Session (Sesyjne) IPA
Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)

 

In transit to Świnoujście 17/7 2019. 50 cl bottle at the Café on the ferry. Zywiecs usual label design in Turquoise.

Pours unclear golden yellow with a medium-sized white head. Settles as 1 cm thick layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Moderately intensive aroma. Lightly fruity sweet with Peach and pear. Stronger citric overtones of Lime and Citrus.

Medium strong carbonation. Thin, watery, lively, tingling texture.

Flavor is medium sweet followed by a medium strong, citric bitterness. Aftertaste is lightly bitter. Lingers shortly. Weak Finish.

A quite generic and a little boring tale on an Indian Pale Ale.

 

Poured from a 16.9 oz. bottle into one of my pint glasses, this beer pours a clear, medium golden color with some streams of little bubbles rapidly and continuously rising to the beer’s surface. Has a white head that’s well over an inch thick when first drawn and served. Settles to a thick ring lining the inside of the glass at the beer's surface along with some nice cluster swirls of film layer surface foam and nice lacing lining the inside of the glass. Aromas of some slightly zesty, bready malts along with some floral, herbal hop notes. Has a very similar flavor profile, with the aforementioned bready, slightly zesty malts along with some herbal, floral, grassy hop notes. A well balanced flavor profile. Has a crisp, also smooth, medium bodied mouthfeel with light to moderate carbonation. Has a nice aftertaste.

Eric

 

 

Look - 500 ml bottle poured into a tasting glass. dark yellow in color, hazy, small head with not much lacing.

Smell - mostly malts, with a whiff of floral hops if you smelled hard enough. overall quite light in scent, with nothing that smells particularly off. however, quite different from what Americans would consider an IPA.

Taste - malt forward, with light to moderate hops detectable accompanied by equivalent bitterness. finish is very clean.

Feel - light bodied, high carbonation, low ABV for an IPA, but appropriate for a moderately hoppy ale.

Overall - an European "IPA" that is fairly tame on hoppy bitterness, which should at this point be categorized as its own style.

Bottle purchased at Polska Chata in Irondequoit, NY.

This one pours a just slightly hazy golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like…not much, with some sweetness and a bit of hop spice.

This is very bland – there are no off flavors, but there’s also just not a lot of flavor in general. There’s just a hint of hop bitterness, very little malt character – just kind of crackery nothingness.

This is light bodied, crisp, and clean, with a decent enough drinkability.

This brewery makes some classic old school Polish beers, but this wasn’t their best.

500 ml bottle, some coded bottling information on the back. Acquired a single bottle of this stuff from the local Binny's.

Poured into a Central Waters snifter.

A - Pours a light amber golden, with a finger's worth of frothy white head that has good staying power.

S - Smell brings in some bready biscuity malts, fresh herbs, flowers, grass. Not overtly hoppy, but a very clean smelling beer. Almost invokes a light mint smell at times. Notes of cream. It actually smells pretty good, but as an "American IPA' not exactly hitting the style.

T - Taste is the same: lots of bready biscuit malts, with some earthy leafy hop content coming in second.

M - Feel is smooth, crisp, clean, & easy-drinking with a modest abv. Probably not exactly what American audiences will have in mind when they hear IPA, especially in terms of hop bitterness, but it is a pleasant drinking beer.

Zywiec Session IPA -----3.5/5

Pours a cloudy, golden amber coloration with a small, fluffy head. Smells faintly of biscuity malt and floral, grassy, herbal hops. Taste is a decent balance of biscuity malt and floral, grassy, slightly herbal and fruity hops, with citrus notes of grapefruit and perhaps just a touch of lemongrass. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some grassy, citrussy hops lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.


A positive surprise from Zywiec once again. I mean, sure, it's kinda bland, but really not too bad for a mass produced Session IPA, with a decent enough hoppiness, good bitterness for the style and just drinking really easy and refreshing. A little too sweet for my taste as well, but again, really not that bad. I prefer their APA, but wouldn't turn down a bottle of this either. Really not half bad for the price point.

Żywiec Sesyjne IPA has a thick, creamy, off-white head and a hazy, orange-gold bubbly appearance, with heavy lacing. The aroma is of herbal hop resins and white bread crust. The flavor is similar and rather bland. The bitterness level is very low. The body is light, and Żywiec Sesyjne IPA finishes medium dry.

RJT

 

 

 

 

 

Grupa Zywiec SA "Zywiec Session IPA"
500ml brown glass bottle coded "Best Before : L9166616B0229". Sampled on 11 September 2021.

Look: Clear amber colored body beneath an inch of dense white faom. Very good head retention and lacing.
Smell: Unfortunately skunky despite the brown glass bottle. Otherwise malty with a hint of caramel.
Taste: Richly malty despite the 5% ABV. Some of that may be coming from oxidation but it doesn't otherwise exhibit paper or cardboard notes. Surprisingly hoppy with grassy, lemony, herbal, and floral notes. A median bitterness balances it nicely and it's superbly rounded in flavor. It finishes dry, a touch spicy, herbal, grassy, and mildly floral. Very nicely rounded.
Feel: Medium bodied and crisp then smooth across the palate.
Overall: A curious beer coming out of Zywiec, it's surprisingly good. It doesn't quite hit the mark but it has a lot of heart in it.