The ABV Atlas

The Gargoyles · 4.0–4.9% ABV

Row of weathered stone gargoyles crouched along a cathedral roofline at dusk, representing standard-strength everyday beers from 4.0% to 4.9% ABV.

The Gargoyles

Beers from 4.0–4.9% ABV

The great load-bearing middle of beer, the strength most English pints are. Guardians holding it up.

The 4.0% to 4.9% band... centre of gravity of the beer world. This is "standard strength", the range most bitters, pale ales, lagers and stouts sit in and one of the most populated category in the whole Atlas.

Gargoyles are the protective stones of the ancient cathedrals. Grotesque and weather-worn guardians perched along the roof line, part monster and part architecture. They carry the heaviest burden and withstand the worst of the storms, without demanding anything and without ever moving. No beast is more fitting to be the guardian of the busiest, most burdened band of beer.
Weathered stone gargoyle perched and watchful against a dim sky, emblem of Hop Horizons' 4.0–4.9% ABV standard-strength beer category, The Gargoyles.

And here is the cornerstone of the entire Atlas. Pick a beer randomly from anywhere around the globe, and chances are it will fit in this band. 4 point something is just about what everyone means when he says "a beer." This is the default value, the reference point, and the strength against which all the others are compared. And so its protectors are the Gargoyles: the unappealing but hardworking stone figures sitting upon the great edifices and carrying the greatest weight among all the creatures on the shelf without ever shifting from their positions.

The default strength of the world

A huge amount of the regular beer lives here. The popular best bitter and premium bitter, the standard pale ale, the average lager, the common stout and porter – all congregate in the 4s. They are powerful enough to make a decent impression, but not too powerful to ruin your night after just two pints. Centuries of drinking traditions, licensing laws and plain human tolerance brought us this sensible middle ground, which doesn't seem to shift any time soon.

Balance becomes everything

Brews like this are also, in their own way, the toughest to stand out. In the lightest weight categories, a brewer receives praise just for managing to create flavour out of thin air. Here, everyone is capable of brewing a decent 4.5% pale ale, and the best manage to stand out based on balance, drinkability and skill. The gap between an ordinary standard bitter and a truly outstanding one is huge, and it is found in all the small things: clean fermentation, balance between hops and malt, a long finish.

The most of the most

Given that there are so many beers in this category, it is also the most informative. When you calculate average scores within the Atlas, the 4s offer by far the biggest, most statistically significant sample group – truly representative of everyday brewing rather than a few rarities. If any band of scores is likely to tell the truth about the beer, it is this one. No other beast in the Atlas has witnessed so many beers being tasted under its gaze.

Below is whatever Hop Horizons has logged in the 4.0–4.9% range, ranked and broken down strength by strength — very likely the deepest section in the whole Atlas.

This category at a glance

8836
Unique beers
8699
Scored
43.3%
Mean score
43.3%
Median score
119
Styles
2353
Breweries
91
Countries

Score range 1.16%–82.75%, standard deviation 13.11 (population, over 8699 scored beers). Most common style: bitter (1263). Most represented country: England.

Top beers across 4.0–4.9%

Unique beers by exact strength

1517
4.0
444
4.1
972
4.2
599
4.3
539
4.4
1927
4.5
602
4.6
709
4.7
991
4.8
536
4.9

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.

39.5
4.0
39.7
4.1
40.6
4.2
40.9
4.3
42.7
4.4
45.6
4.5
44.0
4.6
45.5
4.7
47.0
4.8
46.4
4.9

Style distribution

bitter
1263 (14.3%)
traditional pale ale
1045 (11.8%)
New World pale ale
802 (9.1%)
European pale lager
476 (5.4%)
session IPA
372 (4.2%)
sour beer
286 (3.2%)
ESB
232 (2.6%)
traditional stout
231 (2.6%)
fruit beer
231 (2.6%)
Germanic pilsener
229 (2.6%)
cider
228 (2.6%)
traditional porter
167 (1.9%)
Other (107 styles)
3274 (37.1%)

Every strength in this range

4.0% ABV

1517 unique beers · average score 39.52% · 22 not yet scored

The clean round number where a huge amount of session lagers and everyday ales sit by design. Brewers often target exactly 4% as an approachable, sensible standard. Expect this to be one of the busiest single strengths in the entire Atlas.
Show all 1495 scored beers at 4.0%
4.1% ABV

444 unique beers · average score 39.65% · 6 not yet scored

Show all 438 scored beers at 4.1%
4.2% ABV

972 unique beers · average score 40.62% · 9 not yet scored

Show all 963 scored beers at 4.2%
4.3% ABV

599 unique beers · average score 40.93% · 5 not yet scored

Show all 594 scored beers at 4.3%
4.4% ABV

539 unique beers · average score 42.70% · 8 not yet scored

Show all 531 scored beers at 4.4%
4.5% ABV

1927 unique beers · average score 45.60% · 36 not yet scored

Heartland of the best bitter and the standard pale ale... arguably the most "default" strength in all of beer. If you're looking for the statistical centre of the collection, it's somewhere very close to here.
Show all 1891 scored beers at 4.5%
4.6% ABV

602 unique beers · average score 44.00% · 11 not yet scored

Show all 591 scored beers at 4.6%
4.7% ABV

709 unique beers · average score 45.54% · 11 not yet scored

Show all 698 scored beers at 4.7%
4.8% ABV

991 unique beers · average score 46.97% · 14 not yet scored

Show all 977 scored beers at 4.8%
4.9% ABV

536 unique beers · average score 46.36% · 15 not yet scored

Show all 521 scored beers at 4.9%
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