These are the second and third beers from the Sesh Beer Co., run by Brian of Craic Beer Community fame and brewed in Dublin at Hope. Sesh Pilsner is 4% ABV, so verging on acceptable for the style, depending on where you stand. Výčepní? Sure. It's pale gold in the glass and a little hazy. The aroma is quite sweet, with a pillowy malt effect one might expect from a stronger lager. The flavour is also sweet, though floral from hops rather than malty. A gradual bitterness emerges past this, but fades before it can get to a full-on pilsner tang. Its body is not noticeably light, though it is definitely clean and with plenty of fizz. "Crisp & Refreshing" says the can, and that's delivered in full. Just don't expect much more besides.

The alcohol level drops further for Sesh Sour, 3.8% ABV and a murky and translucent shade of pinkish orange. I'll say up front that it's not very sour, showing no more than a mineral spicing in place of any proper bite. The texture is rather watery, beyond crisp and into wafer-thin. So you can call it thirst-quenching but only on a technicality. There's a fruit element too, in the form of fresh raspberries, and I can't help but think that concentrate might have been better. What's here seems to have all but fermented away, so while it does have something of the character of real raspberries, it's heavily diluted. I don't mind the thin fizz of this, but I would definitely have liked a more assertive sourness, and a more pronounced fruit side would have improved it.

Regardless of my nit-picking, both of these meet their remit of being sessionable, for anyone with an attention span longer than mine, at least.