I see my liver walking away…
Not really, as I refuse the higher ABV brews.
However, why does it seem we have higher and higher ABV as time goes on?
I’ll take a session beer any day over the high ABV brews.
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i disagree with the idea that high ABV beers are a problem.
first off "high can range from 5.1 to 20% (or more), but I find if I make strongly flavoured, well-made beers in the ~7 to 8% range i can end up drinking them much slower than a 5% lager let alone a 7% IPA and for personal preference I want that perception of having a “real beer” with no compromises.
i can definitely remember the times ive slowly savoured and rationed the bottom of a pint of a weizenbock, a strong porter or stout, a tripel etc taking the smallest sips.
also carbonation may play a role in your speed of consumption, ive been trying to keep my carbonation down in many beers i make as it definitely slows your drinking
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I have to say that I think we’re seeing the other side of it now. I’m seeing more and more and more breweries with a focus on lower ABV. Not quite session lower, but 4.5-5.5 range. “Regular” IPA had been trending up to 8+%, but now I’m seeing more and more at the 6.5-7.5 range.
But the higher ABV and crazy flavors always catch people’s attention and the hype.
The tap list at my local brewery ranges from 4.3% to 8.8% with a median and mode of 5.2%.
This is the reason I homebrew! Hard if not impossible to find a beer under 4% and few beers under 5.%. I have been brewing low OG beers since I started grain brewing 30 years ago. I simply enjoy them and love to brew and serve them I may sound like a broken record but they are really spectacular when served at 50F from my beer engines.
Now there are a few exceptions I had a wonderful 2.8% table beer by Crafty Bastard in Knoxville. I could not believe they brewed and served it but those are exceptionally rare.
I used to enjoy a good barley wine and dopplebock in my younger years, but I have lost that craving as of now
Jester King’s Le Petit Prince is really nice if you can find it in your market.
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The same reason we see lower and lower ABV, higher hopping, lower hopping, sour smoothy beers, etc. Breweries are looking for ways to differentiate themselves.
That’s absolutely one of the big powers of homebrewing. All of the brewers I know would love to be able to make and market more sessionable beers, but all the ones I know of have fallen flat in the market. (or are maintained by other brand sales as a point of pride)
For whatever reason the American beer consumer is pre-disposed to shun beer under 4.5%
Meanwhile, I have a ovely keg of 3.5% mild sitting next to me that I love to tap.
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I am also seeing a trend of fruity sours going higher and higher in ABV. I understand brewers have to sell their beer and higher ABV is where the money is.
I had to overnight in SLC and I hit a few breweries. I never thought SLC Utah would be one of my favorite brewing cities. It’s been over a year but if I remember 5%’is the limit on draught beer.
3.5% mild sounds wonderful
SLC was a trip - when I was there years ago, I went to every brewpub in the DT SLC area and tried a ton of beers and went back to my hotel surprisingly sober! 
Here’s the mild recipe - I almost always have a variant of this on tap: CDJK Mild | Experimental Brewing
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here in canada where beer price minimums are set, it is the opposite (though i dont see how as you say "higher ABV (higher costs generally) is ‘where the money is’ ".
Brewers here did a big thing of session EVERYTHING, and now theyre doing these ~3% abv beers with the notion “wont get you drunk” wow so cool!
well thats nice but the beer is still the minimum set price of $3.75 for a watered down boring pale beer can of 3%at the supermarket, the same as any craft beer. canadian consumers are painfully stupid in every regard, off topic but google it - we pay the most for cable tv, internet, cellphone, housing EVERYTHING just because we have monopolies that can hose us. its vile.
thats why i homebrew.
For my money I prefer a higher ABV beer at home. I would rather get my buzz from one glass than need to drink several for the same effect. Now when I’m out I look for the lowest ABV on the menu.
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In the same way we had to have the most IBUs, the lowest pH, the most unusual flavors. Craft beer drinkers love to go to the extremes. Stone’s original marketing for AB was based around the “you can’t handle it” and craft beer has been running in that direction ever since. People keep buying them and not buying 5% beers, so breweries keep brewing what sells.
The other side of the coin is that the race to higher ABV, heavier body and sweeter flavors opened a huge hole in the market for lighter beers (and seltzers for a while) that is filled with macro lagers and all of the craft lagers pouring into the market over the past few years. As others mentioned, we’re also seeing some of the 5-6% ABV craft styles showing up more as people don’t necessarily want a Mexican lager or a 15% stout.
I love higher ABV beers. Yes, I dink lower ABV beer mroe often. But there is definitely a time and a place for a higher ABV beer. I had two beers last night, both on draught (I cuurently vacationing in Europe right now) and they were 7 and 8% respectively. And two was enough and I walked back to my place and had a nice sleep. Nothing wrong with that, I thoroughly enjoyed myself (and my liver was perfectly happy).
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I’ll admit, for a beer lover I’m a lightweight. My strongest beer style that I regularly brew is an IPA at 5.5%. Everything else is between the low 3% to low 4% range. I have too many friends that seemingly never grew up and still play the “get hammered Saturday night, and be miserable on Sunday” game every weekend, and I just have no interest in that. I prefer to enjoy my beer and be functional at the same time (and the next morning).
No judgement here - we’re all adults and get to make our own decisions regarding what to put in our bodies. ABV just isn’t my motivation when it comes to beer any more.
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Same here. I usually end the day with an 8-14% beer.
Denny are going to change your tag line 
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That’s why it says “begins”!
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Every beer has a time and place.
I love Great Divide Yeti (among others); my wife first fell in love with beer after having St Bernardus Prior 8.
However, Guiness Draft (for example) is 4.2% and many craft brewers are producing pretty decent non-alcoholic beers (Guiness 0, Sam Adams Just the Haze, and even Blue Moon).
So, drink what you like (and, appropriately, in moderation).
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