The ABV Atlas

The Imps · 1.0–1.9% ABV

Several small impish creatures scampering through a warm, dim tavern-lit scene, representing very low-strength session beers from 1.0% to 1.9% ABV.

The Imps

Beers from 1.0–1.9% ABV

Just enough alcohol to misbehave... small, cheeky beers with a flicker of real mischief.

One step up from the near-zero shallows, beers from 1.0% to 1.9% ABV. Still very light but no longer pretending. A genuine, albeit tiny kick here. This is the home of the modern ultra-low session beer and a just a few old historical curiosities.

Imps are the small fry of the infernal world. Minor sprites, more nuisance than menace, forever underfoot and up to something. They lack the power to do real harm, but they have exactly enough to trip you, sour the milk or lead you astray for the sheer fun of it. A fitting mascot for beers with just enough alcohol to misbehave, and none to spare.
A small mischievous imp creature crouched in warm firelit shadow - emblem of Hop Horizons' 1.0–1.9% ABV ultra-low-strength beer category, The Imps.

Just above the pale and lifeless Wisps appear the first beers that have a heartbeat. The Imps fall between 1.0% and 1.9% in terms of alcohol content. Small, spritely, impish creatures. They contain very little alcohol, but unlike the group they belong to, there is a definite trace of it, and that single spark alters their character entirely. These are beers made to last... the kind you could have a few of on an afternoon when it’s nice outside and make it home under your own power.

Golden age of the "small beer"

This classification represents one of the oldest brewing concepts. For many years, "small beer" was the staple drink - slightly alcoholic and relatively safe in comparison to the water available at the time, which was drunk by absolutely everyone, even by kids. This is the direct ancestor of today’s 1-point-something beers, which are brewed now as a special craft product using modern hops and clean fermentations to be a miniature version of a proper beer.

Beer like this light has quite a fight on its hands

Here too the problem from the band below remains but is somewhat softened... at such a low strength, the lack of enough alcohol for substance and aroma can make even the better beers come across as insubstantial or weak. The best of them rely heavily on the use of hops and residual sweetness, and craft a beer which appears to be much stronger than it actually is. Done well, an Imp is an incredible beer, packed with flavour yet almost weightless.

Table beers and the modern revivial

The Belgian tradition of the table beer (bière de table / tafelbier), with its low strength and characterful qualities, is partly embodied here; table beers are beers that complement dining rather than overwhelming it. The modern craft movement has discovered the concept with great aplomb, and the terms "session" and "micro" that will appear on labels have their origins in it. Beers of this band require the greatest brewing skill of all: there is nowhere for mistakes to hide.

Below is whatever Hop Horizons has logged in the 1.0–1.9% range, ranked and broken down strength by strength.

This category at a glance

13
Unique beers
13
Scored
28.8%
Mean score
29.7%
Median score
5
Styles
11
Breweries
7
Countries

Score range 12.43%–62.76%, standard deviation 12.25 (population, over 13 scored beers). Most common style: low alcohol beer (8). Most represented country: England.

Top beers across 1.0–1.9%

Unique beers by exact strength

1
1.0
0
1.1
4
1.2
0
1.3
1
1.4
2
1.5
0
1.6
0
1.7
1
1.8
4
1.9

Average score by exact strength

Bars are on a 0–100% scale; a missing bar (—) means no scored beers at that strength, not a score of zero.

20.4
1.0
—
1.1
29.7
1.2
—
1.3
62.8
1.4
30.4
1.5
—
1.6
—
1.7
29.7
1.8
20.5
1.9

Style distribution

low alcohol beer
8 (61.5%)
fruit beer
2 (15.4%)
bitter
1 (7.7%)
kvass
1 (7.7%)
imperial IPA
1 (7.7%)

Every strength in this range

1.0% ABV

1 unique beer · average score 20.38%

1.1% ABV

No beers at exactly 1.1% ABV have yet been added to Hop Horizons.

1.2% ABV

4 unique beers · average score 29.72%

Historically the sort of strength you'd find in a genuine "small beer" or a Belgian table beer. Weak enough to drink all day, characterful enough to still be worth drinking. A few modern brewers deliberately aim here as a nod to that tradition.
1.3% ABV

No beers at exactly 1.3% ABV have yet been added to Hop Horizons.

1.4% ABV

1 unique beer · average score 62.76%

1.5% ABV

2 unique beers · average score 30.42%

1.6% ABV

No beers at exactly 1.6% ABV have yet been added to Hop Horizons.

1.7% ABV

No beers at exactly 1.7% ABV have yet been added to Hop Horizons.

1.8% ABV

1 unique beer · average score 29.70%

1.9% ABV

4 unique beers · average score 20.54%

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