Sonnen Hill Brewing has thrown its hat into the low-ABV ring with Bitsy, a lager that clocks in at a modest 3.4% but, according to the brewery, drinks noticeably fuller than that number suggests. It pours clear and lightly golden with a nice white foam on top, which is exactly what you want a lager to do and precisely nothing more.
The hop bill here is Saphir, a variety that brings a floral aroma up front without dragging the beer into bitter territory, and the flavor stays balanced with a bit of malt sweetness underneath. Sonnen Hill is upfront about the intention: they wanted a proper low-ABV beer, something you could reasonably have more than one of over the course of an actual day, rather than a watered-down afterthought squeezed in beside the double IPAs.
Low-ABV beer has a habit of being treated as the consolation prize on a tap list, and Sonnen Hill, out in Caledon, Ontario, seems to be making the case that it deserves better than that. Getting a beer this light to still taste like something requires more restraint than brewing something bigger and louder, and Bitsy reads like the product of a brewery that actually cares about getting the small stuff right, pun very much intended.
Bitsy is available now through the Sonnen Hill shop, alongside a new round of bumper stickers if you're in the market for brewery merch that survives a Canadian winter.
Sometimes the best beer on the list is the one that lets you stay for a second round. Bitsy seems built for exactly that.